Devdutt Pattanaik has never been shy of expressing an opinion, even if it’s an unconventional one. This is perhaps his greatest strength as a mythologist, storyteller and public speaker. A doctor by training, he started writing while still working in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. His first book was Shiva: An Introduction (1997). Eventually becoming a full-time writer, Pattanaik must have written about every major god under the sun by now.
Several of his works have challenged conventional interpretations of the epics or highlighted marginalised (2002), (2008), (2013), (2014) and (2016), which drew praise from Neil Gaiman. Pattanaik illustrates his own books. In tandem, he has written books for younger readers. He has even penned a series of management books drawing on Hindu mythology. The man is nothing if not productive.
