Storizen March 2018 Holi Special Issue Holi 2018 Special Issue | Page 32

STORIZEN INDULGE
My
PATH TO 
"GET PUBLISHED"
F
or some strange reason, people
assume that writing books on
mythology are a piece of cake and
the surest way to launch a career as a
successful, author. They wouldn’t be
entirely off the mark of course. After
all, this is a red-hot genre, thanks to
the likes of Amish Tripathi, Ashwin
Sanghi, Anand Neelakantan and
recently, Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
People cannot seem to get enough of
mythology and history, especially
since there is controversy, stardom
and big bucks involved. Usually,
though, it involves a lot more work
than randomly choosing a trending
character from one of the Sanskrit
epics, refurbishing the old legends to
suit modern sensibilities and
packaging it all very prettily. Luck and
arbitrary chance are the key factors
here. In this regard, it does not hurt
to have your fingers and toes crossed
although opinions vary as to the
overall efficacy of this method
towards determining your fate.
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Mercifully, I was not aware of all
these things when I embarked on my
own writing career. It would have
made things even more complicated
than they were. At the time, like every
aspiring author, I daydreamed about
emulating the feats of a JK Rowling or
Hilary Mantel and tried not to dwell
on the other side of the spectrum
which has way too many talented
writers languishing for lack of
recognition or remaining
unpublished.
Having taken the sensible decision to
merely live in the moment, work
really hard on Arjuna: Saga of a
Pandava Warrior – Prince, focus on
perfecting it and worry about its
future in future, I tried to do just that.
Barring a few terrifying moments
where you confront the distinct
possibility that you may not be as
good as your dream demands
fulfillment, I managed to complete
the first draft, to my satisfaction.