Everyone must be respected irrespective of religion or beliefs: Amish Tripathi, author of Ramchandra series

Lifestyle & Fashion

Renowned author Amish Tripathi is now the Director of The Nehru Centre in London and dons the hat of a diplomat as well. However, he continues to write his books and is currently working on the fourth book of the Ramchandra series. Speaking from London, he says that the city is a key cultural hub like New York and Los Angeles and he has been enjoying the city and his work immensely.

The author has always emphasised upon culture and traditions but during the times of the pandemic, he says there’s a lot one can learn from ancient India. “For instance, coronavirus is a respiratory disease and I think that Pranayama can be a great preventive method,” he explains. He also talks about our strong family support structure and how people living alone in the West and suffering through this pandemic is unimaginable.

Speaking about India, he goes on to elaborate that liberalism and tradition need to go hand in hand and this was very evident in ancient India as well. Everyone must be respected irrespective of religion or beliefs, he emphasises. “You can be traditional and have liberal values at the same time,” says Amish Tripathi.

Ask the author about the Shiva trilogy movie rights and he reveals that the rights have come back to him from producer Karan Johar. And what about the Ajay Devgn film based on his book? “Karan and I continue to be good friends but the rights are with me now. Ajay and I are big Shiv bhakhts. He and Kajol read my books and they are friends. There are talks on but nothing has been finalised yet. I do have friends in Hollywood too and would love to work with some actors there and in India,” he says without revealing too much.

Watch the in-depth interview for more: