The popular 'The Immortals of Meluah', first in Amish Tripathi's 'The Shiva Trilogy' initially began as  philosophical ruminations and only after a creative push did the author turn it into fiction. 

"There was no book in the beginning. I just used to write because I love writing and there was always a  feeling of being oneself. I started writing as pure philosophical ruminations unmindful of the fact that someone was going to read it," says the banker-turned-author. 

"But, it was my twin brother and his wife, who's actually Australian, who prodded me to take a plunge into fiction and what better philosophy and metaphor than Lord Shiva himself," he adds. 

Amish ascribes his writing ability as a divine blessing and his upbringing in a deeply religious yet liberal family and coupled with his "voracious reading habits" which subconsciously "created a library of art,  history, science, and an archive of religion and mythology at the back of his mind" which he later drew  upon.

"I had no creative bone in my body. Like a regular guy I had interest in sports and music to some extent while in college and then like every other ambitious youth went for an MBA. But, I genuinely believe the gift of words is a blessing from god. It's all coming from up there. I'm not writing it," Amish told PTI.

The author's  Hindi imprint of 'The Secret of the Nagas', second in the trilogy was launched here recently jointly by Westland and Yatra Books. "After graduation I started working in a banking firm. And, I used to  write in my transit hours, in the back of my car or taxi, to balance it with my day job. I just used to keep writing on my laptop never knowing one day it'll stretch into a trilogy," says the 37-year-old IIM graduate.

Amish says he was tremendously influenced by author Ashok K Banker's writings on mythology and that many of his plots and characters are also inspired from Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse mythologies  among others.