Pacesetters - 1 (Arun Raghupathy)

'Sky is the limit' and 'pushing the envelope' are perhaps the kind of phrases that come to mind when we talk of individuals who dare to dream and then fuel their passion with grit and determination to make their dreams come to reality. Undoubtedly these are the ones who then become the pioneers in their fields or sometimes in the fields which may not seem to be 'their fields' apparently but which entices them nonetheless. It feels as if the terms like innovation, creativity, invention, originality derive their true meaning through the thoughts and efforts of such people. 

As part of the assignment by the newspaper 'The Tribune' I covered the lives and experiences of some young entrepreneurs. The first among them, Arun Raghupathy, is one of the founders of NextNav. Due to word limit criteria in print media, I had to edit some parts of the actual interview. Here presenting the full interview, unadulterated. Stay tuned for part 2 and 3 as well.

Give a brief on your schooling, college education and what dreams that you had in your eyes when you stepped out of the educational institution.

[Arun Raghupathy] I did my schooling across multiple schools – Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Kochi, St. Joseph’s, Bangalore, St. Xavier’s, Kolkata (9^th and 10^th) and Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (11-12^th), Chennai. During my school days, science and mathematics excited me the most. And, studying in different states and different schools probably helped me understand different cultures better which is nice to have in a startup where people skills are as important as technical skills. Both my sister and father were electrical engineers and that probably oriented me towards engineering and more specifically electrical engineering

I did my bachelor’s at Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai in Electronics and communication engineering. The education there gave me a solid foundation that helped me in the years ahead, but, more importantly, it also gave me some experience of failure (at least relatively speaking) being among a set of high achievers which I consider to be very important for my career. It also gave me an opportunity to get exposed to sports (and the teamwork associated with it) even if only at the hostel/institute level.

After that I did my PhD at the university of Maryland in electrical engineering. While my PhD topic itself was esoteric (and I never used it in my future career), the 5 years I spent, in my opinion, gave me two very important lessons. Firstly, I had the time to expand my knowledge beyond my thesis work (and I had an advisor who encouraged it or at least did not stop me). Second, some problems have no solution. Third, when I finished my PhD, I had the feeling that I could take on a tough new technical topic, understand the background, look for resources and possibly work my way to a solution. That gave me a lot of confidence.

Share your work experience explaining the ups and downs and challenges of working in IT sector in the recent times. How is India placed in this whole business equation with US in comparison to China and other Asian countries?

[Arun Raghupathy] My first job was a system engineer at Qualcomm at San Diego. I was lucky to enter the market at a time when wireless communications (and Qualcomm were on the upswing) and also an environment where I could learn from some of the finest engineers. What helped me later in my career were the additional hours that I spent expanding my knowledge beyond the scope of my job (and the environment was that people did not stop it as long as you did your principal task). After spending 5 years, I was looking for a change that will provide me a technical lead position where I could utilize a wider variety of my skills. In a large company (such as Qualcomm), there was less scope for people with multi-faceted skillset (probably because there were experts in each of those fields). At the same time, Malini and I were looking to return back to India to be closer to family. That is when I moved to Texas Instruments in Bangalore. When I was looking for a job in India, I wanted to make sure that I would be part of a team that would develop a complete product. One of my fears was that in India there were very few complete product development (atleast in the wireless area) and I did not want to be part of group that was doing bits and pieces. Luckily, such an opportunity came by and we decided to make that move back to india. Support from the family (particularly, the spouse is critical) in such a move because there are lots of “challenges” at a day-to-day level (quite different from the US where the day-day operations are quite smooth).

At TI (Texas Instruments), I had the opportunity to actually lead a team and had the satisfaction of building something that was unique in India at that time(end-to-end chipset development). I also had a lot of exposure to customers and was able to see the problems they were observing. However, one of the main drawbacks was that the India office of TI was still considered a cost center. This mindset meant that the product ideas and control was always from the main office based in Dallas. I began to realize that the local senior management also did not have too much of a say. I was also getting frustrated by a role that had become more of managing people (to be read as managing my managers) and not having tools to make a significant difference (such as creating a new product). There were also a lot of politics going on with different groups trying to grab work for their respective centers.

What triggered the thought process on the lines of creating something on your own instead of continuing with the no-brainer(almost) job where the security of seeing monthly incrementing bank account goes for a while?

