I am living the dream:Amish Tripathi

Banker-turned-writer Amish Tripathi says he will only go back to his previous profession if his next book flops. But from what it appears, the banking industry may have to wait longer. The bestselling author has just announced his new book, Scion of Ikshvaku, which marks the first of his Ram Chandra series. His enormously successful debut The Immortals of Meluha is now being made into a big-budget film. From completing the Shiva trilogy in great style and embarking on Ram now, it has been only the rise and rise of Amish.

 

“I am still a Shiva devotee but,” says the author with a smile. “the fallacy is to assume that there is a difference between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. In many puranas, 1,000 names of Lord Shiva have been listed and one of those names is Vishnu. So they are one and the same — different forms of the same universal force. I don’t actually have to worry about stopping one trilogy and starting another.”

 

He may be on his fourth book but Amish has plans to write even 25 years from now. “I might have to go back to being a banker if my next book flops, as I’ll have to sustain myself. But I won’t stop writing. The clues I have left in my books so far are all connected to books I may write 20-25 years from now. I don’t know what subject I will choose to write on. But all my books tell the story of Vedic people over a 9,000-year period. Their culture was created more than 12,000 years ago and destroyed 3,500 years ago and we are their unworthy descendents. So the story in my mind is the story of these people over the entire period. And I will write it over 25-30 years,” he says and adds, “So there’s the story of Lord Shiva, Lord Ram, Lord Parshuram, Lord Rudra and Mohini, Lord Manu, Lord Brahma and the story of the Mahabharata. They are all linked, in continuity and I have left clues about them.”

 

The author believes the subject (mythology, in this case), chose him and not the other way round. The visuals just come to him, he says. “I know it sounds very strange but genuinely, it’s like there is a parallel universe I enter. For me, they are as real as you are. They can’t see me but I get to see them and I record what I see. That’s my process,” Amish says.  He continues, “My wife jokes that she has had two husbands in the same marriage. The first one was a banker, who went to work, shared things with her. And now she has a different husband who doesn’t share much, cries a little more than he used to.”

 

Incredulous as it may sound, Amish used to be an atheist once. “It was in the ’90s. I turned atheist in my teens and it lasted for a good 10-12 years. I would stand outside the temple when my girlfriend (now wife) would go there for pujas. I don’t know what I was trying to prove. But writing slowly brought me back to faith. So for me it was a deeply personal experience writing the book, as it changed me quite a lot. I am calmer and happier now,” he says.

 

Coming from a highly religious family, his knowledge of mythology also influenced his writerly pursuits. “For most writers, stories tend to emerge from areas they have knowledge in. My grandfather was a pandit and also a teacher. My parents are also very religious. So I knew a lot about our ancient philosophy, scriptures and mythology from an early age. I continue to read about 4-8 books a month, on history, spirituality and science. I love pure science, besides politics and economics as well.” He still has the habit of reading financial newspapers, something he has not been able to shake off since his banking days, he says.

 

He also says he has never had a writer’s block. “There are days when words don’t flow. That’s perhaps when Lord Shiva is busy with someone else. So then I stop, read a book or watch a film. The next day I try again and he blesses me. Writer’s block, for me, would be a long period where nothing happens. If that was the case, I would not have had three books in five years and a fourth to come,” Amish says. 

 

He is not involved in writing the film adaptation of his first book. “I am there as creative consultant. It’s in the scripting stage now, I am sure a good film will emerge. But a film can never be exactly like a book. A writer has to accept that. As long as the soul of the book is captured, it’s good enough,” he says. For someone who never wanted to become a writer, Amish has already written a success story. And he has us believe there are many more chapters to come. “I am living the dream. Don’t wake me up,” he says.