Amish Tripathi is one of the contemporary writers who have successfully explored mythology as a genre. Time and again the writer has left readers impressed with his stories. Well, the author has returned with his latest piece of literature called, Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta. As the name suggests, the book looks into one of the most formidable antagonists we've ever known. But was Raavan just a big, bad villain? We're about to find out!
We spoke to the talented writer and here's how our conversation went:
What drew you towards choosing mythology as a genre?
I didn't really choose mythology as a genre. Authors tend to write in an area where they have knowledge. So, I happen to have knowledge in this area because of my family background and the books I read. Therefore, my books are in this genre called mythology or 'pouranik katha' as it's known in Hindi.
Raavan is seen as an antagonist by most. What new perspective does your book offer to the readers?
Raavan is seen as a far more villainous figure today than he was in ancient times. In fact, our ancestors saw Raavan in quite a nuanced way, our ancestors saw life itself in a very nuanced way. My books are perhaps closer to our ancient versions than the modern ones. I would, of course, like to see a revival of our ancient way which was far more liberal, inclusive, far more knowledge-driven and far more nuanced.
You will be promoting the book through a quiz on the game show app, 'Loco'. Do you think technology provides an advantage in promoting content?
It's undoubtedly a brave new world for content creators. But there's a downside to technology as well. Mobile phones have created so much distraction in the minds of readers. I'd about research conducted in the US which proves that the average attention span of youth is down to 9 seconds. Even a goldfish has a higher attention span. So, technology is a supporter as you can reach so many people. It is also a challenge because people are so distracted. So, we have to use all avenues possible to promote our books and of course using a quiz show is fantastic, especially a quiz show based on questions around mythology. There's close alignment with the kind of books that I write and it's a test of skill as people will be answering questions based on mythology. So, I am excited about it.
We also spoke to Aditi Srivastava, Founder of Pocket Aces about the role of digital platforms in promoting content and more.
Here's what she had to say:
The younger millennials moving away from the habit of reading which is why Amish and Westland are using a very interesting way with the gaming platform, Loco to market this book. They're trying to appeal to the digital audience in digital ways to pick up a book. We also did a Live on Filtercopy with Amish to unveil his trailer, where I asked him a bunch of questions and the audience was so engaged and were even asking interesting questions. So, Amish has been doing the right thing in trying to appeal and making the digital audience aware of his work.
We can't wait to read about this nuanced version of Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta through Amish's vision, what about you?