[Arun Raghupathy] I was looking at other salaried positions at other large companies (and not convinced that I would be able to do what I was not able to do at TI) when an opportunity came out of the blue. One of my acquaintances (Ganesh) from Qualcomm in San Diego, was looking to start a company with one of his friends (Subbu) at Sunnyvale in the area of location technology. He had happened to meet me at an airport a few years before and had my card from TI. It was more a matter of luck.

How did you finalise on the idea with which to go along?

[Arun Raghupathy] It turned out that the problem I wanted to work on and thought there would be a market for (solving the indoor location problem where GPS does not work in a clean manner from the ground up) was also the problem that Ganesh and Subbu had “decided” to pursue.

How much time has passed since you have taken the plunge?

[Arun Raghupathy] Nearly 4 years (we started in Jan 2009). For the first year, we worked without a salary (and that was a tough risk, but we felt the problem was worth a good solution). We started at a time when there was almost a freeze in venture capital funding. At first we said we would work for 3 months without pay, which became 6 months and finally we were close to breaking point when we got funded in Jan 2010. We also worked out of home for a while and then had a one room rented office for a while that we were paying for. That was a very difficult time when a lot of people would question the decision to leave a well-paying salaried job, but luckily for me (Malini and both our families) were behind me (I am not sure how convinced they were, but were okay with letting me try this out and see if I could succeed and that was very important). However, for entrepreneurs, it is also important (in my opinion) to accept failure at some point in time. That is also a tough decision, but needs to be taken when the writing is on the wall. I would say that I was within a couple of months of giving up.

What have been the challenges on this path so far? How do you see yourself placed in competition against seasoned companies?

[Arun Raghupathy] There were always other technologies out there (and each time something came up, we would feverishly dig up all material and see how we stacked up with them) but, luckily, none that could do better than our technology in all dimensions.

The other key challenge for the founders was to avoid stepping on each other’s shoes. For success, the skillset should be complementary. On a personal level, setting the ego aside is a big challenge as well.

How do you see your product making a difference in the world ?

[Arun Raghupathy] We see our company NextNav as providing a location technology complementary to GPS that works where GPS does not work well. Specifically using a terrestrial network our technology would provide high accuracy in urban and indoor environments, in environments, where other technologies may not be able to provide a position estimate. We also expect our technology to enable pin-pointing a user’s location not only in the horizontal dimension (latitude/longitude) but also in the vertical dimension (altitude).

Our technology can be life-saving by helping safety agencies to quickly locate a person’s mobile phone from which an emergency call is placed.

We also expect our technology to enable new location applications based on accurate indoor location.

How do you see yourself and your  product five and ten years from now?

[Arun Raghupathy] We hope that our technology will be available in the US in mobile phones within a couple of years and worldwide in 5 year type of horizon. We also expect our location system technology to improve the accuracy of location further to enable us to pin-point user location within a room/cube.

What are the big hurdles that you have confronted so far ?

[Arun Raghupathy] The main hurdles initially were with funding (in the first year) and hesitation in believing 3 founders (who had no prior experience in a startup) both from other potential employees and funding agencies. Beyond that, the challenge we faced was to demonstrate the performance of our technology in a wide area. Now, that we are beyond that phase, the next challenge is to make our venture a revenue generating one.

How difficult or easy it is to create visibility in today's world when so many new things are vying for attention and eye balls of people across the world?

[Arun Raghupathy] It is very tough, but if you have a product with a clear performance differentiator (and you know it), it can be done. What is important for success is to build a team that has the right experience (and that might mean giving up some significant control of the company) and business networking ability

What are the motivating factors which are big positives for the professionals who have been thinking of starting on their own but have not been able to make the final decision?

[Arun Raghupathy] Ability to make an impact through a product/concept. Even if the venture fails, the learning that you get out of it can be immense (since it involves taking a concept and converting it into a product). In a large company, you see only part of the problem and you are only a part of the solution (and sometimes you may not be clear how you influence the solution). Less energy lost in political battles (though there are other battles in a startup).

How has your family taken this decision so far and how difficult it was convincing them for your decision?

[Arun Raghupathy] As I mentioned, in my case, it was not that complicated due to the support that I had. People around me wanted me to find a satisfying job and if that involved some risk, they supported me in that decision. The other factor was that financially, we were in a position to not draw a salary for a few months and manage without too much impact on a day-to-day basis. That made some of the decisions easier for us.

