Indulge Time Pass: Amish Tripathi on why balance is so important amid the current crisis

Author and diplomat Amish Tripathi took on the role of the director of Nehru Centre in London earlier this year, and is currently adjusting to life abroad. The acclaimed author of the Shiva Trilogy got on a Zoom call with author and journalist Kaveree Bamzai for the recent episode of Indulge Time Pass and revealed that he has quite a lot on his platter.

“I am writing the fourth book of the Ramchandra series, I'm reading, supporting Indians who are going back home, and those who are stuck here, and conversations like these help me think,” he tells Bamzai. The author also opened up about living in a foreign country for the first time in his life, that too in a county which rarely sees the sun!

“I’ve travelled abroad but I’ve always lived only in India. This is the first time I’m living in a foreign country that too in a country that’s too cold. We are so used to the sun being around! Here the sun sets by 3, 3:30. there’s a certain amount of adapting that’s required and sometimes it leads to character growth,” says Tripathi. The writer also thinks that there are some lessons hiding in our familiar histories and knowledge which can help us cope with our current struggles. 

"Bill Mahr said recently that we can’t sanitize the entire world, but we can ensure we are stronger. Pranayam is something that most Indians know, it strengthens our respiratory systems; it's something that the world needs now. Indians can contribute a lot in this conversation because our spiritual approach is not based on faith. It’s based on exploration,” informs Tripathi.

The writer whose Shiva trilogy and Ramchandra series have made the mythological fiction genre more accessible to youngsters also thinks the ways to cope with the crisis can be learnt from Ramayana. “Do you know what Ramayana really means? Ram is obviously Ram, yana means travels, it’s the story of travels of Ram. The journey itself was seen as an educational experience. I think what’s happening with many of us, we are taking a mental journey, our life was such that we would go through things in a daze, we won’t have a fresh thought in our mind for days. It was just about going through the motions, now we can focus on the internal journey,” remarks Tripathi.

Tripathi also suggests that the Covid pandemic should make us take a hard look at our patterns of consumerism. “Unfettered consumerism and driving yourself like a maniac to buy stuff you don’t need, that is not right. We as a culture,worship the goddess of wealth, but that’s not all we worship. India has the most ancient pacifist traditions in the world, there’s a strength in that as well. We need the balance in everything, that’s the only way forward,” remarks Tripathi.