Ashwin Sanghi
Ashwin Sanghi
Ashwin Sanghiis an Indian writer in the fiction-Thriller genre. He is the author of three best-selling novels: The Rozabal Line, Chanakya's Chant and The Krishna Key. All his books have been based on historical, theological and mythological themes. He is one of India's best-selling conspiracy fiction writers and is an author of the new era of retelling Indian history or mythology in a contemporary context. Forbes India has included him in their Celebrity 100 list. His upcoming novel, The Sialkot...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth25 January 1969
CountryIndia
I was a businessman for 16 years of my life, so when I started writing, I wanted to keep my literary identity separate.
I was learning book-keeping at the age of 12, but it never stopped me from pursuing literature. Over the years, I grew to love the written word.
There has to be a protagonist who has to overcome challenges, and there will be a race to finish.
Our country has the oldest tradition of storytelling, and this was much before writing stories even became a norm.
Oral storytelling goes back so long ago, and those stories that were told orally were always layered and changed with time.
Mythology works... because Indians have been bred on myths.
My attention span is very limited, and I watch just one or two movies a year.
In the Sanghi family, there is no one who has undertaken intellectual pursuits.
If there is one city apart from Mumbai where I would love to settle down, it has to be Chennai.
I was passionate about reading from an early age, and I would always be carrying a different book each week.
Writing is a intensely personal activity. I can pen down my best thoughts when Im alone. But when one is elevated into the stature of an author, you have to think about your books in terms of their business angle.
I like to joke that I probably hold the world record for rejection letters. Yes, the truth is that I was fed up of being rejected repeatedly, and self-publicatio n was an act of defiance at traditional publishing. But life works in strange ways.
Winning an award is a great feeling but winning the Vodafone Crossword Popular Choice Award is particularly exhilarating because it is based upon public voting. I find it a strange quirk of fate that Chanakya's Chant, a political tale, should end up winning an election!
Character is what you are. Reputation is what people think you are.