‘Those In The Centre Of The National Debate Must Speak Out'

Amish, the author who made mythology cool, is a bestselling Indian writer in English whose books have sold five million 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 extreme religious positions with Satish Padmanabhan. Excerpts:

There have been so many retellings of the Ramayana and yet its power remains 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, celebrate 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 reading. I read five to six books a month, I read non-fiction and my favourite genres are mythology, spirituality, science, politics, economics. I travel a lot and learn something about local ways. For instance, in Kenya I was fascinated by the warrior culture of the Masais.

Raavan is a very dark character. But he is different from your ordinary villain. He’s a scholarly, very complex man, he is not just violent. He is a brilliant musician, poet, good dancer, a good administrator. He is a fascinating, and troubling, character to write about. Even his violence is kind of studied…he will actually behead someone and look closely at the gaping neck, how the blood is spurting out. For him that’s a path to knowledge.

In our popular culture, do you think depictions of Raavan have become monochromatic?