Book Review : Mr. Popper's Penguins

Title : Mr. Popper's Penguins

Author : Richard and Florence Atwater

Age : 5-12 years

Read a truly feel good children's book after a long time. Once again I owe the sheer pleasure of reading a wonderful book to none other than my sister. She is the one who introduced us to the creative world of Jeff Brown (Stanley series), E.B.White(Charlotte's Web), Andrew Clements (Frindle) and many others. So when this time she mentioned the title 'Mr. Popper's Penguins', I lost no time in placing an order on Flipkart. It  helps that her first born is elder to my children so I get to inherit all the collected wisdom of her experience with the elder child. The family is in US and the mother and kids combo makes the best use of their local public library, taking part in most of their reading programs as well.

Though I have never seen a penguin in real life and I am sure most of the readers haven't either, but based on whatever I have seen in pictures, movies, TV programmes and other such sources, penguins have always appeared to me as very gentle(wo)manly with well groomed hair(fur), shining black tuxedo kind coats, snow-white fronts and sleek beaks. Just seeing them gives an impression that they are always ready for a party or for an office presentation.  And these are exactly the feelings of Mr. Popper as he dreams of far away lands while reveling in his favourite pastime of reading about the polar regions and the inhabitants of those regions.

A painter by profession with limited resources, he knows he could never live his dream of being in the midst of the polar creatures so he looks forward to devoting all his free time reading about them.

While listening to one of the radio programs Mr Popper hears his name called out when Admiral Drake who happens to be exploring Antarctica actually answers Mr. Popper's fan mail with a promise of a surprise. Shortly thereafter a surprise package lands at the Mr. Popper's doorstep. Out comes a fine penguin who is soon christened as Captain Cook by Poppers. The whole family gears up to make their new guest comfortable in their home by letting Captain Cook sleep in the specifically customized family freezer. One is lonely and two is company so another penguin Greta from Zoo joins Captain soon to have a big family with hime. Popper's family is thrilled to have them because Captain's family including ten little penguins now have brought playfulness and cheerfulness in the whole household but there are practical matters to take care of too and the financial issues topped the list of their worries.

Mrs and Mr Popper come up with a brilliant idea of training the penguins to organize a show with them - 'Popper's Performing Penguins'. The unique show soon becomes a rage and gets invited throughout the country but because of some unfortunate misunderstanding Mr. Popper and his penguins end up in a jail. There is a sweet twist in the tale at the end and Mr. Popper gets the lifetime opportunity to live his dream of ages.

The book was originally published in 1938 but a good story remains a good story no matter what year it is. This is undoubtedly one of the finest books in the children's literature space. The illustrations by Robert Lawson are par excellence so do pick the one with illustrations by him. The easily understandable language and the simplicity of the story would surely capture all readers right from page one.  

Book Review : It's Not About the Bike

Title : It's Not About the Bike (My Journey Back to Life)

Author : Lance Armstrong

Publisher : Yellow Jersey Press

ISBN : 978-0-224-06087-5

Lance Armstrong has been in news for the wrong reasons these days as he confessed having taken performance enhancing drugs to compete for the prestigious Tour De France title, not once, not twice but seven times. Yes, to err is human but sometimes the price of committing some mistakes is so high that it can rip a person off of his/her name, fame and wealth. Unfortunately 'the' unmatched and 'the' invincible Lance Armstrong has become an example of such a case. Final verdict is he has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, Olympic bronze medal that he won in 2000 and a lifetime ban has been imposed on him by anti-doping agency. A very sad departure of a fighting spirit from the arena of sports. Lance, you have indeed let your fans down. Lance writes in his book, "Odd as it may sound, I would rather have the title of cancer survivor than winner of the Tour" and after the big revelation he gets to keep the former title only.

There is no reason whatsoever why anybody should resort to unfair means to achieve anything including any coveted prizes or awards. Having said that, his indefatigable spirit to fight against a formidable enemy cancer and his determination to take his body to the same level of fitness where it was before the disease is indeed commendable. "It's Not About The Bike" is a tribute to a man's inspiration, enthusiasm, perseverance, unflinching spirit and determination to achieve what he aimed for.

Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the prime age of twenty four when everything was going right for him in the sporting world. The cancer had spread to his lungs and to his brain as well and he was given 40% chances of survival by his doctors. The ordeal that began in the third quarter of 1996 took much more from him than he expected but he battled against the disease, the life sucking chemotherapy sessions, the financial burden and fear of losing his career. But he survived against all odds and not just survived, he worked hard to regain his physical and mental strength so much so that just after sixteen months of getting discharged from the hospital, he won the Tour de France (in 1999) in the fastest ever time. 

