12 May,2010 10:13 AM IST | | Payal Kamat
Another self-improvement book hits your stores - The Princely Gift. But what will hold your attention is the fictional story through which author Nitin Orayan provides answers to self-doubting individuals. He discusses his book with CS:
Fictitious inspiration
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Most of my study has been of the spiritual and philosophical kind, so I started writing non-fictional self-development books ufffd How To Integrate The Self and then Integrate The Self. But soon I realised that inspiring people through fiction is easier than just preaching. Thus The Princely Gift.
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Ideas galore
I started writing this book almost 12 years ago. In my imagination, I'd always see a young short man standing in front of a prince. I started sharing my thoughts with kids and they were amazed at the idea of a deformed young man meeting a prince at the stroke of midnight daily. They'd ask me a lot of questions and during these discussions, a lot of ideas sprung up, which became fodder for my book.
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Behind the scenes
Now that I think of it, the book seems to have germinated from my own behaviour as a child. I was an introvert and when I'd see boys and girls who were much better at doing things than I was in school, I'd shrink. So I think Abhiman emerged as this short man, who is just three feet half inches tall and his height became a psychological problem that came in his way from achieving things. The prince symbolises someone who's exactly the opposite ufffd tall, wealthy and an achiever ufffd like the boys in my school. The recurring meetings between the two bring about changes in Abhiman's attitude towards his own deformity and life at large.
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Continuing tradition
Paulo Coelho's Alchemist made me realise that writing delves deeply into human life and its mysteries. In fact, I'm a great fan of the epics, especially the Mahabharata followed by Ramayana. A closer look and you comprehend how amazing they are. Every emotion ufffd fear, greed, prejudice, pride, humility, perseverance, etc ufffd the whole gamut of human life has been captured in these two epics. Our books are treasure troves of real knowledge. Even Pancha Tantra for that matter; it is amazing how animals are used to portray human ways. I think the new generation of writers can write inspiring fiction to keep this tradition going on.
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