Man and Myth

In his new book,The Secret of the Nagas,Amish Tripathi presents Lord Shiva in a brand new avatar.

Myth,philosophy,history,tradition,legends and spirituality Amish Tripathi,an IIM-graduate and a banker by profession,charts the influences and experiences that made him take a calculated risk to write a thriller,from what was planned as a philosophy thesis. And as the 36-year-old reads excerpts from the second of the Shiva Trilogy series,The Secret of the Nagas,at the Capitol Book Depot,he confesses that its the super-duper success of his first novel,The Immortals of Meluha,that turned him into a full-time writer. The writing desk and not the bank is where Tripathi now plans to spend most of his time.

The Immortals of Meluha was a compelling tale of a Tibetan tribal called Shiva,whose adventures nearly 4,000 years ago,morphed into the mythical legends of the Hindu God,Shiva. The story takes place in the imaginary land of Meluha and tells how the people are saved from their wars by a nomad named Shiva. A fictional adventure series,the book has it all philosophies,spiritual messages,secrets,battles and mysteries. Today,He is God,but at that time,He was just a man, says Tripathi.

It was his grandfather,a pandit in Benaras and a maths and physics teacher,who was one of the most liberal men that Tripathi has ever known,got him absorbed in the rich and amazing Indian mythology. I would discuss the Vedas,ancient Indian texts,history,religion with him,and began to absorb varied interpretations of God,evil,good and demons, says Tripathi.

He began with writing philosophy,which wasnt reader friendly. He then decided to put in fiction and Lord Shiva became the hero of his first book. The story continues in The Secret of The Nagas.

Meluha,known to be the perfect empire,is riddled with a terrible secret. The sinister Naga warrior has killed Shivas friend,Brahaspati,and now stalks his wife,Sati. Shiva,who is prophesised as the destroyer of the evil,will not rest till he finds his demonic adversary. His spirit of vengeance and the path to evil will eventually lead him to the door of the Nagas,the serpent people. Of that,he is certain.

Unknown to Shiva,a master puppeteer is playing a grand game. In a journey that will take him across the length and breadth of ancient India,Shiva searches for the truth in a land of deadly mysteries only to find that nothing is what it seems, says Tripathi,promising that some unbelievable secrets will be revealed in this second book from the Shiva Trilogy.

Shivas journey symbolises the spiritual and physical journey of every human being into this world,into enlightenment and life itself.

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From being an atheist to this stage,its surely His blessings, says Tripathi. After completing the trilogy with The Oath of the Vayuputras,he is all set to write on Lord Manu,his version of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. There are so many tales waiting to be told…

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