Amish and Arindam Sil unveil The Secret of the Nagas at Starmark, South City, on Monday evening and (below) the author shakes the hand of his youngest fan of the day, Class V student Yuvraj Basu. (Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

Faith is the cards that have been dealt to us, karma is how we play those cards.”

That was author Amish at the Calcutta launch of The Secret of the Nagas, in association with The Telegraph, at Starmark, South City, on Monday.

That the IIM Calcutta grad is fond of philosophy is evident from his words — both written and spoken. But what many don’t know is that the insurance banker-turned writer was all set to write a book on philosophy. Till his sister called his writing a “cure for insomnia”, and others suggested he write his philosophy in a mystery-thriller format. Thus was born The Immortals of Meluha.

Many such nuggets about the 36-year-old author were revealed at the launch. Amish was in conversation with author-JU teacher Rimi B. Chatterjee. The Secret of the Nagas, published by Westland, was unveiled by actor Arindam Sil, a die-hard fan of Amish.

When Amish took the microphone, the audience shouted “Welcome to Calcutta”, a rare honour for an author who is just one year and two books old.

A smiling Amish said the trilogy was based on a simple belief — what if Shiva was human and it was his grand adventures that made people think of him as god? “May be some day, Mahatma Gandhi or Subhas Chandra Bose will be deemed as gods,” said Amish, who quit his bank job four months back to write full-time.

Amish and Arindam read out portions of The Secret of the Nagas, but the author was eager for people’s questions.

And there were many, ranging from the shades of grey in his characters to his encounters with Shiva, from whether he was more a Suryavanshi or a Chandravanshi to whether the philosophy in his books could be used to resolve the Teesta water issue with Bangladesh! One even wanted to know how Hitler had chanced upon the Hindu swastika and decided to misuse it.

Drawing a parallel with Winston Churchill to show how the hero of Britain was also the villain of the Bengal famine, Amish answered all the questions enthusiastically and eloquently, enjoying himself as much as his captive audience.

It was easy to see why Arindam had dubbed Amish the “Indian Jeffrey Archer” — not just because he is a good storyteller but because he’s a people’s author.

SAMHITA

Before the launch, Amish sat down for a quick chat with t2

Amish reads from The Secret of the Nagas at Starmark, South City, on Monday. (Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

You have said you had no expectations when The Immortals of Meluha came out. But after its runaway success, were you jittery before the release of your second novel?

While writing The Secret of the Nagas, I wasn’t. Because when I write, I completely cut myself away from every other thought. But yes, once I started the marketing in mid-June, I did get a little nervous... because that’s when you have to become practical, a man of the world. On Facebook, fans would write: ‘I hope you haven’t done this or that’, and I would be nervous because I knew I had already done it!

Also, many people were expecting another love story for Shiva. But in my mind, Shiva is a one-woman man. So I was nervous till the first week after the release. I was tracking responses on Twitter and Facebook. And I read many saying that Book 2 is even better than Book 1.

So the response is good for Book 2?

It’s been three weeks since it hit the stands and we have almost touched the 100,000 figure in sales. We have gone into reprint; in fact we had to order a reprint even before the release, because of pre-bookings.

Much is being said about your marketing skills. How are you promoting this book?

The marketing is dependent on the vision that we are setting up. For the first one, our vision was how to get people to notice the book. With the second title, we are trying to reach the audience outside the bookstore.

So we will launch a trailer for the book in multiplexes in September-end. We are reaching out to radio stations. With bookstores, we are covering 15 locations in the first phase and another 15 in the second. We will also go to very small towns.

So, which is your favourite part in The Secret of the Nagas?

The twist, where the identity of the Naga is revealed, but I can’t say more than that (laughs)!

What was the biggest challenge while writing The Secret… or the toughest decision you had to make?

I wish I could say that I struggled a lot while writing, but I didn’t. The book has been a beautiful spiritual journey. Of course, when one of the characters is in pain, I suffer with them.

What are the meanings of the symbols that you have used in every chapter?

They are symbols from the Indus Valley script. It is a pictorial script. To me, the first symbol means Man, the second, The Uniter of Nations, the third, Man of Knowledge and the fourth, Warrior. I have changed the fifth a bit, added two lines at the bottom, which I interpret as the third eye. Put together, this is how I would write “Shiva” using the Indus Valley script.

Have you started writing the final book in the trilogy — The Oath of the Vayuputras?

Not yet. I will start writing in October-end.

Since you are writing within the framework of Indian mythology, how much freedom do you allow yourself? Some readers are predicting that Sati will be called back to Meluha and die there, and that evil will be traced back where the journey had started — in Meluha...

My task is to go with the story. But the beauty with our mythologies is that there are so many interpretations, and often contradictory ones, that I don’t feel any constraint. But yes, I try to read up as much as I can.

Also, in the book, they are all humans, so death is inevitable. The question is how do they die, whether it is a magnificent death.

Have you thought of your life beyond the trilogy?

Sure. I have a story in mind on Manu, a story on my interpretation of the Ramayana. Then I have a story on the Egyptian mythologies, I have a story on Akbar.... They all have to do with history or the mythologies because those are my areas of interest.

POULOMI BANERJEE

VOX POP

I have read both his books and I love the simplicity of the language and the fact that the characters have shades of grey. We have always thought of Shiva as a flawless God, but this book gives Shiva very human traits, helping us identify with Shiva. I think the second book is even better than the first, for its twists and turns. I am craving the third book now.

Sugandha Bandyopadhyay, Class XII, Nava Nalanda

I have heard that Amish is actively involved in marketing his books. And that he has marketed his books very well. I have come to see how he does that.

Sankha Acharya, 26, professional

What I like best about Amish is that he has interpreted mythology in a completely new way. He has brought the gods to earth. And one can draw many parallels with his story and the modern world. Like the difference in the life in Meluha and in the land of the Nagas can be read in the context of the collapse of dictatorships that we are witnessing today.

I would recommend the two books to all my friends.

Soumyarup Dasgupta, fourth year, production engineering, Jadavpur University

I haven’t read the books yet but my daughter has recommended them to me. Also, my students read Amish a lot. I am here to pick up copies for the school library.

Anuradha Das, Director, Calcutta International School