Satyarth Nayak's Blog

Do you know the story where Brahma and Vishnu race against each other or where Shiva battles Krishna? Where Indra attempts foeticide or where Rama punishes a Shudra? Do you know about Maya Sita or Narada’s monkey face? Or why Surya falls from the sky or why Chandra commits adultery?

The Puranas of Hinduism are a universe of wisdom, embodying a fundamental quest for answers that makes them forever relevant. Now, for the first time, 100 of the greatest mythological tales from these ancient texts have been handpicked and compiled into an epic illustrated edition. Besides popular legends of devas, asuras, sages and kings, Satyarth Nayak, has dug up lesser-known stories, like the one where Vishnu is beheaded or where Saraswati curses Lakshmi or where Harishchandra tricks Varuna. Nayak also recounts these 100 tales in a unique chronological format, beginning with Creation in Satya Yuga and ending with the advent of Kali Yuga. Using Puranic markers, he constructs a narrative that travels through the four yugas, offering continuous and organic action. In such a reading, it is revealed that these stories are not isolated events but linked to each other in the grand scheme of things. That every occurrence has a past and a future. A cause and effect. An interconnected cycle of karma and karma-phal.

Delving into the minds of gods, demons and humans alike, Mahagatha seeks a deeper understanding of their motivations. The timelessness of their impulses speaks across the aeons to readers of today. Written in lively prose with charming illustrations, these 100 tales will entertain and enlighten, and make you connect the dots of Hindu mythology like never before.

Mahagatha - 100 Tales from the Puranas

''Marries Amish Tripathi with Dan Brown...grips you like a vice with a shock twist at the end...Christopher Nolan or Anurag Kashyap can pretty well bring it to life on screen.''

"Your journey now sleeps with your great awakening". Does the line seem to have been pinched out of some boring, old incomprehensible religious text? Not if Satyarth Nayak holds his pen with confidence and smiles calmly as the readers feel the hair at the back of their neck, rising, as they flip the pages of his debut novel- The Emperor's Riddles. An alumnus of St. Stephen's, Satyarth proves his genius as his tale marries Amish Tripathi with Dan Brown; and that's not all- a careful read might find you discovering generous helpings of the Bhagwat Gita as well!

So, to start with, The Emperor's Riddles is essentially a thriller that grips you like a vice but in the process, makes you feel amazed and enlightened too, if you are patient enough. Shuttling between time periods, the narrative may seem a bit convoluted in the initial chapters but that'sjust Satyarth tying a cloth over your eyes and shoving you in circles before you become the blind man looking for his buff.

There is a cult of theological practitioners who aspire to help humanity through an ancient secret that has been kept under wraps since ages. It's a secret so extra-ordinary, "an enigma so powerful that even Gods would kill for it"! But there is also a certain scorpion on the loose and he is hell bent to take on the scepter of might that the mystic secret has in store. There is an emperor in another dimension who has his control over nature; he too must surrender to the ultimate truth or else must witness the entire human race succumb to the feet of evil.

At 398 pages, the book is replete with intense intellect, racy action and unfathomable revelations. The portion where Mathur is murdered may have the faint hearted flinch at the blood and gore it unfolds. And there is a shock twist towards the end that makes you feel so ignorant in front of the immensely knowledgeable British Council Writers Circle Prize winner, Satyarth Nayak.
Well woven with history and imagination, Nayak is at the helm, deftly pulling at the strings and making the reader dance to his tunes. Nowhere does he use ornate sentences, neither a complicated syntax. But the way he writes lucidly on the spiritual, makes his already enriches content all the more effective. A Christopher Nolan of the West or our very own Anurag Kashyap can pretty well give it a thought to bring The Emperor's Riddles to life on screen.

I could have written more and gone on writing but that would be trying too hard to explain a conjurer's maneuvering of his hat and still getting nowhere! With eager expectations for your next, way to go, Satyarth Nayak. You should be blessed with nine lives. Not to meow, but to simply roar! (Spoiler Alert!)

