The literary carnival in Jaipur got crazier as author Amish Tripathi told crowds that smoking marijuana is what Shiva devotees do
Jaipur: Best-selling author and marketing genius Amish Tripathi had the audience splitting and spilling on the third day of the Jaipur Literature Festival. Tripathi spoke of his literary process and how he journeyed from being an atheist to a Shiva devotee.
ADVERTISEMENT
Amish Tripathi, author of the Shiva trilogy, spoke to the audiences of his writing process
The popular author enjoyed a wide spectrum of readers pertaining to the age group of 15 to senior citizens. In response to the question of a young audience member regarding Tripathi’s devotion to the lord, the writer replied, “You know all of us Shiva devotees get together on Maha Shiv Ratri and stay up all night where we drink, dance and even smoke up.”
Extending the point, he said, “Marijuana is actually less harmful for you than alcohol. In India, it was legally available till a few decades ago. There was an international movement driven by the US, which forced practically all the countries to ban marijuana. Now, US is not reversing this in many states.”
At this point, the audience broke into applause while he further educated, “In India, many decades ago they used to sell marijuana in shops.” Meru Gokhale, the editorial director of Vintage Books India that comes under the Random House publishing house interjected, “they used to be called Sarkari Bhaang ki Dukaan” on the thought of which the audience loudly chuckled.
Exposing the farce, Tripathi concluded, “Having said all this, every single intoxicant including marijuana is not good for you. A philosophical rule in life is if you are not able to handle it, don’t do it. And once, a year is okay, more than that is not,” to which the audience responded with thunderous applause. Clearly a complete entertainer, this.