An Oriya translation of ‘Immortals of Meluha’ the first volume in ‘The Shiva Trilogy’ by Amish Tripathi is on the
stands now. The book has been translated
by poet Manu Dash. Manish Kumar of Orissa POST interacted with the author, who has lived in the state in his childhood, against this backdrop. Excerpts from the e-mailed interview:
Q: What are your recollections of living in Orissa?
A: Most of my childhood memories are of Orissa. I am still fond of my early days that I spend in the state. Our family lived in Kansbahal which is close to Rourkela. My father used to work at a factory there. We stayed there from the mid 70s to mid 80s. My initial schooling was done also there at the Utkal English Primary School.
Q: What was the reason behind launching your maiden book ‘Immortals of Meluha’ in Oriya?
A: I have told my publisher that all my books should be made available in all major Indian languages. There is a market in Indian languages for books. The only thing that lacks is a proper marketing and distribution system. Out of the 3.5 million copies of my books that are in print, over 5 lakh are in the Indian language editions. ‘The Shiva Trilogy’ is already available in English (South Asia), Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Assamese, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Estonian, Spanish, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesian, English (UK) and English (US). The Oriya language edition is a key part of this extension.
Q: What pushed you to turn into an author from a banker?
A: I come from a middle class family. So I cannot afford to be irresponsible with my career choices. I resigned from my earlier banking job only after my second book. It was only after my royalty cheque became more than my salary cheque. You can call that boring but I call it pragmatic.
Q: There are different budding ‘working authors’ in Orissa too who have written books and are planning to write more. When do you think is the right time for them to quit job and devote full time for writing?
A: I always advise writers that it’s a good idea to have a job on the side. It ensures that you don’t have any trouble paying bills at the end of the month. You should write on weekends and whenever you have free time in the weekdays. 24 hours is really a lot of time. You can certainly find time to both work at your job and write a book as well. That’s what I did for my first two books.
Q: Your maiden book which became quite popular among Indian readers was first rejected by 20 publishers. What kind of excuses did they give for not publishing it?
A: Primarily, I was told that my books are based on religion. The publishers also said that the main target readers in the market are youths and that my books cannot succeed as the youths apparently are not interested to read a book on religion. I was in fact asked by many publishers who rejected my work to write love stories. I was asked to write stories of my IIM Calcutta days since that could work well with the youths.
Q: But were you personally sure that your maiden book based on mythology could connect to the young readers?
A: Frankly, I wasn’t sure at all that my book would be a big success. I just wanted to do the best that I could. The rest was up to Lord Shiva. I guess without realising it, I was living the advice that Lord Krishna gives us in the Bhagavat Gita: ‘Karmanyevadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana’. I was only focused on the work I must do, not on the fruits of the work.
Q: During your research for your books, did you find mention of Indian gods and goddesses in other parts of the world?
A: Yes. When it comes to Ramayana, there are many interpretations of the epic. Not just in India, but across the world. In fact, in the first and the early parts of the second millennium, many parts of the world, especially Southeast Asia, took on the stories of Lord Ram as their own. They worshipped him just as we Indians did. I guess his story is universal.
Q: Do you intentionally experiment to be allegorical in your writing and want the readers to derive inspirational messages at the end of their reading?
A: Yes I do. For me, the books that I write are vehicles to convey some philosophical messages that I feel strongly about. I understand that some people may read the books only for the story. That is okay. But many could also think on the philosophies being communicated. That gives me happiness.
Q: A movie based on your novel is being planned. What is the progress on that front?
A: The project is progressing. It’s at a scripting stage now. I am sure that we will all make a movie that is worthy of Lord Shiva.
Q: What are your future plans?
A: As of now my focus is on the next book of the Ram Chandra Series. The first book of the Ram Chandra Series, ‘Scion of Ikshvaku’, was released in June, 2015. By God’s grace, it has been received well and it was the highest selling book of 2015 with revenues of `22 crore. The series has 5 or 6 books in it.