(Tour de France is a grueling competition of cycling. The tour typically has 21 days of racing with 2 rest days and covers 3,200km (2000 miles). Tour de France is supposed to be the most physiologically demanding of athletic events. The number of teams varies from 20 and 22 with nine riders in each team)

He inherited the fighting spirit from his single mother who taught him to make every obstacle an opportunity and to make every negative a positive. Lance shares(partly ?) the pages from his life book with the readers and talks about disappointments and miracles, despair and hope, and fear and courage.

Interestingly he also brings up the topic of doping and drugs in the narrative at a couple of places. In his own words:

"Doping is an unfortunate fact of life in cycling, or any other endurance sport for that matter. Inevitably, some teams and riders feel it’s like nuclear weapons - that they have to do it to stay competitive within the peloton (dictionary meaning: The main field or group of cyclists in a race). I never felt that way, and certainly after chemo the idea of putting anything foreign in my body was especially repulsive."

"I can emphatically say I am not on drugs. I thought a rider with my history and my health situation wouldn't be such a surprise, I'm not a new rider. I know there's been looking, and prying, and digging, but you're not going to find anything.  There's nothing to find… and once everyone has done their due diligence and realizes they need to be professional and can't print a lot of crap, they'll realize they're dealing with a clean guy".

But entirely from the book's point of view, it is a well written piece, makes a great read and has managed to motivate many people including our very own Yuvraj Singh.

"I would just like to say one thing. If you ever get a second chance in life for something, you've got to go all the way."

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/lancearmstrongtimeline.html

2012 : The Year That Was

Titles that Literary Sojourn recommends to its readers:

Travelogue


Into the Wild
Hot tea across India


Fiction


Bali and the Ocean of Milk


Non-Fiction


Burma - A Nation at the Crossroads


Mythology


The Forest of Stories


Kidlit


Mr. Popper's Penguins
The Bronze Bow


 Enjoy Reading :)

Book Review : More Than Everest - He Conquered the Hearts of Men

Title : More Than Everest

Author : Dr. Harish Dhillon

Publisher : Hay House 

ISBN : 978-93-80480-95-4

I often used to wonder how could travelogues or writings on personal adventures, mountaineering, trekking or any such activity be of interest to a reader curled up with the book in the confines of his/her home. But it was just a matter of getting initiated by the right book and fortunately after having read the likes of Jon Krauker and Bill Bryson, I gladly stand corrected. Thanks to the chronicled words of the mountaineers and trekkers, their armchair counterparts like me can at least virtually partake some part of the thrill that they experience in person.

With mountain peak beckoning thus - "Although Mount Everest was already conquered, its romance remained, and the age of discovery of the earth was not over.  That mountain still stood as a challenge to the human spirit and nations were tempted to accept that challenge", on 20th May, 1965, a young member of the Indian expedition, who had never been a mountaineer, planted the Indian flag on the summit of Everest, the first Indian to do so - Autar Cheema with Nawang Gombu on his rope.

This achievement worked as a much needed balm for the bruised self esteem of our country in early 1965 when the treacherous scars of defeat from treacherous China were still very much fresh and Pakistan was trying to make the most of the vulnerable situation of India by encroaching upon Indian territory in Rann of Kutch. Besides these two external foes, there was one internal adversary too - the shortage of food." It is with this backdrop on the subcontinent that an expedition to climb Mount Everest by Indians was allowed. "

'More Than Everest' is a befitting tribute to a person who donned many hats with élan by dint of his inner strength of character, audacity and tenacity. From being a highly decorated paratrooper in Indian Army, a mountaineer to have achieved the rarest of the rare feats, a compassionate and visionary farmer to a loving family man, Autar Singh Cheema achieved all. The book traverses his journey from his childhood years through various stages of his life and career till his last days when he fought like a brave soldier against a formidable enemy leukemia. In a life which spanned less than six decades, Autar Singh managed to make an indelible mark in the annals of Indian and international mountaineering and has thus attained immortality.

I am reminded of a very famous dialogue from a Hindi movie Anand - 'Life badi honi chaahiye lambi nahin' (Life should be large, not long). Autar Singh's life is a true example of a large life.

This book is the brainchild of his niece - Preena Sandhu, who along with Mrs. Autar Singh Cheema collected and collated all information to finally hand it over to the author Dr. Harish Dhillon to do justice to Cheema spirit through his pen.

Every phase of Cheema's life is handled in detail in separate sections and one is dedicated to mountaineering. Some rare diary entries recorded by Cheema brings the real flavour of what goes on in the mind of a person while in the midst of action. This chapter covers all - preparation for the rigorous climb, the thrill and excitement of having conquered Mt. Everest and the adulation that followed this adventure.  

