To Love What You Do
You have a trilogy on books decoding life. Please tell us more about them and why a trilogy.
These are essentially the three goals of life. The first book ‘India Unbound’, focuses on artha, which is material well-being. The second book, ‘The Difficulty of Being Good’ emphasises dharma, which is moral well-being. And the ‘Riddle of Desire’ is on kama.
It was not a deliberate decision to write about the three goals but it was my good fortune that I have covered these three. The goals of life are human potentialities. When you fulfil your capabilities, you are on your way to living a flourishing life and that is one way to be happy. Each book deals with one. There are four books in this series. The fourth one, on moksha, is coming next year.
Who are some of your favourite writers?
For me, it is the classics like Mahabharat, Shakespeare and Greek tragedies or even the Karl Marx book Das Kapital, which too is a classic. There are about 100 books that I would say to anyone to just search online. If you just read these, you have made a life. You don’t need to go to Harvard or Oxford or any such places. You can be anywhere. But don’t just consume them, you must interrogate them, question them.
How long did it take for you to write a book? What was the process like?
It takes me four to five years to write one book. I try to confine myself to writing one at a time. I research, to begin with, but I am also writing at the same time. Every day, I try to write a para or two. Even when I am researching, I write down what it had meant for my book.
Would you like to share any advice for aspiring writers?
You have to first learn to love what you do. You have to acquire a love for writing, a love for words and then you have to take it seriously. Many people do it as a hobby but you have to take the hobby seriously. It cannot be that you come at it on and off depending on your mood. That cannot be the approach.
