Giving new life to old myths

For those of us, who can't have enough of Indian myths, here's another thrilling tale. This time, on Indra: Thundergod by Rajiv G Menon. The author tells DNA about being inspired by Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and spending over ten years researching for the Vedic trilogy (of which Thundergod is the first book).

Thundergod is the story of Indra, who according to Indian mythology is the king of gods. Why did you choose to make him more human than god in this book?
It is my belief that our old gods were humans with extraordinary abilities. One of the first things I noticed when I was researching Indra for this book was that there is very little mention of his origins in Indian mythology. Most of our stories already depict him as the king of the gods albeit with very human weaknesses. History is rife with examples of great kings and warriors who were worshipped by their subjects as gods. It is still very much a part of our culture to deify individuals with extraordinary abilities. I think that was the case with Indra. War was very much a way of life for the early Vedic Aryans who were pastoral nomads. So it was natural for them to elevate the greatest warrior of that time to the status of a god.

How long did it take to write this book?
I have been researching this trilogy for about ten years now. This book took about a year and a half to finish. My process initially was pretty chaotic but once I settled in I worked about 8-10 hrs a day taking a break for an hour every four hours. I do a lot of my writing in Goa, being on a beach works really well for me.

What did you struggle with most? And what was most enjoyable?  
I can’t think of anything in particular I struggled with. How to end the book presented a bit of a challenge as I had initially envisaged the trilogy as one story. When I got down to actually plotting it I realized that it would have to be more than one book so I had to find an interesting way to end the first installment. Oh yes! The erotic scenes presented a bit of a challenge, as I had never written anything like that before.  There were times when I considered doing away with them completely but then a story about Indra would have been incomplete without it.

It would be hard for me to pinpoint what was most enjoyable, as I have enjoyed every moment of the process. I’m fortunate to have got the opportunity to do something I truly love and so confronting even the challenges was enjoyable.

Has writing this book changed you in some ways?
‘In some ways’ would be an understatement. There has been a tremendous change in my outlook, in my approach to work and in the way I choose to live my life.

There's been a slew of mythological fiction from Indian writers recently. What, according to you, sparked this trend?
In one word ‘Success’. The success of books like ‘Immortals of Meluha’ and ‘The Krishna Key’ have been instrumental in starting this trend.

Do you read your contemporaries?
Unfortunately my reading habit has taken a beating in the last two years. It has been largely restricted to my research material. But I enjoyed Wilbur Smith’s series on ancient Egypt and George RR Martin’s ‘The Song of Ice and Fire’ saga.

Who/what are you literary influences?
JRR Tolkien! I think I was 15 years old when I came across a copy of the Lord of the rings. The old edition had all three books in one volume and looked very intimidating. But once I started it I could not put it down. I was amazed at the extent and beauty of his imagination.
In addition to this, I’ve found the works of Charles Dickens, Alexandre Dumas, Mark Twain and more recently Stephen King and Joseph Campbell inspiring.

You have borrowed elements from different mythologies to create a fantastical, fictional world. Would you call your work artificial mythology?
I’m not a big fan of the term ‘artificial’. I think I would like to call it ‘mythology revisited’.

Do you think it important to create new myths?
I think it’s more important to study the existing myths first before we create our own. Classical Mythology is relevant today if you wish to know how your ancestors lived and how they perceived their universe.

Tell us a bit about the next book of your Vedic trilogy.
The second book is called Rakshasas – The shadow warriors. This book takes you into the heart of the Dandaka forest on the Indian peninsula and gives you an insight into the lives of a tribe of hunter-gatherers and how they cope with the invasion of their land and destruction of their habitat by invaders from the north.

Before setting out on a writing career, Rajiv Gopalakrishnan was an actor, occasional screen writer, traveller and a beach bum. A voracious reader since childhood, he was fascinated by stories and characters from Indian, Greek and Norse mythology. Thundergod was born as a result of this fascination.