Author Amish Tripathi talks about the changing dialogue in the world of mythology
Author Amish Tripathi talks about the changing dialogue in the world of mythology
Bestselling author Amish Tripathi, of Shiva Trilogy fame, will be present on the panel at Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest this year. He talks about his journey in writing, the evolution of beliefs through it and what lit fests are doing wrong. Also, right.
It is believed that you grew up atheist. How did you make the transition to becoming a believer My parents are very religious and my grandfather was a pundit in Benaras, so I didn’t actually grow up atheist, I grew up believing in God. I think, I became an atheist in my late teens, both me and my twin brother. Undoubtedly, my parents weren’t exactly pleased, but they never pushed their beliefs onto us—we were allowed to think, we were allowed to question. There’s a Sanskrit saying that goes, ‘if God gave you a brain, it’s because he wants you to use it’. I mean, there’s so many atheist philosophies from India—the Charvaka, the Sankhya. These were always respected. I think I became a believer while writing my first book. I think that Shiv is a very attractive God, in the sense that he’s rebellious, he doesn’t exactly dress like a proper God, he drank bhang, he treated his wife as an equal—there’s a lot to like about him. Did you expect that your book to be this popular among the youth I think it’s very fashionable to say “oh, young people aren’t interested in religion”. But, that isn’t necessarily true. Every generation looks at their culture and religion differently, they bring their own views to it, as they should. Of all the ancient cultures, the Indian culture is the only one that has lasted till date. And each generation that has lived through it has looked at it differently, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t interested in it.
Do you believe that in the current political climate, we should be more responsible about our how we approach our beliefs In our culture, we’ve always believed that even the Gods cannot judge. In Sanskrit, there’s no word for ‘blasphemy’; it is an entirely new concept. I think that is what is required—an openness to different views, different beliefs, since there is no one truth.
For instance, there are so many versions of the Ramayana.
You probably believe that the Ramayan includes the Lakshman Rekha, correct Valmiki’s Ramayana had no mention of this. The reason that the Lakshman Rekha became such a popular belief was because of the 1980s TV show on the Ramayana, which in turn was based on a 1960s interpretation of the original. There’s so many versions—there’s one in which Sita kills Ravan! It’s important to open yourself up to different interpretations, different versions of our ‘truth’.
You started out as a banker. Did you want to get into writing as a child and then just end up in banking, or was it the other way around I never thought I’d be a writer. I was never creative as a child. I was always a voracious reader, though. So, I think every good writer needs to be a good reader, but every good reader can’t be a good writer, which is why I never thought I’d get into writing; no one expected me to be a writer. Even once I’d started writing, I never thought I’d get published.
What do you think literature fests in India right now are getting right and wrong Well, for one, literature and learning was never an elitist occupation. In ancient times, everyone, no matter their class, was acquainted with the same stories. I think we’ve moved away from that, but now lit fests are bringing literature back to the masses. What I think they’re getting wrong though, is not including enough regional writers. There’s so many Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamilian writers; I could go on.
