At the launch of his latest edition, The Oath of the Vayuputras, writer Amish Tripathi shared how the Shiva Trilogy shows the essentially secular spirit of India. Eram Aghalistened with rapt attention
Bashir Manzar from Kashmir is an ardent follower of Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy and was eagerly waiting for the release of the third and the final one — The Oath of The Vayuputras. After reading the first two books of Shiva Trilogy — The Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of The Nagas Manzar’s religious life went through a change. “He contacted me saying, ‘We had lost faith in God and after reading your book my faith has revived so now I want to explore my own religion — Islam,’” Tripathi shared the most memorable interaction he had with one of his readers two years back. He was in Delhi for the launch of the last in the Shiva Trilogy.
He added, “In my book lord Shiva enters through Kashmir, referring to that route Manzar said, ‘Just look at the sad state of the land which the lord blessed first with his feet. I hope to seek the blessings of both Shiva and Allah to save the land from the challenges it faces’. After reading his mail I had tears in my eyes.” The young readers fell in love with the ‘super-cool’ Shiva, and his book rekindled interest in the popular old Indian myths. His work affirms our faith in the belief that when things go wrong or when evil reaches insurmountable height then a hero emerges to conquer. The love for the hero and that apprehension to see evil die has made his work a piece of universal appeal. For him, as he has said in earlier interviews, Hindu Gods were not mythical beings but creatures of flesh and blood, who achieved divine status through karma. With due respect to different wings that influence the public debate in India he got down to share how his book has become a measure of secularism in India.
When asked how Shiva cuts across different religions, he said, “I am not surprised that the book is liked by all from different religions. It showed the essentially secular spirit of India. Sadly the public debate in India is dominated by the two groups of extremists — the secular and the religious. Religious extremists want to twist the religion and secular extremists look down upon those who want to practice their religion. But most of the India is deeply religious and liberal,” he said, while pointing at many more such symbols that have a universal appeal, “look at Ajmer Sharif, dargah of a Muslim saint, you don’t have to be a Muslim to be there. The little known fact of Ganesha Chaturthi in India is that Ganesha idols are made by Muslims and in some places the first puja is done by them,” he said. The writer will be looking at more themes to play with, “I have many ideas right now and inshallah all will turn into books,” he said.
“I don’t have fans… I have readers or customers. I sell my work to them. When you call someone your fan you somewhere ascribe them an inferior position,” he added.
His name has popped much too often, if not in regards to the third book then with regards to a film based on his work. “The producer is Karan Johar, he has contracted the rights for Immortals of Meluha. The work on the script is on and only after that they will decide the caste of the film,” he said, putting down further requests of sharing the name of who he would like to see as hero, “I don’t think it is okay to comment on that. It is professional if Dharma announces it. They know who I like as well, but I will keep it professional and respect their right to announce the name when they think it is right,” he said.
All he could confess was the requirements for the person to play the hero, “The role is fit for someone who has that charisma, body and is also a brilliant dancer, which I think is a rare combination,” he said.
To put a face to his imagination, we asked whom would he choose from yesteryear'sIJ “Charlton Heston; his role in Ben-Hur is very vivid in my mind,” he said.
With his book he has also been a recipient of some great compliments, like the one from Shekhar Kapur. It was “Amish is India’s first literary popstar”. What do you understand by literary popstarIJ “He himself is such a great filmmaker… and has been kind to say this for me. I think by saying ‘pop’ he wanted to acknowledge the number of copies I, as a writer, have sold,” he said.
While signing off he said, “It is surprising that no IIM teaches creative writing and even then graduates from there come up with writings. Training in management has helped in marketing and in the business aspect of writing.”