The biography comes across as a very well researched piece of writing appropriately supported by ample number of pictures from Cheema's life, which makes it a visually pleasing read. However, it runs a high  risk of overwhelming the readers with too many names and some not so significant incidents.

Book Review : Autobiography of a Duck

Title : Autobiography of a Duck

Author : John Arnold

ISBN : 9781478255482

John Arnold spins an endearing story around the life of a duck by the name Donald and through this poignant story the vicissitudes of duck's life are brought to the readers.

Seen through the eyes of a wise duck, his hurdles and accomplishments, friends and foes, joys and sorrows come to life as the author beautifully sketches each of them with panache.

Donald is hatched in a large family but soon an unhappy incident happens in his life. He is taken away with some other ducklings by the humans to The Lake Brother's Traveling Carnival and Circus. Along with other ducklings, Donald is kept as a prize in a concession where humans try to throw nickels into plates. While waiting to be won by someone, Donald makes friends with another duck - Waddles, who successfully escapes from the carnival.

Donald eventually finds a wonderful home and there a loving little boy showers his attention, affection and love on the little duck. He even ends up fetching an award 'The most unusual pet' for his owner.  While living in the house, Donald makes many friends - Sapphire, the messenger Bluebird, LeRoy and a nice cat Seymour. He enjoys the company of his friends but is equally scared of the neighbourhood cats.  In short he has a happy and peaceful life here.

A delightful and funny tale indeed written with love and compassion for the family pet. Families with pets would surely relate to this story. The companionship between the young boy and Arnold is simply fascinating. A very positive story and especially the end when gradually Donald gets ready for the ultimate truth of life - the inevitable end. More illustrations or pictures would have enhanced the overall impact of the story. 

Book Review : Moin the Monster Songster

Title : Moin the Monster Songster

Author : Anushka Ravishankar

Illustrator : Anitha Balachnadran

Publisher : Duckbill
ISBN : 9789381626917

The uninvited guest in the form of a monster was mysteriously found under Moin's bed in 'Moin and the Monster'.

In the sequel by the name 'Moin the Monster Songster' the same pink coloured monster is still very much a part of Moin's life and is sharing his room, his friends and his bananas too. The monster recalls some strange monster rules off and on and one of Moin's friends Tony is careful enough to record each of these rules in a separate rule book.

Because of monster's particularly uniquely screeching voice and his penchant for singing, which Moin's parents mistook as Moin's singing, Moin has  been forbidden to sing in the house. But his tutor has very good impression of Moin's singing and he is one of the star singers in the concert that the tutor has organised. But the monster who was supposedly locked in Moin's cupboard, somehow sneaks out and is now free to enjoy the musical evening and he has one weakness, he cannot restrain himself from singing if he hears anybody singing.

It turns out to be an adventurous evening when the music teacher gets to witness the music prowess of his star student Moin and gets a shock of his life. But surprisingly the screeching voice still manages to win one patron in the gathering - none other than a Bollywood music maestro himself.

The laugh riot that began with 'Moin and the Monster' continues in 'Moin the Monster Songster'.  Anushka Ravishankar's writings are enjoyed thoroughly by the young readers as the same are sprinkled with generous doses of fun, humour and  entertainment. Unlike most of the Indian children's books, the preaching or education part is not the focus in the same. 

Book Review : The Bronze Bow

Title : The Bronze Bow

Author : Elizabeth George Speare

Publisher : HMCo

Age : Young Adult

In the times when incidents inspired by hate outnumber the ones driven by love and affection, when compassion seems to be running low in our hearts, when patience is looked down upon as a tool of meek and weak and when display of aggression seems to be the new and modern flavor, it is extremely essential to go back to the priceless teachings of the enlightened souls who graced the Earth with their divine presence. And what better time than around Christmas - the festival of light, which symbolizes happiness and merriment.

Daniel bar Jamin happens to witness the crucifixion of his father by Roman soldiers. Taking revenge by driving the Roman dominion out of the land of Israel becomes his only motto in life. Harboring deep hatred in his heart, he joins the band of an outlaw who resides in the hills outside the city limits. Forced by circumstances post his grandmother's death, he finds himself to be the only one who now needs to take care of his sister. But while living in the village he establishes a group of like minded guerrillas with sole mission of taking revenge. Fired by hatred, he fails to see and acknowledge tender feelings of his sister Leah, his friend Joel and Joel's sister Malthace.

