Outlook – July 28, 2019

(Axel Boer) #1

‘Those in the centre of the nati onal debate must speak out’


Amish, the author who made mythology
cool, is a bestselling Indian writer in
English whose books have sold five mil-
lion copies. His new book, Raavan, the
third in his Ramachandra series, after
Ram and Sita, is the darkest and deals
with a complex character. Amish talks
about villains in our stories, how India
is not proud of its culture and extr-
eme religious positions with Satish
Padmana bhan. Excerpts:

There have been so many retellings of
the Ramayana and yet its power rema­
ins intact. How were you swept by it?
I had heard these wonderful lines—no
Indian reads or hears the Ramayana for
the first time. We are just born with it.
We are a surviving ancient culture and
these stories are in our genes, helping
us explore them, learn from them, cele-
brate them. One reason why our culture
has remained alive is our tradition of

retellings—keeping the soul of the old
but adding something new. We have the
ideal mix of rigidity and flexibility. I
learnt much I write today from my
family. My grandfather was a pandit in
Kashi; my parents are deeply religious.
Your new book Raavan is one of the
darkest you have written. What kind
of research goes into it?
I don’t do research for a particular book.
Whenever I am not writing, I keep

AMISH INTERVIEW


SURESH K. PANDEY

92 OUTLOOK 29 July 2019

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