Steeped inside the tattered remains of old manuscripts, religion and mythology, are mysteries still uncovered. And going by the recent market trends, these stories have seen a spike in Indian English literature.
For the last couple of years, several mythological tales are getting modern makeovers and imaginative re-tellings. With the release of Conspiracy at Meru, the second book in the Vikramaditya Veergatha series just around the corner, one wonders the reason for the growth of books in the Indian mythological fiction genre. Although vernacular writers had recast myths before, the Indian publishing industry was skeptical of the demand for such fiction in English.
Amish Tripathi, author of The Shiva Trilogy and Scion of Ikshvaku series, says, “However it’s only recently that the English readers have got the taste of it,” adds Amish Tripathi.
V. Raghunathan, author of Duryodhana, believes that the thirst for mythology has been triggered by the recent wave of Hindutva in the country.
“Authors like Devdutt Pattnaik and Amish Tripathi may be instrumental in a spurt in the interest in mythology. Also, some contrarian books like Asura or Duryodhana, giving the vanquished version of mythological history, may be catching attention. These developments may have been aided by a distinct wave of Hindutva resurgence that has been evident in recent times,” he says.
Most of these novels are weaved around characters and narratives that the readers are familiar with. Trisha Das, author of The Mahabharata Re Imagined says, “It’s popular with writers because it’s also popular with the readers. We’ve all grown up with these stories, and now we’re telling them in our own way.”
Talking about the publishers’ interest in the genre, D. Sai Nath, marketing executive, Harper Collins, says “Trends keep changing and the current one is mythological fiction. However, India being a land of spiritual people, such books always attracts the readers.”
Many narratives occupy spaces that were earlier neglected. “The whole talk of 2012 theories of the doomsday started emerging as a narrative in the general psyche across the world and there, the idea for Shiva rose,” says Kanika Dhillon, author of Shiva and the Rise of the Shadows.
With so many writers penning down mythological stories, one can predict a growth in the genre, especially with the success of translations of books into Indian languages such as Hindi, Marathi and Tamil.