There is one thing which empowers him and provides solace to his agitated nerves always and that is the Song of David

"God is my safe refuge,

And has made my way safe.

He made my feet like hind's feet,

And set me secure on the heights.

He trains my hands for war,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze."

and Malthace beautifully interprets the meaning as - When God strengthens us, we can do anything that seems impossible.

While he nurtured the hatred towards Romans passionately in his heart, teachings of Jesus of Nazareth had some other message to convey. Calm demeanor of Jesus always attracted Daniel but his words 'It is the hate that is the enemy, not men. Hate does not die with killing. It only springs up a hundredfold. The only thing stronger than hate is love', made Daniel's whole fabric of being shake. He always found hatred and feeling of vengeance so much closer to him that imagining his self devoid of these two was almost impossible for him. But after having experienced the pain of losing two of his dear ones with his own sword of hatred and after having pushed his sister to life threatening isolation again, he could finally understand the true meaning of David's words - 'He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze' - that perhaps only love could bend the bow of bronze.

"The only chains that matter are fear and hate because they chain our souls. If we do not hate anyone and do not fear anyone then we are free."

The scene here is set in Jerusalem at the time of Christ. Author beautifully conveys Jesus's message of peace amidst chaos, hatred, violence, pain and distress through the story of Daniel. It is indeed a moving and sensitive tale to emphasize that no matter how big and dear revenge and hatred appear to be, forgiveness and love pave the way for actual deliverance.

'The Bronze Bow' is the winner of the 1962 Newbery Medal

Interview : Ashok K. Banker

Ashok K. Banker needs  no introduction. He is an acclaimed author of mixed-race and mixed-cultural background. His writing spans crime thrillers, essays, literary criticism, fiction and mythological retellings. Epic India Library is his brain child and through this he plans to retell all the major myths, legends and itihasa of the Indian subcontinent in an interlinked cycle of over 70 volumes. The Ramayana series, Krishna Coriolis and the Mahabharata series are part of this library.
An author par excellence, here is a peak into his personality through this e-interview.


1. What was the main inspiration behind starting to write? What story you really wanted to tell the world through your writing?


I began reading at a very young age and by the age of 7 was reading voraciously. I particularly loved encyclopedias and dictionaries and always carried a dictionary to school to read during short break and lunch break. I won’t go into my family background here as it has been covered extensively in several hundred interviews over the decades, but to sum up, writing and reading were my way of coping with the essential chaos and violence of my circumstances. By the age of 9, I had read my way through most of the essential mythological and religious literature of all major religions and knew that I wanted to be an author and write books related to the epics. The rest of my life was spent studying, researching and preparing myself for the task. The only story I truly wanted to tell the world was the Story of India. The greatest untold story in world literature.


2. Please tell us about your Epic India Library and why did you feel the need to start the same?


The bookshelves of the world are filled with countless retellings, editions, popular as well as scholarly works on the mythology, culture, history and folklore of other nations and continents. Yet the great epics of the sub-continent, which are undoubtedly among the greatest stories in world literature are almost completely absent from those bookshelves. Even if you explain this lacuna on racism and western bias against eastern civilizations, you always have to note that Indian writers themselves have rarely bothered to retell or relate the tales of their own culture. Our authors are mostly interested in writing stories about their own sexuality, addictions, coming of age, marriages and relationships, work and career, with an almost visible absence in this area of itihasa and epics. By the time I was in my 30s, I had read literally thousands of books without ever finding any good retellings of our epics that appealed to me. I realized that I was yearning to read Indian stories and if I wanted such books, the only option was to go back to the source and study them again myself. So I began reading the epics and puranas. I realized that almost none of these stories had been done justice to in any book or collection. So I began writing, just to see how they might be retold in a way that I, as a reader, would enjoy reading them. What began as a writing experiment turned into the first project, the Ramayana Series. Before I was finished with it, I decided that I wanted to continue to retell ALL the major myths, legends and itihasa of the Indian sub-continent. When complete, that collection of over 100 books will constitute what I call the Epic India Library.


3. In the times when social media sites are on the rise and an individual's popularity is gauged by the followers and readers of one's sites and links, why and how did you decide to stay away from the same?


