When Master Storyteller Amish Shared His Stories With Coimbatore

Amish Tripathi, the rockstar of Indian fiction based on mythology was in Coimbatore recently, and the thousand plus audience were simply bowled over during the entire session. Thanks to the Indic Book Club, an initiative by Hari Kiran Vadlamani that Coimbatore has been able to see and listen to a number of eminent authors over the last one year. Tripathi, the best-selling author was at his best in the SNR Auditorium at the SNR Sons College, Coimbatore. The speech and the interactive session began with the lovely prayer song rendered by the children belonging to the SNR institutions. Thereafter the deputy managing trustee of the SNR Sons Charities, D Lakshminarayanaswamy welcomed the gathering and it was followed by an impressive introduction of Tripathi by the chief business officer of the trust, Swathy Rohit.

The author of the Shiva Trilogy shared his experiences during his interesting address to the audience. It was surprising to learn from him that his first book was rejected nearly 20 times before it was published due to his personal efforts. Tripathi hasn’t looked back since and now millions of his books are being read by his adoring fans in over 19 languages. He spoke about the cultures of the past and explained why India is immortal. Interestingly that is the core of his new work, which happens to be the first non-fiction work by him. “The universe is made up of stories and there are many truths. The cultures of Greece, Egypt, Scandinavia, Rome and Central America faded away simply because they refused to handle it the way the Indians did. Mythology is quite important and in fact more important than history. Our history is recorded in the form of inscriptions in the temples and also in the form of literature handed over to us from the past," said Tripathi.

Tripathi spoke about the Ahoms who ruled the North East for centuries and also about Lachit Barpukhan, the great warrior. He enlightened the audience by talking about the North Western warriors who lost in spite of being fierce warriors. Again he drew the attention of the audience to Rani Abbakka, Marthanda Varma, and the Maratha Queen Ahalya Bai Holkar, who had done much for the promotion of Maheswari sarees, temples and culture without compromising on the defences of her powerful kingdom. "We should include a lot more about Baji Rao and Rajendra Chola in our history books. Fortunately history is kept alive, thanks to television and cinema. Youngsters should read a lot more of mythology. I was happy to see a few elders who had come to meet me during a book launch simply because they wanted to see the guy who had got their grandchildren interested in Lord Shiva. Our rich culture is well preserved in the South and therefore it’s incumbent on the people living here to take it forward in a befitting manner,” added Tripathi.

The energetic author spoke about the concept of the nation state and through this address he shattered the myth that it was a concept brought in by the Europeans long ago. "Nations were cultural concepts and the modern fenced nation state emerged only after Westphalia. In fact, unlike our country, in Europe one had to be loyal to the sovereign and not the State! We must eschew anger, hatred and violence while understanding the truth. While we seek the truth we should be ready to reconcile and ensure that we live peacefully. Every culture and country has at one time been an oppressor or a victim.”

Tripathi spoke about the Purusharthas for they are the goals of life and while speaking about the many truths, he shared some nuggets on mythology according to which Lord Karthikeya was a bachelor god and was also the older brother of Lord Ganesh according to North Indian beliefs! Thanks to Tripathi, the audience came to learn about the Maratha navy and Kanoji Angre. It was a revelation when he stated that the Diwani of Bengal came to the British after the Battle of Buxar in 1764 at a time when the region had a 10 per cent share in the global gross domestic product. The author welcomes debates and arguments provided the people concerned are well informed besides being calm and composed. The audience came to know that the English conquered India from the Marathas and not the Mughals. He encouraged academics to rewrite history based on newer finds that may at times change the pattern or approach.

Tripathi is ready to help budding authors coming up with stories based on Hindu mythology. The whole interaction was smooth and also packed with enormous wisdom. Members of the audience simply loved the exchange and relished every moment of the event. Readers from across all age groups suggested that Tripathi choose suitable casts for his proposed movie or serial based on his books. The fount of energy from Amrita, Pramod Kumar, Coordinator of IBC Coimbatore Chapter,
thanked Tripathi and the audience in an appropriate manner. Lucky Coimbatore is ready to take Indic thought forward during the times to come.