Sometimes, a single line read at the right moment can alter the course of one’s thinking. For Hyderabad’s Talari Anand Mahesh, that moment sparked the journey of writing Unlocking The Wisdom of The Ramayana. In conversation with CE, he speaks about the inspirations behind the book, the characters who surprised him, and the lessons that shaped his life.
Excerpts
What was the moment or story in the Ramayana that first made you feel that you had to write this book?
While reading the Yuddha Kanda, one line from Ravana stuck me. Ravana makes a statement that counsel differs just as much as the people who give it. Just as there are superior, mediocre, and inferior individuals, so too is their advice. It can be profound or superficial. Our duty is to seek out the wisest guidance and let it direct our course of action. It made me reflect that some advice can lift you, confuse you, and even derail you. The real responsibility lies with us to recognise the difference and consciously seek out the wisest voices. When we choose our counsel well, our actions naturally move in the right direction. I felt strongly that we should be engaging with these insights in a simple, accessible way, and that thought pushed me to start writing. It felt like the right moment to bring these ideas back into our conversations.
You explore lesser-known characters like King Kushanaba, Tara, Shurpanakha and Ravana’s charioteer. Which character surprised you the most when you were researching, and why?
Surprisingly, quite a few characters who are usually dismissed or vilified actually speak with clarity and a strong sense of dharma. Even someone like Nishad Guha, who is not given enough attention, shows remarkable maturity and statesmanship in his brief appearance. But the character who surprised me the most was Kumbhakarna. He is often portrayed as crude or mindless, yet in Valmiki’s Ramayana, he is one of the most honest voices in Lanka. When Ravana wakes him and explains the crisis they are facing, Kumbhakarna doesn’t mince words. He reminds Ravana that this disaster was predicted long ago, and that ignoring wise counsel has consequences. His disappointment is calm but piercing as he speaks of how pride clouds judgment, how acting out of impulse or ego leads to poor decisions, and how failing to distinguish good strategy from bad can destroy even the mighty. I found his clarity and courage remarkable.
Your book mixes religion with self-help. How did you make sure that these ancient stories speak to modern readers and younger generations?
For me, the most important thing was to keep the Ramayana; human and relatable. I didn’t approach it as a religious text that needs heavy explanation, but as a story filled with emotions, conflicts, doubts, and choices we all recognise. Younger readers don’t connect to sermons, but they connect to real situations. So, I focused on the dilemmas behind the episodes: handling tough moments, managing ego, seeking the right advice, standing up for what is right, and dealing with relationships with care. By simplifying the stories without losing their depth, Unlocking the Wisdom of the Ramayana stays close to everyday life. I’ve used real examples and then distilled a few easy, practical lessons. That’s how ancient wisdom becomes meaningful today by not by preaching it, but by showing how it fits naturally into the moments we all live through.
While writing the book, did any life lesson from the Ramayana change your own perspective or your everyday habits?
Two lessons from the Ramayana appealed to me so strongly that I began applying them in my own life immediately. The first comes from Kaikeyi, Manthara, and even Kousalya’s moment of grief with Dasharatha. All three show how easily emotion can cloud judgment. The simple lesson is to pause before reacting. When a situation is charged, stepping back for even a moment can prevent decisions we may later regret.
The second lesson comes from the story of King Dasharatha and the blind sage’s curse. His single impulsive action in the dark created consequences that followed him for a lifetime. It reminded me that every choice even a small one can ripple far beyond what we imagine. For example: some people don’t even realise that something like rash driving, jumping a red light or speeding may appear insignificant, but its consequences can be devastating. One impulsive decision can trigger a chain reaction: an accident, injuries, legal troubles, or even loss of life. Like Dasharatha’s mistake, a single act can permanently alter multiple lives.
Today, I try to ensure my actions are thoughtful, aware, and respectful of both their immediate and long-term impact.
If someone has never read the Ramayana at all, what is the one message from your book that you hope they remember?
At the start of my book, I spoke about the literal meaning of the word Ramayana — Ram + Ayana meaning the journey of Rama. What I hope readers take away is that each of us is on our own journey too. Like Rama, we face many highs and lows, surprises and challenges. What matters is how we walk that path. If we anchor ourselves in compassion and let our moral compass follow dharma for the greater good, our journey becomes meaningful not just for us, but for everyone around us.
You began writing the book in 2023, for how long were you planning this book before you finally started writing it?