The success of Satyarth Nayak’s debut novel has motivated him to stick to the same genre

For a creative person there is nothing like been recognised by patrons. In the case of a writer, a novel listed on the bestsellers compilation works wonders.

Satyarth Nayak’s debut book “The Emperor's Riddles” The Hindu Metro Plus April 10 — a heady mix of mystery, thriller, legend and historical events — has topped the Asian Age's top 10 sellers chart for three weeks in a row and made it to two categories of young adult and mystery thrillers of Amazon India’s bestsellers.

FULL HINDU ARTICLE - http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-a...

While many may contemptuously flick history as tales of the dead and gone, it has in recent times emerged as the proverbial cow that thriller writers are milking away. The art of combining fascinating history with delectable mystery has been around for some years now and will continue to do so for a while. The recipe is not exactly a guarded secret. Take a historical event or an esoteric legend, preferably lesser known to keep the surprise element intact. Add a tablespoon of mystery. Throw in a pinch of murder, a dash of characters racing against time and a generous lump of twists and turns. Sprinkle conspiracies or riddles or a treasure hunt and finally garnish with an earth-shattering climax. Your bestseller’s ready, a potential one at least. Bon Appétit!

Most Indian readers believe that it was Dan Brown and his damned codes that spoiled us all but the blame must also be shared by our own home-grown riddler Ashok Banker. Banker’s retelling of our mythological and historical legends along with his crime thrillers paved the way for much that was about to come. Tales of Atlantis and Lemuria have thrilled many. And so have mysteries like Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco that fused the Knights Templar with lost treasure or The Seventh Secret by Irving Wallace, that left many wondering about Hitler’s infamous suicide. Today an Ashwin Sanghi or an Andy McDermott stands on the shoulders of these giants. So what gives a history meets mystery novel such seductive prowess?

Fundamentally we humans are suckers for tales of kings and princesses and knights and fairies. Larger than life stories replete with sights and sounds of a bygone era have charmed generations for decades and our fascination for them may well be imprinted in our DNA now. So when a mystery novel employs historical figures, it turns all the more thrilling. History becomes the plot and its legendary personalities become characters. And somewhere in this amazing transformation, we become a part of history, witnessing it unfold through the pages.

If history raises a mystery notches above commonplace, then a mystery can lend boring history excitement and animation. Drop an intense, intriguing thriller and even the biggest history hater will find it hard to resist the book. Like Mary Poppins would sing, ‘a spoonful of mystery makes the history go down.’ And in doing so, a well-researched mystery fiction perhaps educates and enlightens a lot more than a pile of history books. For example more people might have learned about Jesus and Mary Magdalene through Da Vinci Code then they would have through a historical treatise. How reliable that information is can be debated upon but it at least familiarizes one with the past while vastly entertaining.

Novels where the mystery is placed in a contemporary setting, offer a plot structure where past and present run parallel. It’s an interesting dialectic where one time zone acts upon the other and the action constantly shifts to and fro. Indeed caught in this vortex of flashback and flash-forward, the reader experiences virtual time travel from one era to another. It creates layers within the narrative that collide to give the novel depth and excitement. Parallel tracks also serve as an interesting comparison to measure how far we have evolved. Or are we evolving at all? Sanghi’s Chanakya’s Chant is a fine example.

Finally when past history leads to a present day mystery, it tells you that some stories never end. You see a continuum that has remained alive for centuries. The tale may keep going on forever. Or time may have come after all these decades to right a wrong. Seal the ancient crack. History becomes a context, a cause leading to action. Such a cycle of events, offer an interesting sense of fulfilment to the reader.

