With the upcoming release of the first book in his series on Lord Rama, author Amish

talks about the research and the writing of it

Amish Tripathi insists that there is a method to his madness, if you can call it that. After the
immensely popular Shiva Trilogy over two million copies have been sold in print Amish is back
with the next series on Lord Rama, with the first book titled Scion of Ikshvaku.
Actually, once I have written all the books in my head, maybe 25-30 years later, you will find that
there is a theme that runs through all of them. All my books tell the tale of the Vedic people, whose
culture began more than 12,000 years ago and was destroyed 3,500 years ago, he says, adding, If
you read through the Shiva Trilogy carefully, you will find that I have left clues for all these books in
there!
In his controversial essay Three Hundred Ramayanas, scholar A.K. Ramanujan mentions that the
hundreds of tellings differ from one another. To which, Amish says that his series will be another
respectful adaptation of the great story of Lord Ram and Lady Sita, based on the many versions he
heard while growing up from the Valmiki Ramayana to the Ramcharitmanas, Kamba
Ramayanam, the Adbhuta Ramayana and more.
The book, that will release on June 22, will include a bit of philosophy and deal with societal issues,
as with Amishs other books.
All my books have a core philosophy, with the story as a vehicle to convey it. The philosophies are
usually drawn from my understanding of Indian scriptures and life experiences. In the Shiva Trilogy,
the core philosophy was built around this question: What is Evil? The answer is not simple. In the
Ram Chandra series, I am trying to explore this question: What is an ideal society? And in this case
too, the answer is not simple.
So what is the message that Scion of Ikshvaku will convey? I think my attempt is more to speak of
philosophies that trigger some thinking in the reader, rather than giving a message. Everyone should
figure out the answers to their lives by themselves. Having said that, the idea is not to bore people.
And I hope that when readers read the Scion of Ikshvaku, they will appreciate it first as a fast-paced
story!
Earlier this year, Amish, who took part in The Hindus Lit for Life, mentioned that music played an
important role in his writing and one of his favourite albums included Kandukondain
Kandukondain. While writing the Ram Chandra series, Amish says he listened to almost all kinds of
music. From Indian classical both Hindustani and Carnatic to Western classical, Hindi film
music, regional language music, English Pop/Rock/Blues and even Heavy Metal, and World music.
The book jacket of Scion of Ikshvaku has hieroglyphic-like symbols that suggest a bigger part in the
story, much similar to what Dan Brown attempts with his books. Amish dismisses any comparisons
whatsoever with the U.S.-based author. My books only sell in the millions while Dan Browns books
sell in the hundreds of millions! But seriously speaking, symbols are probably at the centre of Dan
Browns stories. The symbols in my books are an offshoot of the stories and not at the centre. As for
the hieroglyphic-like symbols, it is based on the Indus Valley script; it is an undeciphered script, but

I have my own (unofficial) interpretation of that script. The symbols in the Ram Chandra Series
represent how Ram would be written in the Indus Valley script.
A banker-turned-writer with the Shiva Trilogy, Amish maintains that there was no pressure while
writing the Ram Chandra series, but only when it came to marketing it. I dont care about anyone
elses opinion when I am writing. I just go with the flow. But yes, when I enter the marketing phase,
as I am doing now, some amount of pressure does come in. I will be lying if I dont admit that. The
publisher has invested significant amounts of money in my new book series and it is my duty to make
sure that he recovers his money. But some amount of pressure is good. It focuses the mind.
Keywords: Lord Rama, Shiva Trilogy, Scion of Ikshvaku, Amish Tripathi, Ram Chandra Series