Amish Tripathi: An author who rebooted mythology

Titles from the Shiva Trilogy and the Ram Chandra series, by 44-year-old Amish Tripathi, are permanent fixtures on the Indian fiction best seller lists. His books take off from Hindu mythology and feature fresh and imaginative retellings of episodes from the lives of well-loved deities. So, for instance, his Sita isn’t the conventional docile wife but is presented as “the warrior of Mithila”.

Tripathi manages to bring a sensibility that’s both traditional and modern to his work. This sets his novels apart from the numerous other works of popular Indian fiction. While his work is rooted in an Indic ethos, it isn’t confined to it, making it accessible to a larger readership. An alumnus of IIM (Calcutta), Tripathi’s success can be attributed to his grasp of the Indian fiction market and an understanding of what the reader wants.