As I was very fond of reading, the thought of writing a book has been with me almost since I was a teenager like a small idea that you set aside for later. But as the years went by, especially after 2008, it started growing stronger. During that period, I had the opportunity to meet many authors while publicising their books. Listening to their journeys, their struggles, and their creative processes made the idea of writing feel more real and achievable. My engagement with the Ramayana began much later. In 2021, when I started reading a translated version, I found myself pausing often, reflecting, making notes, and capturing thoughts that resonated with me. What began as casual reflections slowly became a more structured exploration of the epic’s lessons. By 2023, I realised these scattered thoughts had the potential to become something meaningful. That’s when I made the decision to pull everything together and shape it into a manuscript.
You reconnected with reading and spirituality during COVID, and that was an important shift. How did this change influence the tone and intention of your book?
COVID was a defining period for all of us. There was so much grief, uncertainty, and helplessness around that it naturally pushed me back toward reading and spirituality. I realised something important during that time: just like the pandemic, many situations in life are only partly in our control. We can prepare, we can respond, but we cannot control outcomes. That insight shaped the tone of my book. I began looking at Ramayana as a guide to how we think and how we respond when life tests us. The focus shifted to inner steadiness and aspects such as pausing, reflecting, understanding our emotions, and choosing our actions with awareness. In a way, the book became a bridge between the uncertainty of our times and the wisdom of the epic.
Which part of the process took the longest for you, since there was researching, writing, editing, and choosing what to include?
The longest and most demanding part of the journey was the step between the first manuscript and the final version. Once I completed the initial draft, I shared it with a few close friends for beta reading. Their feedback was invaluable. They pointed out areas that needed more clarity, sections where examples could make the ideas more relatable, and portions that required a different tone or tighter flow. I took time to absorb all of this, rewrote several parts, and added more real-life illustrations to strengthen the connection between the Ramayana and everyday situations. Only after this round of refinement did I move to professional editing. That entire process of listening, revising and polishing helped the book take its final shape.
You have worked closely with many authors in your PR career, and their journeys must have left an impact. Did their experiences influence your own writing style or discipline?
What influenced me most about the authors I met was their personalities. Each one of them was warm, easy going, and full of life. Even when their books dealt with serious subjects, they carried a wonderful sense of humour and a lightness that I really admired. I often felt that if I could bring even a fraction of that energy into my own life, I would be fortunate. Discipline was definitely a big lesson I picked up from them. I would always ask how they managed research and writing alongside everything else happening in their lives. Their practical insights on time management, routine, and their writing process helped me immensely when I began my own writing journey.
What was the biggest creative risk you took while writing this book, and how did you convince yourself to follow through with it?
I’m not sure whether to call it a creative risk, but the biggest decision I made was to approach the Ramayana in a very simple and accessible way. It is an epic filled with emotion, complexity, and deep cultural reverence. Compressing those large, layered moments down into short reflections that modern readers can relate to while still preserving their essence required a very careful balance. I knew some people might feel I was interpreting too much, while others might feel I wasn’t interpreting enough. A few readers even mentioned that the book isn’t scholarly, or that principles from the Treta Yuga may not always apply to our current age because each yuga has its own dharma and I do agree with that. But what convinced me to continue was a simple belief: for wisdom to matter, it must be accessible. During COVID, when all of us were searching for stability and meaning, I realised people didn’t need long commentaries, but they needed guidance for the situations they were facing every day. So I trusted my intention. I kept the tone simple, human, and relatable, and reminded myself that my role was not to recreate the epic, but to offer a doorway into it. That clarity gave me the confidence to stay with the format and complete the book.
What kind of topics or stories do you want to work on next, and do you already have another book in mind?
Yes, I’ve completed the manuscript for my second book, and there is already some interest from publishers. This new book is a collection of stories and reflections centered around one of our most loved and admired deities. I can’t share too much yet because of confidentiality, but it follows a similar spirit of making timeless wisdom easy to relate to. For now, I feel there is a vast reservoir of insight in our epics and folk traditions that is ready for modern interpretation across ages and faiths. I hope to stay with this genre for the next few books, because there is so much more to explore and share. And someday, I would love to write fiction as well, something completely non-mythological so as to explore a different creative space.
You mixed mythology and self-help in this book, so what other genres are you interested in writing in the future?
I’ve been thinking of writing a more first-hand research-driven book that explores our beliefs in depth and traces how our family and community systems of faith have evolved. It’s an area that fascinates me, and I feel there’s a lot to uncover and understand. At the same time, I’ve always enjoyed reading Just William series and Perry Mason books, and a part of me would love to try my hand at humour or crime fiction someday. It would be a completely different creative journey, but one I’d enjoy exploring when the time is right.