Gracing the occasion of An Author’s Afternoon, a venerable initiative of Prabha Khaitan Foundation, author Satyarth Nayak spoke extensively on the route he embarked upon towards writing. The engaging conversation, moderated by Isha Gupta Vaish, Ehsaas Woman of Mussoorie, allowed the audience to understand how and why Nayak has come to be a literary force to be reckoned with.
Nayak revealed how his childhood shaped his literary career, recalling how his grandfather’s love for reading and various literary forms seeped into him, and was combined with his mother’s encouragement of his reading habit. Nayak went on to pursue a Master’s degree in English literature and work with CNN-IBN. All of his written work is research-based, and Nayak attributes this discipline to journalism, which has stood him in good stead over the years.
During a sabbatical, Nayak’s rereading of Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons sparked in him a consuming curiosity to research a historical equivalent in India. He was so consumed with the process because he found Ashoka, the Kalinga war, legends, and the stories to be really fascinating. This was the beginning of the process that would result in him writing The Emperor’s Riddles.
Although Nayak confessed that he had always been partial to thrillers since his childhood, his oeuvre encompasses a wide range of genres, diverging into biography, mythology, and screenwriting, despite being advised by his publishers to invest in a singular genre and create a dedicated readership for it. Nayak is however governed by the belief that a writer should be at liberty to write whatever he chooses to, and not be bound by parameters; with the ultimate aim of being the best vehicle of the story for his readers. “I know if I write again and again in the same genre, I’ll keep repeating myself creatively,” he said. “It’s not about the market ultimately, because every book has its own destiny and you cannot predict such things. As a writer, the only thing one can do is write with full honesty and integrity.”
His much-acclaimed Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess was a culmination of a series of thoughts that ended up in him realising that there had been no book dedicated to the iconic actress. The publication of the book, however, took a laborious route. In a conversation, Sridevi had asked Nayak to wait till Jahnvi Kapoor’s debut film, Dhadak, was released. But tragedy struck, with Sridevi’s untimely demise, and Nayak was left spiralling in shock. It wasn’t until a friend reminded him that it was only the inclusion of the last chapter of the book that he might struggle with, that Nayak got back to writing it. “A friend told me that I owed the book to her because I had spoken to her about it and had told her how much I loved her,” he recalled.
The conversation then segued into Mahagatha, Nayak’s latest book and a national bestseller. Comprising a hundred tales from the Vedas and Puranas, the book spans across a wide time period, taking readers from satyug to kalyug. For the younger generation, Mahagatha makes the world of Hindu mythology accessible. Nayak elaborated that he had got positive feedback from the older generation as well, saying that the stories they were told as kids are now being read back to their parents from his books. “This means it [the book] is cutting across generations!” he said.
Discussions of contemporary feminist struggles found their way into the conversation as well. Nayak revealed that the Puranas and Vedas place women in superior positions, explaining by example how it is often the male heroes who realise their shortcomings and apologise, thereby making these texts frontrunners for reading material on feminism. Furthermore, Nayak illuminated how the concept of LGBTQIA++ dates way back to the fifth century, locating stories of transgender individuals, thereby providing historical sources of support for the modern world’s fight for equal rights.
The engaging exchange of ideas concluded with a Q&A session with the audience. Nayak addressed a multitude of thoughts about his take on the multiverse, different writing styles, and how some stories eventually zone out to the cinematic world. The session drew to a close with Vineeta Moore felicitating the esteemed author.