By Amish Tripathi
Author of The Immortals of Meluha
Life is absurdly unpredictable, and especially so in my case. I was a non-believer till a few years ago. I had never even imagined in my wildest dreams that I would be an author, never having written anything of note in my life and spending most of my waking hours in the world of finance. Yet here I am, having written a book (and threatening to write two more as a part of a trilogy) on Lord Shiva!
Like most life-changing journeys, this one too began with a simple, unheralded step. It was a weekend if I remember correctly, as I watched a TV programme with my family. We discovered something interesting. We do know that for Indians, Gods are called Devas and Demons are called Asuras. What we don’t know is that in ancient Iran, amongst the Zoroastrians, Gods were called Ahuras and Demons were called Daevas! It’s the exact opposite of the ancient Indians. So if the ancient Indians and the ancient Iranians (Persians) met, they’d probably be calling each other evil!
This gave rise to an interesting discussion. Many times we confuse someone radically different from us as evil. And that is wrong. But the one undeniable fact is that evil does exist. And a theory occurred to me which could answer the question: What is Evil? My family encouraged me to write my thoughts down. I didn’t think I had it in me, but sometimes an idea or thought grips you so completely that you want to do something with it. So I began writing. And hence began the journey of the Shiva Trilogy – for who better to be the hero of a book on the nature of evil than the destroyer of evil himself, Lord Shiva?
The experience of writing this book has changed me from an extremist non-believer into a faithful believer. I am a devoted Shiv Bhakt today. I wear an ‘Om Namah Shivaiy’ kada. The most wonderful part for me is that today I have discovered beauty in every religion. In my puja room at home, I obviously have Lord Shiva’s idol in the centre. And various other Hindu Gods are also represented. But I also have a picture of the Kaba, Mother Mary, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Guru Nanak, Zarathustra. I have finally understood what my father used to tell me. There is beauty and ugliness in every religion. The choice before any man is what he wants to see. The beauty or the ugliness?
My discovery of faith has changed my character. I still work hard, but I don’t destroy my mind thinking of the next promotion and comparing myself to my batch mates. I appreciate how kind fate has been to me, what a wonderful family I have. I have become a much calmer man today. At peace with myself. Isn’t it ironic that writing an adventure book full of wars and drama has converted me from an over-competitive and insecure corporate rat to a person happy with his place in the world? But that is how life is. Absurdly unpredictable!
Feedback: amish.tripathi@gmail.com