In an interview Ashwin Sanghi predicted that the trend of history meets mystery will soon die its natural death. Critics of this genre also point out that such fictional retelling forces one to draw unnecessary comparisons with what you already know. So if you are planning to write a history meets mystery tale here are a few pointers. Make sure the mystery you create is not simply for the sake of doing so, but a natural extension of the history you are exploring. There’s nothing uglier than yoking history and mystery by mere illogical force. Treat historical characters with care. Artistic license is fine but keep in mind that these are real life legends and you can’t tamper beyond a point. Research the period well. This will not only give you great perspective but also help you recreate the era as perfectly as possible. And have loads of fun. You can’t thrill others unless you are thrilled yourself, can you?

My path to becoming a published author was probably paved the day my grandfather taught me my first alphabet. Like a benevolent sorcerer, he cast the spell of the written word and I knew I was bewitched for life. Then my mother flung the doors of literature wide open and I made friends with Dickens and Twain and Wilde and Tagore. From the rugged folk tales of Ukraine to the lush tea-party in Carrol’s wonderland, the stories asked me a gentle question -‘Can you carve a universe out of words?’ And a macabre universe at that, for the genre whose siren calls were quietly seducing me was the MYSTERY THRILLER!!!

Throughout literature classes in Venky and Stephen’s, one was enthralled with the wit of Chaucer and the metaphysics of Donne. The agony of Lawrence and the nostalgia of Wordsworth. The bravado of Eliot and the absurdity of Beckett. And yet on dark nights, the infernal howling of the hound of Baskerville would fill me with awe. The climactic revelations of Hercule Poirot would leave me kicking my grey cells for not spotting the obvious. Poe’s pit of morbid terror would slice me like that murderous pendulum. And then came Dan Brown with his damned codes and ciphers and I had found another messiah. Thrillers by Irving Wallace, Suzanne Collins, Lee Child and Ashok Banker have all been text books I have craved to emulate.

Then one random day during one random hour, I stumbled upon this historical legend that absolutely bamboozled me. So staggering and so prolific were the details, that my instinctive reaction was ‘There’s enough matter here for a book!!!’ And before I knew it, I was writing that book. The legend had somehow lured me into giving it a virtual shape and form on my laptop. It was whispering plot points, characters and intrigue and I was merely recording it for posterity. Was that how Lord Ganesha had felt while Vyasa dictated him the Mahabharata? Draft #1 was ready in six months and I had actually carved a cosmos out of words. A cosmos of murder, history, sci-fi, mythology and riddles. Cryptic riddles. The conceit every writer suffers from is the cocky self-assurance that his masterpiece is worthy enough to be shared with others. So my magnum opus was clamouring for an audience now.

The merciful thing about publishing in India is that most publishers are open to unsolicited submissions. In the West where publishing houses will not touch your manuscript unless you have a literary agent representing you, the situation here is friendlier with the agent culture still in its infancy. So all it took was logging on to publishing websites and mailing my mystery thriller. Some asked for an initial synopsis & sample chapters. While sending your work is relatively simple, most unsolicited matter goes to the slush pile where scores of manuscripts lie waiting to be picked and read. Unless you can network around, there’s precious little to do but wait. Soon feedback started knocking on my laptop. Some declined while some asked for changes. FYI no publishing house will ever give an elaborate analysis but only a few pointers to rework. Some of this early feedback made a lot of sense and shaped much of the present structure of my book. The tide turned when two publishing houses wrote saying they love my thriller. It turned again when Red Ink became my literary agency.

From then on it was a process of negotiations, discussions, consultations and submissions until we finally zeroed in on Amaryllis. Though contracts drafted by publishing houses are pretty straightforward, it helped me to have an agent who made sure I got the best possible deal. One also needs to be prepared to see one’s manuscript go through various rounds of edits to make it even better. Red Ink’s brilliant editorial team further sharpened my thriller following which Amaryllis editors did their round of editing and impeccable proof-reading. Finalising the cover took longer than I had imagined but then it was all perfectly destined to hit the stands at the Delhi World Book Fair 2014 this February.

