Amish Tripathi - Immortal India: Articles and Speeches by Amish

westland publications ltd

IMMORTAL INDIA

Amish is a 1974-born, IIM (Kolkata)-educated, boring banker-turned-happy author. The success of his debut book, The Immortals of Meluha (Book 1 of the Shiva Trilogy), encouraged him to give up a fourteen-year-old career in financial services to focus on writing. He is passionate about history, mythology and philosophy, finding beauty and meaning in all world religions.

Amishs books have sold more than 4 million copies and have been translated into over 19 languages.

Amish lives in Mumbai with his wife Preeti and son Neel.

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Other Titles By Amish

SHIVA TRILOGY

The Immortals of Meluha (Book 1 of the Shiva Trilogy)

1900 BCE. The inhabitants of that period know the land of Meluha as a near perfect empire created many centuries earlier by Lord Ram, one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived. Now their primary river Saraswati is drying, and they face terrorist attacks from their enemies from the east. Will their legendary hero, the Neelkanth, emerge to destroy evil?

The Secret of the Nagas (Book 2 of the Shiva Trilogy)

The sinister Naga warrior has killed Brahaspati and now stalks Sati. Shiva, the prophesied destroyer of evil, will not rest till he finds his demonic adversary. Fierce battles will be fought and unbelievable secrets revealed in this second book of the Shiva Trilogy.

The Oath of the Vayuputras (Book 3 of the Shiva Trilogy)

Shiva is gathering his forces. He reaches the Naga capital, Panchavati, and Evil is finally revealed. The Neelkanth prepares for a holy war against his true enemy. Will he succeed? Discover the answer to these mysteries in this concluding part of the bestselling Shiva Trilogy.

RAM CHANDRA SERIES

RamScion of Ikshvaku (Book 1 of the Series)

3400 BCE. India. A terrible war has taken its toll and weakened Ayodhya. The damage runs deep. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He, instead, imposes his trade. Money is sucked out of the empire. Through the suffering that people endure, they do not realise that a leader is among them. An ostracised prince. A prince called Ram. Begin an epic journey with Amishs Ram Chandra Series.

SitaWarrior of Mithila (Book 2 of the Series)

An abandoned baby is found in a field. Protected by a vulture from a pack of murderous wolves. She is adopted by the ruler of Mithila, a powerless kingdom, ignored by all. Nobody believes this child will amount to much. But they are wrong. For she is no ordinary girl. She is Sita. Continue the epic journey with the second book of the Ram Chandra Series: A thrilling adventure that chronicles the rise of an adopted child, who became the prime minister. And then, a Goddess.

For those who want perspective to some current debates that make breaking news, Amish writes with an ease and depth that makes this a must read. Amish negotiates through the most controversial and topical of issues with an unaffected clarity. From LGBT rights to the Uniform Civil Code, he pierces through to the nub of the issue. Not only is he the most fascinatingly innovative interpreter of Indian myths, but also one of the most original thinkers of his generation.

Arnab Goswami

Ive been familiar with Amish for years watching his books fly off the shelves at airports. Getting to know him lately has revealed to me a deeply thoughtful mind with an unusual, original, and fascinating view of the past.

Shekhar Gupta

Amish Tripathi is one of the most authentic voices of the new, young and self-confident India. His novels, including a retelling of the Ramayana story, have made a huge impact. Now he explores some of the contemporary issues confronting India. He does it with remarkable lucidity and Indian-ness. To understand the New India you need to read Amish.

Swapan Dasgupta

One of Indias best storytellers looks at todays burning issues and clarifies the arguments by blending reason and history into an extremely readable collection of essays.

Vir Sanghvi

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First published by westland publications ltd, 2017

Copyright Amish Tripathi, 2017

All rights reserved

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Amish Tripathi asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

ISBN: 9788193432006

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This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by any way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the authors prior written consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews with appropriate citations.

www.authoramish.com

To Bhavna Roy

My sister,

A gyan yogi, a philosopher,

A proud inheritor of Indian wisdom,

A seeker of knowledge from around the world,

One who has often lit my path,

And more importantly, walked with me

CONTENTS

Om Namah Shivya

The universe bows to Lord Shiva.

I bow to Lord Shiva.

Janani Janmabhoomischa Swargadapi Gariyasi

Mother and Motherland are superior to heaven

Lord Ram, in the Ramayan

This is my first non-fiction book. It is, essentially, a collection of my thoughts on various subjects, crystallised through articles that I wrote, speeches that I made, and debates that I participated in.

There are many who have helped cement, and at times temper, my thoughts. And there are others who have helped bring these thoughts on to public platforms. Id like to acknowledge some of them.

India, my country, and the land of my karma. I am defined to a great degree by my Indian heritage. My thoughts, my values, my way of life, are moulded by the culture and the heritage of my land.

Neel, my son, my blessing. And in some aspects, my teacher; as I explain in an article in this book.

Preeti, my wife, and one of my closest advisors. Bhavna, my sister; Himanshu, my brother-in-law; Anish and Ashish, my brothers; for all their inputs to my articles and speeches. My sister, Bhavna deserves special mention for the time she invests in reading every article of mine in minute detail, along with her deep advice. My brother-in-law, Himanshu and my elder brother, Anish, also deserve special mention. Often, they advise me on the broader aspects of the topic, at times tempering my emotional enthusiasm with their sage wisdom.

The rest of my family: Usha, Vinay, Meeta, Donetta, Shernaz, Smita, Anuj, Ruta. For their consistent faith and love.

Gautam, the CEO of Westland, my publisher. A rare combination of efficiency, politeness and old-world manners.

Abhijeet, who has driven the marketing for this book. I have known him for years and hes one of the finest marketing minds I know. Its a delight to receive his support for this book. And Neha, my Relationship Manager at Westland, who manages all my activities there; multi-talented, enthusiastic, hard-working.