New Delhi, Dec 26th, 2020: Kavishala hosted the eminent Indian author Amish Tripathi on the 3rd day of the “Kavishala Conclave”. Amish was joined by Ms. Bhavana Roy, who is not only the co-author of his upcoming book titled “Dharma “but also happens to be his elder sister. The session which lasted for a little over an hour was an intriguing and intense philosophical discussion on the key concepts laid out in the book. The session was hosted by Nilesh Joshi, who is an upcoming author in the philosophical fiction genre and has already published two books, namely “Ladakh: Chronicles to the Land of Lamas” and “Beyond the Night …. Before the Dawn” 


Below is the excerpt from the connect 


Nilesh: Something which intrigued me about the book was the cover. We would love to hear your interpretation of what the cover stands for and what it represents? 


Amish: The cover depicts the wheel of Dharma which most of the time is erroneously described as religion. Dharma is derived from root syllable “Dhr” roughly translates that which binds. One of the ways in which Dharma has been depicted is in the form of a wheel. If you observe a wheel is stable when it is in motion. Likewise Dharma is stable when you are in action, where there is Karma and thus the depiction . Bhavana: Adding on to it, the red dot represents the unseen stabilizing force which keeps all life centered and harmonized. 


Nilesh: One thing which I found very interesting in the book was the writing style, which is basically a conversation within a family. What prompted and inspired you use this style?


Bhavana: The gneiss of the book was 2014 where during a family conversation regarding idol worship my brother Anish suggested that Amish and I write a book together. I penned down the initial pages however it seemed more like a university thesis and that is when Amish came up with all the characters which really brought the book to life. Amish: I would love to take credit for this, but I have tried to follow the structure which has been used in our ancient Upanishads. During a conversation between two characters, you can include a counterpoint, which makes it easier for the reader to understand the topics being discussed. We have also not curtailed ourselves to Indian philosophy and tried to include the influences of other cultures as reading about other cultures truly expands your mind and broadens your understanding.


Nilesh: Moving away from philosophy for a moment, what was the catalyst which inspired you to write?


Amish: Before I started writing Meluha, I was completely left brained and the initial concept of the book was a philosophical series dwelling upon the question of what is evil. That is when Bhavana and Anish asked me if I can write the text in a form a story. I feel deeply blessed that as I started writing the scenes kept on unfurling in my mind. 


Nilesh: Which leads me to another question, as writers we tend to get involved with our subjects. Who is your favorite character and is there an experience that you would like to share?  


Amish: Especially if you are writing fiction you do get deeply involved with your characters. You not only get to hear their voices but also get to see their thoughts. In some ways I know more about the characters than I know about people around me and the experience is very real. In the Oath of the Vayuputra’ss ,for instance, I was deeply disturbed when Devi Sati died and I was unable to do anything for two days. So one feels these characters, they really are a part of our being as an author. It truly is a special experience seeing and living those characters. …. Not sure if I could explain how I feel ..


Nilesh: No, you were. Earnestly speaking that feeling carries on to the writing as well. Probably that’s the reason why all of India and a large part of the world is so enthralled about your writings. Talking about emotion, this unseen force called Karma about which you have mentioned in the book as well. I know Karma is a fairly deep subject to talk about, but it would be great if you could touch upon the subject.


Bhavana: Karma is everything. Even your breath is Karma, your emotions are Karma. And this is what makes explaining Karma difficult because if everything is Karma then where do you start and where do you end and how many lifetimes is it going to take for you to get centered and equipoised to the wheel of Karma. Amish: If I can add, one thing prevalent in our ancient education system was that everyone had to learn philosophy, which is nothing but the art of living your life. Unfortunately, the subject is not included in our modern education system which primarily focuses on the giving you skills but does not teach you how to lead a fulfilling life with the skills you have learned. This is like giving a small child a knife. How do you learn those Philosophies or how do you make your decisions based on the ancient philosophies, those are the questions that we would want to trigger though this book. 


Nilesh: You talked about the education system and that triggers a thought in me related to the book. You have mentioned that We should Let our Heart do the talking. Now unfortunately in this day and age the heart does not do much of the talking. Since childhood We are taught to subdue its voice and either listen to our brain or let someone else make the decisions for us. How do we break this mold?


Amish: One of the bizarre things to happen in our world is putting reason and rationalism on a pedestal. In our Ancient culture we always had a marriage on the heart and mind. If you don’t have balance between the two then you would not know how to live your life well. 


Nilesh: Talking about duality, especially during the current scenario where most people are losing their livelihood and retaining a steady stream of income is a priority for most. How do we ensure that we retain our "Dharma Compass" as we battle through the rigmarole of life


Amish : This is one of the testing phases in History and there is no easy answer . There is a value to grief . We can either be weighed down by grief or we can use grief as an opportunity to spiritually evolve. Having said that the choice is ours , of what we make out of this grief. Of how we react to grief . We are not in control of what the world does to us but we are for sure in control of how we respond when the world is unfair. Bhavan : No doubt these are tough times and the world as we know it is changing faster than we can evolve. During these times it is extremely important for us to understand the other persons perspective and to look at the world from their point of view. Now this cannot happen till we know who we truly are . So “human nature” in-terms of human understanding needs to catch up with the external reality of the time we live in .


Nilesh: Talking about recent times and especially in this day and age of instant gratification, writing and reading seems to have taken a backstage . What do you feel is the future of the book industry in the coming times . What do you thinks is the importance of platforms like Kavishala as we step into 2021. 


Amish: For the Book industry it is the “Best of times and the Worst of times “.Across the world book sales for the top authors and bestsellers have gone up. Online consumptions has increased over the period. Internet which we like to talk about as a democratizing tool is turning out into a concentration tool since the listing in the first three pages of any online platform is that of either an already famous author or an existing bestseller. This is not good for the industry as it becomes extremely difficult for a new author to be discovered. This is where Kavishala comes in, because you are creating a new culture in the online space . More strength to you guys and others like you who are introducing new authors to readers 


Nilesh Joshi : Going back to Dharma A very intriguing line in the book is " What is in the interest of the beehive is in interest of the bee" . Would the bee be doing justice to its spiritual progression if it blindly follows the rules of the beehive which it does not relate to ? 


Bhavana : The crucial question is which is my beehive. In the ultimate scheme of things there is only one beehive , which is life. But that understanding and realisation for an individual is realistically far away . So we need to determine which beehive we are a part of . Your beehive should be the one which reduces your inner noise and brings you in harmony. 


Nilesh : As long as there are people there will be different opinions , who will regard our actions as either Good or Evil . Is there truly anything good or evil in your eyes.


Bhavana: It is good to have conflicting opinions .The thing we need to ensure is that we engage in any debate or communication within respect. The Absence of respect does not necessarily translate to disrespect , but whatever may be the situation, civility needs to be maintained. The more conflicting the ideas the more the growth. Amish : If two people have the same idea then one of them is probably not required .The very fact that we are different individuals we will see the world in a different way.


Nilesh : What is the advice do you have for upcoming authors and what is the advice that you have for people in search for themselves and on the spiritual path .


Amish : For authors, my advice is that firstly if your aim is wealth and fame then there are much easier ways. You should write with the purity of your heat and with passion .Once you have written however I would advise you to be pragmatic and market the book well. Bhavana : As an advice for someone on the spiritual path, all I will say is gather the courage to discover yourself and get to know your inner being .