Finding your religion

Mythology is the latest 'it' word for books. Religion may have become a bad word with war, politics and terrorism, but more and more people are turning to our culture to find answers

Fifteen years ago in Hum Aapke Hai Koun..!, when the newlywed Renuka Shahane entered her in-laws' home, she was handed the Ramayana with a four-word explanation: "Iss mein Sita hai." It was obvious that she was to understand and emulate the heroine of one of our most idealistic epics. If they were to make a new-age sequel to the movie, the daughter-in-law might just be handed a copy of In Search of Sita, to trigger off a debate. Religion may have become a bad word especially when you think war, politics, saffronisation, terrorism and Taliban, but on the flipside, more and more people are turning to our culture, to find answers. Result: an upsurge in the sales of books in the genre.u00a0

Today, the mythological section (which falls under religion) of every bookstore is teeming with books that are retelling or revisiting an epic, analysing characters, gods and goddesses, drawing parallels with our lives and so on. They tell the reader to think about and question tradition. They're written by not just godmen but entrepreneurs (Gurcharan Das' The Difficulty of Being Good) and economists (Meghnad Desai's essays in In Search of Sita), amongst others.

Starting the trend

Niyati Dhuldhoya, merchandiser, Landmark, says that the genre had opened up early in 2008 with mythologist and author Devdutt Pattanaik's The Pregnant King. The book, published by Penguin, is the story of Yuvanashva of the Mahabharata, who accidentally drinks a potion meant to make his wives pregnant. He bears a child and thereon the lines between father-mother, king-queen and husband-wife seem to blur. Another book responsible for the spike in sales is The Women of the Mahabharata by Chaturvedi Badrinath, which examines the roles of the epic's female characters from Shakuntala and Uttara to Draupadi among others.

While she refuses to divulge sales figures, Niyati says the patrons of this genre are aged between 25 to 30 years. "They're not teenybopper novels, but they have their own audience. In Search of Sita, for instance, which is a compilation of essays on Sita, finds its readership mostly among young urban women." Her explanation for this sudden increase in interest: "People want to know more."

Right and left

According to Devdutt, the phenomenon has a simple analogy. "Aastha channel exists because of Ekta Kapoor," he says. If the latter's soap operas feature several pujas appeasing deities to seek 'sukh-shanti-paisa', the former simply tells viewers how they needn't 'want' worldly pleasures.

But that's television. The written word is still sacred, says Devdutt, especially for the older generation. Politics is at play too, with the Right which exploits religion and gives it importance, while the Left denies religion, believing in the power of money. "One generation made all the money and now they're worried that their children will not grow up with enough values. So they pick up mythological books," he explains.

Gautam Padmanabhan, the CEO of Westland Publishing, says the genre has gained popularity over the last couple of years mainly because people are looking for a means to cope with the pressures of modern life. "Westland has sold more than 7,000 copies of Devdutt's 7 Secrets From Hindu Calendar Art since it was first published. It has been reprinted twice," he says. Such books usually get sold out quickly at airport outlets which points out that the 20 to 40-year-old urbane Indian who travels is the most probable buyer. The publishing house intends to translate 7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art in Hindi, Marathi and Tamil and the mythologist has been commissioned nine books due to release next year as well.

Comics still on top

As far as the younger readers go, mythology was always a popular genre, courtesy Amar Chitra Katha of India Book House. The widespread comic book series covering folktales, legendary figures and epics was born 42 years ago because, says editor Reena I Puri, "Back then, we were more aware of Zeus and Athena than we were about our own roots, our Puranas".

While the sales of Amar Chitra Kathas have remained steady, there has been an increase in numbers off late. "It's because today, the joint families are gone. Parents who grew up on Amar Chitra Kathas, even some grandparents, want to educate their children who live in nuclear families. Indians abroad pick up ACKs to keep in touch with their roots."

The series has expanded too, with Junior Amar Chitra Kathas, home videos, audio-books exploring smaller aspects of the epics. One of the junior books talks of the Ramayana but with a squirrel which wants to help Rama cross the river to Lanka. "It touches upon environmental issues to make it more contemporary," says Reena. And while the average target audience of any Amar Chitra Katha is between the ages of eight and 14, the editor insists that most purchases for "my son/daughter" are ostensible. "The parents or grandparents read the book first," she says with a smile.

The Google generation

R Sriram who is on the advisory board of Prarthana Publications, and was previously with Crossword bookstore, believes the genre is catching on because the youth question everything. "Unlike the older generation which took their parents' word for most things, today's youth are used to Googling for answers. They want to figure things out for themselves, which is where these books come in," he says. Sriram reveals that contrary to popular belief, the sales of fiction books comprise just 1/3rd of the total book market. "Two-thirds of the sales are taken over by non-fiction," he says.

Another aspect would be 'change' which was gradual, say two generations ago. Today, change is quicker, more instant, things quickly become obsolete. Sriram says, "We need to cope with change and have realised that our ancient wisdom helps explain and clarify every situation."

Ultimately, it's a returning-to-roots wave. "Three-four decades ago, we were ashamed of our heritage and our culture. In the '60s and '70s, we were a locked country. Today, we're reclaiming Indian heritage," says Devdutt, "The world is realising that no one is secular and no one need be."u00a0