If I can write, anyone can: Amish Tripathi

You are ready to announce your next book after the thundering success of your Shiva trilogy. Are you tense or excited?
While writing I'm not tense at all. In fact, I enjoy spending time in the parallel universe of the story, seeing what the characters are doing. But now that the marketing phase is coming up, of course I'm a bit tense and excited. But that is good! It'll keep me focused!

Is this book also a part of a series?
(Laughs) It will all be revealed in good time. Be there at the Jaipur Literature Festival on 23rd January to know about that!

You've said you're equally fascinated with the Indian, Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Anatolian civilisations. Will the new series see a 'civilisational shift' of sorts from India?
There were many concepts that I had. I have picked up one of them and started.

How did The Immortals of Meluha, your first novel in the Shiva trilogy happen?
As for writing, I never really wanted to be a writer. I was academically inclined and active in competitive sports. Yes I went to IIM Calcutta and love number crunching. But I was never creative. The fact that I've written three books that have been well received is actually a surprise to most of my close friends. Many of them still ask: "Sach bataa, actually kisne likha hai?" Trust me, if I can write, anyone can write!

It took the trilogy to bring you back to believing in religion, and making you a Shiva devotee?
Yes. It brought me back to faith. I had turned into an atheist. Particularly the blasts and riots which rocked the city left me disenchanted. I am now a devout follower of Lord Shiva. I wear an 'Om Namah Shivaya' kada, a rudraksh pendant and I worship Lord Shiva every morning. But I also respect all gods of all faiths. There's no contradiction in that. In fact, it is the Indian way. In the beginning I wasn't such a strong believer. No disrespect to any other god, but if someone like me had to be brought back to faith, only Lord Shiva could do it. I am a rebellious guy and Lord Shiva, after all is the original god of the rebels!

How does it feel to be having the last laugh over the dozen odd publishers who rejected your now phenomenally successful work?
Over 20 publishers rejected it actually! But look, hindsight vision is 20-20. I can't blame them for thinking that my book wouldn't succeed. It was in a genre that was sadly not doing well in the English language space. I'm happy my books have done well. Why turn that positive feeling into something negative by unnecessarily insulting others who were just doing their job?

Many lament that the good and the popular are no longer congruous in the world of writing. Would you agree?
What's popular gets decided instantly. What's good takes 20 years or more to figure. Many books that are considered classics today were panned by critics when they released. And many books that were popular in the past have been forgotten completely today. So let time decide whether a book is good or not. Until then, my suggestion is that we shouldn't judge others' tastes. Everyone has a right to decide for themselves what a good book is. We live in a free country.

T-shirts, tattoos and coffee mugs with Shiva iconography… Were you aware what you were unleashing with the trilogy?
I don't think I've unleashed anything. Lord Shiva was always popular. He has always been one of the most popular gods in the Indian pantheon. My books are only a small contribution to his greatness.

Did your banking experience come in handy while writing or did it get in the way?
(Laughs) Well some of the insurance company business plans that I'd written were fiction! I don't know if you'd call that practice for the fiction I wrote later!

You credit your wife with showing you direction when you felt lost…
Yes that's true. She told me not to think of myself as the creator of the story, but simply as a witness to it. That the story is actually taking place in a parallel universe where characters are alive... that I've been given the privilege of entering that universe and recording what I see. It was good advice and it really worked well for me.

Do you ever feel like going back to being a banker?
Are you seriously asking me this question? To be honest it's a thought that crosses my mind ever so often. Because I don't come from a privileged family. If my books stop earning enough royalty for me to meet my responsibilities, I'll have to go back to banking! Let's hope that doesn't happen though.

When is the movie based on your trilogy coming?
Karan Johar's company Dharma Productions has contracted the Indian language movie rights for the Shiva trilogy. Karan Malhotra and his wife are working on the script right now. It'll be a big budget movie series. So it'll probably take a few years before the first movie releases.

p_yogesh@dnaindia.net, @powerofyogesh