Every person has their own way of achieving success and seeking what they want in life and each way is valid. To me, the writing is the most rewarding part. My family is very important to me. I’ve always believed that the books we end up loving the most are those we discover accidentally, in the back of a dusty shelf or in the most unexpected way. I’m not interested in being a celebrity, or being talked-about or promoting myself as a “brand” (which is the most absurd and insulting thing a writer can do, in my opinion). I love to write and love my family and whatever numbers my books sell are entirely due to readers wanting to read them and taking the  time and effort to find them. I don’t believe in marketing, advertising, publicity or promotion. I’d rather have 1.6 million readers (as I currently do, as of end-2012) in 57 countries and 12 languages who have found my 32 books (so far) and come to love them on their own rather than ten times that number through aggressive promotion and marketing. I’m happy with whatever the universe chooses to give me and accept it. I choose to spend all my time doing what I love without compromises or social networking. I actively avoid networking, maintaining connections, socializing, attending lit fests and events. If your books are good, nothing else matters. If the books are crap, then you need social networking desperately. As a great mind once said: “Fame is the last resort of desperate failures.” Those whose work isn’t good enough to speak for itself need to shout the loudest!


4. How do you strike a balance between the various themes that you write on - mythology, crime thrillers, essays and other forms of writing?


I don’t strike a balance. That’s the beauty of it. I serve the story’s needs. Ashok Banker is irrelevant. My point of view is irrelevant. I am a non-Hindu of mixed-race, nationality and culture who grew up with zero understanding or exposure to Hindu religion, culture, languages, etc. Yet recently a major Hindu university wished to felicitate me for ‘reviving Hindu mythology’ through my Ramayana Series! The university dean went to the extent of referring to me as a “guru” and wanting me to attend their annual event as the Chief Guest to confer the degrees. I refused politely because it’s awkward to explain that not only am I not a Hindu, I am completely non-religious and don’t follow any culture, celebrate any festivals, including my own birthday, and don’t subscribe to any belief systems or cultural stereotypes. I don’t even vote or have any political interests! So when I write a series or story, I surrender completely to it. I am merely a tool of the story. I serve its needs, adapting my style, my idiom, my vocabulary, my syntax, even the structure of language to suit that particular kind of story and content. That’s why you’ll find that a novel like Vertigo is completely different from the Ramayana Series, which in turn is different from my Mahabharata Series, or Gods of War, or Blood Red Sari, and so on. The stories all exist in their own right. I am only the means by which they come to the page.  


5. What inspires you and interests you the most in mythology and why do you feel the need to retell epics?


Oddly enough, I have zero interest in mythology. I don’t read it, have never watched mythological serials. As a kid, I used to be the only child in my neighborhood (probably in all India) who went out to play when everybody was home watching Mahabharata or Ramayana. I actively dislike those phony mythological costumes and dialogue and fake style of storytelling. Those are not our epics, please! They’re just Bollywood corruptions of the original stories. What attracts me powerfully are these incredible records of ancient times, these great powerful tales of another bygone era, written in such lyrical Sanskrit shlokas, describing incredible, rich cultural detail and narratives. If I am able to convey even a fraction of the power and beauty of those ancient Vedic works through my very flawed and mediocre adaptations, I am happy. As I said, it’s not about me. I don’t seek anything except to serve the story and all the joy and pleasure I feel is in achieving that to some small extent.


6. In your retelling of the epics, the mythological heroes are depicted as ordinary humans doing extraordinary actions. Was it difficult to think beyond the aura that gets ingrained in our minds related to these heroes?


Well, I have the advantage of not being Hindu, not being religious, not having these ideas or perceptions ingrained in my mind from childhood. I read the epics and adapt them as they demand. I have no preconceptions or agenda in mind. Therefore I also don’t have the hang-ups and issues that most Hindus have about their own gods and epics, thankfully! I’m constantly amazed at how Hindus are so vehement in their views about what Rama did or didn’t do, how Krishna behaved, etc, as if these issues are most important than problems in their own lives. But that’s a prerogative they have, since it’s their religion and their god. Not mine. I’m just a storyteller and nowhere in the Ramayana or Mahabharata is there any confusion about such matters. They are just great epics brilliantly narrated by those great ancient minds.


7. Your Mahabharata series is a long series of 18 books. Do you think the readers' attention can be captured for that long? How did you divide the saga into 18 parts?


That’s the length of the story. It is the world’s largest epic after all. 18 because Vyasa’s Mahabharata runs into 18 parvas and I’m sticking with his excellent structure. I don’t know whether or not readers will read the whole series but that’s not for me to say or decide, that’s up to the readers. My job ends with the writing of the books. As a reader, all I can say is that if a story is good, you never want it to end no matter how long the book or series may be. If the story isn’t good, even two pages is too long!