As I mentioned, the agent culture is still in its fledgling stage in India so in case you don't land up with a literary agent to represent you, don't lose heart. Be relentless and keep pitching your book to as many publishing houses as possible. Don't make the common error of going only after the big ones. Smaller publishing houses often are a better bet, especially for debut writers and can end up giving you greater attention and exposure. Finally if nothing works out, there's always Self-Publishing. This phenomenon has become really big in India in recent times and you will find a zillion sites ready to help you out. Even Amazon's legendary Createspace is now available in India now, albeit be informed that this route is all about financial investment and promotion effort from your side.

Your first book is always precious. My thriller The Emperor's Riddles is out now and there’s lots to be thankful for. Fab quotes from Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi on the cover…great response at the Delhi World Book Fair 2014…rave reviews on Goodreads and Flipkart…Bestseller on Amazon & The Asian Age.....Special Feature on The Hindu...Book recommended by DNA, Deccan Herald and Asian Age....Tweet from Gauri Shinde....But perhaps the greatest joy is that, my gentle answer to that gentle question is ‘I can. And so can anyone who loves to write.’

One has heard of blog tours but a Blog Relay was quite a quirky idea and got me hooked. While we write about our own individual writing process, we pass the baton to two new authors at the end. And the chain goes on....Neat ain't it??? Thank you Shweta Ganesh Kumar for making me a part of this.

What am I working on?

Currently I am occupied with promoting my new Mystery Thriller 'THE EMPEROR'S RIDDLES'- The Emperor's Riddles. Touchwood...the book has now entered Bestseller lists at Amazon, The Asian Age and DC Current Books. After winning acclaim from Amish Tripathi & Ashwin Sanghi, it is also getting rave reviews on Goodreads & Flipkart. Besides that, I am researching for my next book and film script

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Every book is different from others since it's an extension of the writer who is a unique individual. Time will tell whether it's better or worse than others of its genre but an eminent reviewer has written that what sets my book apart is the writing. She says it does not talk down to the reader but respects his intelligence and in doing so sets the bar really high for other writers of the genre. Besides that my readers are also enjoying trying to crack the cryptic riddles in my mystery thriller that lead them to the final enigma.

Why do I write what I do?

That’s a difficult question to ask any creative soul. Why does he do what he does? I guess it’s your calling. I love devouring mysteries and thrillers. I have grown up reading Poe, Christie, Doyle, Wallace, Grafton and Brown and have secretly wished to emulate them. So I always knew my first book would be a mystery thriller where I take my reader on an esoteric quest of twists and turns that finally ends in a stunning climactic epiphany. Also I am fascinated with history and mythology, so my book had to be a history meets mystery. The powerful historical legend of the Emperor used in the thriller, acts as the perfect backdrop for the contemporary mystery. The Buddhist myths and sci-fi intrigue in the book are also my tribute to our enigmatic past.

How does my writing process work?

I can start writing only when I have a skeletal structure in mind. Once I start keying into my laptop, I need to have a clear idea of which direction I am going in. A basic idea makes it easy for everything else to fall in place. Of course the path of the plot meanders a lot as you write. It almost takes a life of its own and after a while all you can do is follow it obediently. My first draft undergoes quite a bit of revision. Each time I read it, I find flaws. I avoid clichéd expressions like hell and try to give my reader something exciting to read. Once I am satisfied, I share it with people whose feedback I value. My first draft for this book was ready in about 6 months but went through quite a lot of modification and re-negotiation. The fun is when sometimes a brilliant idea suddenly strikes you and you find yourself switching on your computer at three in the night! Since my book has all these riddles and forensic investigations, I have come across many dead ends only to find solutions at the most bizarre places and times.
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Now let me tag two amazing authors, whose writing is already winning them admiration and recognition.

1. Kulpreet Yadav, author of India Unlimited - Stories from a Nation Caught Between Hype and Hope and A Waiting Wave. He is all set to come out with an exciting thriller trilogy this year.

2. Abhishek Gupta alias Abhi, author of the just released first part of the thrilling fantasy trilogy Embers of Light and The Sacred Secret

The stage is all yours guys...!!!