Shiva-Driven

“I was too much into studies and extra-curricular to devote time to worship,though my grandfather was a temple priest in Varanasi and both parents adhered to the religious regime,” says IIM-Calcutta passout Amish Tripathi,author of the current bestseller The Immortals of Meluha,the first of his “Shiva trilogy”. In Lucknow on Wednesday to launch the Hindi translation of the book and the second part titled The Secret of the Nagas at the Landmark bookstore,the author,a former investment/ insurance banker, shared the secret of his metamorphosis into a believer.

“Probably,all the history books I had read all my life out of sheer interest were my preparation for the literary feat I was destined to achieve. I learnt that exactly opposed to our terming the gods and demons dev and asur,respectively,the ancient Persians termed their gods and demons ahur and daiv. That led me to wonder if both are good than who is evil and vice versa. When a philosophy defining good and evil dawned up on me,I told my family and they egged me to write it and present it as a book,” says Tripathi,who started writing it in the form of a thesis but switched over to a fictional/ thriller format,describing Shiva as an ordinary mortal whose extraordinary feats elevate him to status of a deity.

In the process,he turned into a believer. “I chant the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra and several other invocations everyday,” he says,flaunting a bracelet with an Om Namah Shivay inscription. As big a rage as his debut novel is,it is esoteric and readers unfamiliar with Hindu mythology may find themselves clueless past even a 100 pages.

“There are so many interpretations…while the Vaishnavs believe Vishnu is the creator of the universe,Shaivas attribute all creation to Shiva. My grandfather used to quote from Rig Ved,which says at the very beginning that there is only one truth but its interpretations are infinite. If I had given footnotes or a background of the mythology,there would have been contradictions. So,I leave the reader with only my version of the story.” If young readers of all faiths are poring over the book and send him feedback and queries,he attributes the success and popularity to the “generous and secular quality of the Hindu faith.”

Considering the choice of subject,the book is conspicuously free of controversy.

“When I was planning the launch of the first book in March 2010,some PR agents offered to fabricate a controversy,TV crews,et al. But the book has done well enough without any gimmick…Lord Shiva be praised,” he smiles. The second book starts right from where the first ends and he will start penning the third and final part from October.