8. What is planned after the Mahabharata series? Do you plan to retell Bhagwat, Upanishads and Vedas too?


The Krishna Coriolis, based on the Harivamsha and Shrimad Bhagwatham, was begun in 2004 and completed in 2009. I only offer a series for publication when I have finished writing it completely. TEN KINGS is based on a true historical incident described in the Rig Veda. The Upanishads are extracts from the Vedas, not a separate work and are not epics or stories so I am not planning to work on them. My Mahabharata Series is almost complete – as I said, the publication comes long after I finish writing, often as much as ten to 12 years later. To know about my other series and books, do visit my ebookstore, akbebooks.com and view the titles there as there are too many to list here.   


9. What is your take on - why more and more authors are going back to mythology to derive stories from, whether to refine, redefine, retell, to find contemporary relevance or to highlight unique perspectives?


The tradition of brahmins retelling mythological tales is a part of Hindu India. As far as I’m aware, all the authors you are referring to are Hindu brahmins, so they’re continuing that religious tradition. My interest lies in non-Hindus and as far as I know, I am the only one working in this field. I would love to read a Muslim Ramayana or a fiercely feminist Mahabharata or a Mahaharata retold from a caste point of view. I think we need to address these glaring injustices and imbalances in our itihasa and only non-brahmin and non-Hindu writers, especially women writers, can do justice to them. The brahmin Hindu retellings are good for brahmin Hindus to read but I would want a more modern and open-minded retelling.


10. What all research do you do before starting to pen down your stories?


I don’t believe in researching a specific book for a few months. I believe in devoting one’s entire life to studying that body of literature, mythology, itihasa, history. The process of research is lifelong and continuous. I don’t stop researching just because a book is finished. Research can only give you information and at best, knowledge. Good storytelling comes from having read or noticed something 30 years ago and finally understanding a connection today. Research is for newspaper articles that end up in the trash. Retelling mythology requires a lifestyle change and a completely new way of thinking and living.
Thank you for your questions. Thank you for reading.


Ashok Kumar Banker
10 December 2012

Book Review : Siddhartha

Title : Siddhartha

Author : Herman Hesse

Publisher : Bantam Book

 "The true profession of man is to find his way to himself"

Siddhartha is the story of every thinking individual as one maneuvers through the paths of life while trying to work on the conflicts that the three essential elements of a being pose - mind, body and soul.  I consider such books small little pauses in the otherwise madly running lives in current times. They goad an individual to stop, think, introspect and examine which one of the three - mind, body or soul is dominating the self at any given point of time.

Siddhartha, as a boy got enchanted by the thoughts of gods and sacrifices, as a young adult left his home in order to conquer his mind and body to live as an ascetic, as a man got immersed in fulfilling the pleasures of senses and becoming their slave, and later left everything that was dear to him to embark on a fresh journey to find peace and Atman. His life came a full circle starting from a boy to a man and then back to being a child again. The boy who was boastful of three incredible arts - fasting, waiting and thinking, saw the same abandoning him one by one. He ended up exchanging the skills that he had acquired during the diligent years of youth, for the transitory things which usually obsess an ordinary man. Eventually he had to get in touch with his inner self in order to attain the divine peace.

As  he progressed in his journey of life, his personality changed, his needs changed and accordingly his teachers changed and in the end he learns the essence of life from outwardly mute river. Sitting silently by the river, watching its continuous flow, Siddhartha learns the timeliness of a being, unity of things and the art of listening to that one sound - the Om sound - which has the power of submerging every diverse sound in its folds.  "Learned from river to listen, to listen with still heart, with a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgment, without opinions. "

A very thought provoking story but then it does make you believe that things happen when they have to happen and when the time is ripe for the same to happen. Perhaps this was the reason that even after meeting Buddha and getting impressed with his demeanor and his teachings, Siddhartha felt the need to leave that place as he believed that a teacher can simply impart knowledge but cannot make the disciples share the wisdom that experience only brings. "Wisdom is not communicable. Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it."

Siddhartha's words while he decided to leave Buddha to embark on his pursuit alone - "Buddha you have reached the highest goal which so many thousands of Brahmins and Brahmins' sons are striving to reach. You have done so by your own seeking, in your own way, through thought, through meditation, through knowledge, through enlightenment. You have learned nothing through teachings. Nobody finds salvation through teachings. To nobody, can you communicate in words and teachings what happened to you in the hour of your enlightenment. The teachings of the enlightened Buddha embrace much, they teach much - how to live righteously, how to avoid evil. But there is one things that this clear, worthy instruction does not contain, it does not contain the secret of what the Illustrious One himself experienced. "