Amish Tripathi’s tale of Rama ready

Neena Sharma

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 23

After keeping his readers ensnared with tales of Lord Shiva through his Shiva Triology, bestselling author Amish Tripathi is now ready to take the readers on a trail of Lord Rama through his new book ‘Scion of Ikshvaku’ slated to be released in June.

Dipping into the rich mythological heritage of India, Tripathi has mastered the art of recasting mythologies, blending them in gripping tales of heroism and valour for the modern day reader.

“This has been going on ever since stories came to be told. Every generation has had a storyteller. In the 16th century, inspired by Valmiki’s ‘Ramayan’, Sant Tulsidas retold the story of Ram and Sita in ‘Ramcharitmanas’. There are several incidents in the book that have been wholly introduced by Tulsidas. For instance, the lakshman rekha incident does not find mention in Valmiki’s ‘Ramayan’,” said Amish, while speaking with The Tribune.

The writer was in Dehradun and held interactions with school students.

So deep-rooted is his interest in philosophy and mythology that Tripathi says that the surest way of getting acquainted with one’s history is by understanding “the lovely stories of our past. But the problem is we have no knowledge about our past. So much so that whatever comes our way through research or revelations made by Europeans is gamely accepted as the golden truth,” he added.

Amish credits his family for instilling in him the desire to acquaint himself with the ancient cultures.

“We Indians, irrespective of our religion, are the collective inheritors of our myths, stories and practices that shaped the thinking of our ancestors,” he affirmed.

With a few days left for his new book to reach the shelves, the book has generated quite a buzz. But the unfazed Amish says he has never been bothered about the fruit. “One has learnt to remain detached and unfazed by all this. I have never worried about the fruit,” he said.

For someone, who faced enormous difficulties in publishing his first book, the newer media and the internet are proving to be godsend opportunities for budding authors.

“The internet and the social media have democratised the world for a writer. Thanks to the social media, a new writer can reach out to his readers quite easily and a review of a book on the internet can be quite helpful,” stressed Amish.

A morning person, Amish is happiest writing in the quiet hours of the morning after some meditation and light exercise and he is often found nibbling cream biscuits to charge his batteries.