A writer by luck

Everyone knows Amish Tripathi as the immensely popular author of the Shiva trilogy that has sold over two million copies and which will soon be turned into a movie by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. But little is known about Amish Tripathi, the drummer, who had fans in a frenzy when he performed in Pune recently.
“I listen to music all the time. I was the lead singer of my band at IIM Kolkata. Even though I did gymnastics, boxing — I have a crooked nose to prove that — I wasn’t creative; I only used to sing what others wrote,” says Amish, who is humbly aware of the fact that people are now singing what he has written. Because in 2013, based on Amish’s third book in the series — The Oath of the Vayuputras — an album titled Vayuputras was released.

In Hyderabad, last week, to launch his latest book, Scion of Ikshvaku, a series on Lord Rama, Amish maintains “drumming is very fun”. “After my IIM days, I got busy in the banking sector. But after eight years, my friends and I got together and we formed a band... we did perform... for some time.”.

The author reveals that music does help in the literary process. “For instance, during the death scene in the Vayuputras, I was listening to Ghajini’s Kaise mujhe tum mil gayi. Even though it’s a love song, it was what I listened to when writing that angry scene. In The Secret of the Nagas, when Ganesh meets Sati, I listened to Taare Zameen Par’s Meri maa. For my first book, The Immortals of Meluha, SRK’s Don was on...,” he says.

But even though words come naturally to him, the author was clueless for several months after the release of the last Shiva book in February of 2013. “I guess Lord Shiva was busy helping someone else,” jokes Amish, adding, “I have a lot of ideas, but I couldn’t make up my mind which one I should attempt first. When that happens, I shut my laptop or I go out for a movie. The idea is to not enter into a negative mind frame. Yes, publishers have invested a lot of money and I do feel the pressure to deliver, but taking a negative approach never helps,” says Amish, who took a year-and-a-half to finish Scion of Ikshvaku.

The author also admits his life has been full of examples where things happened for a reason. To begin with, Amish is a Maths graduate — he wanted to be a historian but due to his family’s financial situation, he took up finance and never gave writing a thought. “Maybe a scientist or an industrialist… My father and elder brother write Urdu poetry and even though I started writing in my late 30s, I never wanted to write, it was thrust upon me. I ‘m just lucky that it all worked out,” he adds.

The epiphany to pick up writing was in the form of a discussion that took place in front of the TV. “What ancient Indians consider gods and demons is the exact opposite of what ancient Persians believe — for them our gods are demons and vice versa. And my family loves debates and we had one on this topic. Spurred by this dialogue, I came up with an idea to start writing. It began as a thesis and not a book that later became a series,” says Amish.

An author by chance or, in the author’s words, luck, Amish had no idea about the fan following his ‘thesis’ would later generate. So far, since his nation-wide promo tour started, Amish has signed over 8,000 copies presented by eager fans.

Which is why it’s also hard to believe his first book spent a year being rejected — publishers didn’t want to invest in a “religious” book, while others wanted him to modify certain parts. “But I wasn’t ready to do that and in the end, I published the book on my own,” he says. But now the tables have turned and Amish is no longer the obscure writer who was dismissed so many times that he “stopped keeping a count”. “I’m grateful to my wife for her support. Thank goodness she liked my books,” says Amish with a laugh.

Also, son Neel is just six and already a quick writer. “He sifts through pages of my book and within minutes he declares that he has read the book. He is into dinosaurs, loves reading about them. When it comes to writing, he opens up the laptop and starts typing words at random. Then he looks at me and says, ‘Dad, it takes you a year to write a book and here I have written a book in just an hour’,” says Amish.

With the final launch event in Kolkata, Amish will be done with the hectic marketing run. “When playing the drums at the Mumbai launch I was nervous and shaking a bit. Writing is what I love doing, but I need to market my books too, it’s important. After the launch in Kolkata, I will be down writing the second book in the Ram series. I am not sure, but there are going to be four-five books in these series.”