A good balance between the heart and the mind is especially important for a successful life: Amish Tripathi

India’s greatest mythological fiction storyteller Amish Tripathi will be participating once again at the upcoming Jaipur Literature Festival 2023 to be held in the Pink City from 19th to 23rd January, 2023. In this exclusive interview, the author talks to us among other things about the latest book of his Ram Chandra Series, ingenious marketing strategies he uses to sell his books, and his thoughts on participating in the greatest literary show on earth.

What are your thoughts on being associated with the ‘Greatest Literary Show on Earth,’ the Jaipur Literature Festival?

My association with the Jaipur Literature Festival has been a long one. I have enjoyed my time here whenever I have come. It is a wonderful place to meet some of the finest thinkers and authors in the world and listen to thought-provoking ideas and discussions. And more importantly, engage with readers. I am returning after a long time, and the first time that I will be attending JLF at its new venue, Hotel Clarks Amer. I am really looking forward to it!

You are an IIM (Kolkata)-educated banker-turned-author. How did you decide to make the career shift?

I wish I could say that it was a romantic decision where I listened to the call of my heart, kicked my boss, and left my job to become a writer. Because it would make me sound very cool. But the reality is more pragmatic, and perhaps boring. I did listen to my heart in terms of writing my book. I refused to make any changes to the book that I was not convinced of, even letting go of a potential contract and having to self-publish for the sake of my convictions. For the book itself was close to my soul; so, I listened to my heart for the contents of the book. But the business aspects around the book, and my career planning, was all done pragmatically. I listened to my head for that. I resigned from my job only with my second book, when my royalty cheque became more than the salary. And even then, I left on good terms with my boss, completing all my projects and helping hire and train my replacement. A very pragmatic reason for that – what if I needed my boss to help me with another job in case my writing career did not last! Net-net, I used my heart to decide on the destination (becoming a writer) but used my mind to pragmatically plot the journey (when and how I would leave my job). I have come to learn that a good balance between the heart and the mind is especially important for a successful life.

You recently launched the fourth book of your Ram Chandra Series, War of Lanka. Tell our readers about the book and the series.

The Ram Chandra Series has been written in a multi-linear narrative, to show different perspectives of the primary characters who drive the story forward; a bit like giving the readers a Rashomon effect. For only when you understand different perspectives, do you truly understand the story. Therefore, the first book, Ram-Scion of Ikshvaku, tells the story of Lord Ram from his birth to the time Goddess Sita is kidnapped. The second book, Sita-Warrior of Mithila, follows the tale from the birth of Goddess Sita till her kidnapping. And Raavan-Enemy of Aryavarta, chronicles the events from Raavan’s birth to the time he kidnaps Goddess Sita. So, all three books have different beginnings, but a common ending: where Goddess Sita is kidnapped. The fourth book of the series, War of Lanka, is a common narrative i.e., from immediately after Goddess Sita’s kidnapping till the death of Raavan and the return of the royal couple to Ayodhya. The first three books prepare the readers to understand the fourth book better. It is a slightly complicated narrative structure, but luckily for me, my readers are intelligent and like things that are complex!

Tell us about the process of research that goes into the writing of your books.

My paternal grandfather was a pandit in Varanasi and a teacher at Banaras Hindu University. My maternal grandmother was also a teacher at Gwalior. So, I learnt a lot about our culture, traditions, religion and spirituality from my family. Also, I read a lot. I read at least 5-6 books per month. All that knowledge also helps. Lastly, I travel a great deal, including for some documentaries that I have shot with Discovery TV. And travelling is one of the best ways to learn. And that also goes in my mind as research. How all this knowledge goes into my books though, is up to Lord Shiva. For I am only a channel.

You are known for applying some ingenious marketing strategies to sell your books. Tell our readers about them, and how they have helped?

Thank you. But the credit goes to the wonderful teams I have had the pleasure of working with. Even for War of Lanka, I thought my new publisher HarperCollins, and the agency Oktobuzz, Moes Art and ThinkWhyNot did a wonderful job. Oktobuzz did a brilliant job on the cover design and on social media; we have received almost universal positive feedback on the cover. Moes Art drove the PR for the book; I was coming back after many years, but they did a rocking job in keeping the PR coverage as high, if not higher than my earlier books. ThinkWhyNot has driven some of the most innovative marketing activities of my books in the past, from trailer films to music albums. This time they launched an Augmented Reality (AR) campaign for War of Lanka, the first time that AR has been used to market a book in India. The net result of the fantastic work by the publisher and the agencies was that War of Lanka is selling at an even faster pace than Raavan-Enemy of Aryavarta!

In recent years, there has been an increased interest among Indian readers in stories of history and mythology. Why do you think this has happened?

There was always interest in our epics, which in traditional India is called either itihas or pauranik katha. It is just that this demand was always there in the segment of the book market that read in Indian languages, and perhaps not in the purely English-speaking one. I think as India has developed post the economic reforms of 1991, and more Indians from real India have become a part of the English-speaking market, the demand for stories based on our epics has increased in English-language publishing in India as well.

You have also written two non-fiction books, Immortal India and Dharma. How different was the process of writing them, and do you plan to write more non-fiction in the future?

My fiction books are all built around philosophical concepts. So, in a way, the first step is non-fiction philosophies, and the second step is the fictional story wrapper around the philosophy. All my fiction books have step one and two. The non-fiction books have only step one – essentially, communicating the philosophy. So, in some ways, it is a little easier for me to write non-fiction. And yes, I do intend to write more non-fiction in the future. I had written Dharma with my sister Bhavna, and another nonfiction book with her will come out within the year.

Which are some of your biggest literary inspirations? All-time favourite books and contemporary authors of mythological fiction?

I think if one can list only a few all-time favourite books/authors from contemporary times, then one has not read enough. So, if I am forced to choose, I will pick the Gods among us writers i.e., Maharishi Valmiki and Mahirishi Ved Vyas.

Director Shekhar Kapur is making a web series based on your Shiva trilogy. Tell our readers more about that.

Yes, it is a great honour for my team and me that a great filmmaker like Shekhar has taken up the project. He is a dear friend too, and I have complete faith in him to do justice to the trilogy.
You are also an Indian-government diplomat, a host for TV documentaries and a film producer.

Tell our readers more about these various roles that you play.

Yes, I have other roles too, besides being an author. I work as the Minister (Culture & Education) at the Indian High Commission to the UK and Director of the Nehru Centre London. I also host TV documentaries. In 2022, I released two documentaries that I had worked on with Discovery TV – the first was Legends of the Ramayan and the second was The Journey of India. My team and I, along with partners, are producing a movie based on my book Suheldev. So, the days are packed!

Reportedly, your next book is about gaming and time travel. Tell our readers more about it.

Yes, that is true. But it is too early to speak of it. You will have to wait for some more announcements.

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