Meet The Authors Of FGLF 2017: Amish Tripathi 

The 8th edition of the Fairway Galle Literary Festival is back and bigger than ever and will take place from the 11th to the 15th of January 2017. 

One of the Festival’s headlining authors, Amish Tripathi’s book ‘The Shiva Trilogy’ is the fastest selling book series in Indian history. 

His 4 books, the Shiva Trilogy (The Immortals of Meluha (2010), The Secret of Nagas (2011) and The Oath of the Vayuputras (2013)) and Scion of Ikshavaku have over 3.5 million copies in print and has a gross retail sales of over Rs. 100 crores. 

Amish’s unique combination of crackling story-telling, religious symbolism and profound philosophies has made him an overnight publishing phenomenon, with spiritual guru Deepak Chopra hailing Amish’s books as ‘archetypal and stirring’. 

He has also been listed amongst the 100 most influential celebrities in India four years in a row by the Forbes Magazine and has won many accolades including the Society Young Achievers Award for literature, Pride of India Award for literature, Provoke Lifestyle Award for literature and many more. 

Prior to becoming a novelist, you were a banker. Was the transition from banker to a writer a smooth one? 

Yes, it was relatively smooth. To be honest I come from a middle class background so I wrote my first two books along with my job. And I resigned only after my second book, after my royalty cheque became more than my salary cheque. 

When you were writing the first book of the Shiva Trilogy ‘The Immortals of Meluha’; did you know you were writing a trilogy? 

I just knew I was writing a very, very long story. It was divided into three books for convenience. But I don’t personally see it as three separate books; it’s just a very long story, which I knew it was going to be. 

Before this book was picked up, it was rejected many times. Now it’s the fastest selling book series in the history of Indian publishing up to date. What pushed you to get past the rejections and keep trying? 

I think the best way to answer this is to quote this lovely line from the Bhagavad Gita, “karmany evadhikaras te ma phalesu kadachan”, I guess without realising it I was only interested only in the Karma of writing or working or doing anything concerning my book rather than the fruits of my labour. So in a sense it was detached work which truly is the best place to be in, in terms of motivation and not letting external disappointments slow you down. 

You were initially an atheist and later you became a devoted worshiper of Shiva. What prompted you to write a trilogy that revolves around religion? 

When I was young I was very devout, my grandfather was a Pandit and both my parents were very religious. I grew up in a very religious family. I turned into an atheist when I was a teenager and when I was writing the first book, The Immortals of Meluha, it slowly brought me back to faith. 

Your latest book Scion of Ikshvakuthat was released last year was also based on a religious background. Would you continue to recognize your work in that genre or are there any plans to move into a different genre of fiction? 

Who can predict what will happen in the future? If someone had told me 10-15 years back that I will become a full time writer I would have probably laughed. So what I will be 10 years from now, I don’t know. But at this point in time all the ideas I have in mind are based on the mythology, history, spirituality, philosophy genre. 

Want to know what other exciting things they have in store for you this Festival? 

Check out the Festival’s revamped website, www.galleliteraryfestival.com, where festivalgoers will find an informed, consistent and active source for all vital information regarding the Festival. Follow the website and sign up for email updates on the festival programme highlights as they are announced.