Quotes from Amish Tripathi

No disrespect to any other god, but Shiva's an outsider god. He breaks the rules. He's a brilliant musician, a brilliant dancer; he treats his wife as an equal, and she opposes him many times, but he obsessively loves her.

I never thought my ideas would actually get published.

When the book is over, I think of innovative marketing ways to reach to a larger audience. I think wine and cheese book launch parties are a waste.

A bad book and good marketing won't work, the same way a good book and bad marketing will also not work. There is no choice in the matter that if you need to write a good book, you also need to have good marketing for it.

In the India I was growing up in, history wasn't really a wise career option. People would joke and say, 'History's okay, but what's your actual job?' I didn't come from a privileged background and couldn't afford to be irresponsible, so I did the pragmatic thing and did a MBA.

Myths are part of our DNA. We're a civilisation with a continuous culture. The effort to modernize it keeps it alive. Readers connect with it.

When I'm writing, I am lost in my book. Except family and close friends, I don't care about what critics, publishers or readers might think.

When I write, I tend to be quite cut off from the world. At that point of time, I'm not thinking about editors, publishers or readers. I write the story the way it comes to me.

I was a very happy banker, but I feel happier as an author.

The opposite of love is not hate, its apathy, when u simply don't bother about that person!

The oppposite of love is not hate. Hate is just love gone bad. The actual oppposite of love is apathy. When you don't care a damn as to what happens to the other person.

He has turned my life around by 180 degrees, I still don't understand why Shiva has blessed me so much. I believe he'll bless the worst of us first because we need it the most.

With due apologies to Shakespeare, some people are born writers, some people achieve it after a lot of hard work, some people have a writing career thrust upon them. I am in that last group.

I see everything like a movie. I laugh and cry, I smell, touch, see and describe my own experience. I don't care if this sounds strange; I am not the creator - I am only the channel. The story is given to me.

People do what their society rewards them to do. If the society rewards trust, people will be trusting

Since I don't come from a privileged background, I couldn't afford to be irresponsible with career decisions. I wrote two books alongside my job and resigned only when I realised I can make a living.

Even though many Indians can read or speak English, for most, it is not their first language. At the office, we speak in English, but we consume our culture in our own language.

India has a long tradition of reinterpreting religious myths.

Truth doesn't have to be liked. It only has to be spoken. Speak it out. The truth may hurt you, but it will set you free.

No. The purpose is not the destination but the journey itself. Only those who understand this simple truth can experience true happiness.

Shared secrets have way of creating bonds

The youth in India tend to be rebellious, as with everywhere else, and that makes Shiva exciting. He has the rebellious qualities that the youths like.

I'm certainly not surprised by the passion of the youth for our myths. Mythology is almost a part of an Indian's DNA.

I turned atheist in the '90s when India went through troubled times - communal riots, bomb blasts... Mumbai, where I live, was badly affected. I blamed religion; also, extremists on both sides - right and left.