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stories, not characters.
HH: Had you not been a business man, how difficult do you think it would have been to release your first book? How important are business skills for an author, especially since all art is being made into a business today? AS: It would have been easier. And more difficult. Easier because I would not have had to go through the tedious process of breaking the golden handcuff that tied me down to my business interests. More difficult because I would not have had the financial security that is so very essential to first-timer writers.
HH: Almost all of your books have mythological / theosophical undertones, along with mystery. Is there any particular reason in selecting such a theme? AS: Not true. Only my Bharat series deals with stories that are rooted in India’ s history, mythology, theology, culture, politics or economics. The crime thrillers that I co-write with James Patterson are completely different. My non-fiction self-help series— 13 Steps— is also entirely different.
HH: How do you see the representation of Indian literature in the world literature scene? Are we witnessing a positive trend here or is there some kind of bias at play? AS: Our country has produced many stalwarts— Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lahiri, Aravind Adiga, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Rohinton Mistry and countless others. But the ones who are recognized outside of India are
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the ones who write in the literary fiction or non-fiction space. Hardly any writers of commercial fiction have built a name outside India. This is primarily because the Indian publishing industry did not really encourage Indian writers in the commercial fiction space. They were always busy promoting foreign authors in India. This trend only changed after the arrival of Chetan Bhagat in the Indian publishing space around 2004.
HH: What, in your opinion, is the quintessential quality a good work of literature must have? There are a million genres, and a million narrative styles. But what common something binds the best of the best together? AS: There is no substitute for a good story. Period.
HH: How do you think the life of a writer differs from that of a businessman, or a professional. Is it full of artistic eccentricities, or is it just the regular humdrum affair? AS: It could be different but doesn ' t have to be. I work only around thirty-five hours per week and do not work on weekends. I wake up at 5am every morning and write for 3-4 hours each day. My workday starts by 11:30 am. My weekends are devoted almost entirely to reading and research. I have no social life because my evening hours are spent entirely on research and reading. In that sense, my life is a boring one.
HH: Most of your story lines blend history, mythology and the modern era. So how much do you think mythology and
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history are indeed overlapping and to what extent do you think they influence the society of today? AS: Some readers lump me into the“ mythological fiction” category. Mythology does not really interest me though. What possibly holds promise is the overlap between mythology and history. Ask me to retell the story of Hanuman or Ganesha and I’ ll give up within the first few pages. Ask me to write a story on whether the crossing to Lanka actually happened in history and I’ ll jump in with relish. My writing is an attempt to address the tantalizing zone that is the overlap of history and mythology. What makes that possible is the fact that we Indians never really distinguished between Itihasas and Puranas. Our history often reads like mythology and our mythology could often be referencing history.
HH: With the recent attack on Sanjay Leela Bhansali and several similar incidents in the past, do you not fear the same could happen to you, considering the themes of your works? AS: The two cardinal rules for writing in this genre are— A— be thorough in your research and— B— approach the topic with a sense of respect given the fact that some of these issues involve personal faith or shared history. I always make it a point to provide a detailed list of reference sources so that my reader can go back and check out those sources for himself.
HH: Thank you, Ashwin, for your time!
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