Interview : Kamesh Ramakrishna Author of The Last Kaurava a Novel

In Conversation with Kamesh Ramakrishna

1.       Why do you think mythology was the one for you?

As a child, mythology was fantasy that made me feel strong and good. When I was bullied, in school or in the neighbourhood, fantasizing created alternative worlds where the oppression did not exist.[1] Imagining the stories and imagining what I would have done if I had been there was both therapy and training to empathize.

2.       Mahabharata attracts a lot of authors these days. Why do you think this happens? Why it attracted you?

The Mahabharata is not only rich in stories, it is rich in characters. A character has a life of its own and that makes it easy to use. In addition the Mahabharata supplies the plot plan and all the writer has to do is fill it in!

Why did it attract me?  Definitely the flexibility of the plot! Also, the Mahabharata gives karmic reasons for so many characters that it is amusing to imagine modifications.

  

3.       Who are your favorite characters from Mahabharata? Are there some characters on whom you focused more on your book?

I have no favorites!

This book is about Devavrata/Bhishma and focuses on the parts of his life that the Mahabharata neglects to say anything.

4.       I was wondering what exactly the cover of your book means? I couldn’t decode the real sense from it. If you would like to tell more about it and its reference with the book?

NOTE: I think that the cover should be replaced for the planned re-launching, so the comments below are probably irrelevant.

The cover shows a stylized flower, possibly a lotus, burning. I wanted it to hint that this is a novel about a war. Also, the lotus is a symbol for India, for the sub-continent that the mythology calls “Jambu-dvipa”, the Continent/Island of the Jambul.

How did I come up with this cover? Leadstart’s cover designer came up with a number of cover, but I did not like any of them.  Because of the ways in which I’ve re-framed the epic, the traditional portrayals of Mahabharata characters do not work. The idea of Bhishma in my book is not an old man with a long beard! My book does not have 11 armies consisting of over 1 lac horses and elephants, and 20 lac humans. The warriors in my book do not wear golden armor, carry long swords by their side, have composite longbows. They are not helped by the gods or other magical beings, nor do they have super-weapons.

So, it was very hard for the designer to come up with something.  But, in one of the designs he had a secondary motif of the flaming flower. I liked the motif and we experimented with how to use it and add a person. But there was simply no way to show any of my characters. So we went with just the motif.

5.       Mahabharata is a very fragile yet very strong tale. How you dealt with it in the long run?

I would disagree – the Mahabharata is not fragile at all. Generally speaking it is a perennially fresh story. The weak points are, frankly, interpolations and they are there because this epic was modified to carry messages and theories. The Bhagavad-Gita is completely unnecessary for the epic, especially since other places in the Mahabharata (Shantiparvan) give different advice on how to rule and take responsibility for actions. Making Krishna into an avatar of God is unnecessary and some ancient manuscripts do not make him God – none of the things he does requires his god-hood to sustain the story.

I am still working on novels based on the life of other characters that would fit with the narrative in the first book. Maybe 4 novels.

6.       What can readers expect from this book? What is the x-factor for freshness in this tale? What does your book have which can make people distinguish it among the rest of the pile?

My book replaces a mythic world with a realistic one. That will make people think about the reality of India’s history, whether archaeological discoveries support or describe events that could be the source of the myth or of parts of the myth.

The x-factor for reader who knows the Mahabharata is the focus on Bhishma and what his life was like and what he really thought when he died.

How to distinguish it from the rest:

The story is set in the Bronze-Age India of 2000 B.C.E.. There are no gods, goddesses, miracles, or other magical events or actions or objects. The technology is restricted to what could have been available around 2000 B.C.E.. Technical and Scientific Knowledge is also restricted to what we know was known at that time.

7.       What is in store after “The Last Kaurava”? What will be the next venture?

I am working on “The Last Matriarchs”, the story of Kunti and Draupadi.

If by “next venture” you mean some other novel – I am working on

a) Something entirely different, or

b) A story with Ashvatthama as a main character set in modern-day India, or

c) A collection of stories from the Mahabharata focusing on the psychology of the main characters.

8.       Do you prefer reading mythology or you are open to all genres? Who all your favorite writers, your favorite books and genres?

I read many different kinds of books. For a long period from the age of 13 to about 45 I read a LOT of science fiction – good, bad, mediocre, whatever – Asimov, Clark, Niven, Pournelle, van Vogt, Ellison, …  I’ve read Georgette Heyer and I’ve read Gore Vidal; I’ve read folk stories from all over the world; I’ve read modern novels and I’ve read Henry Fielding’s “The History of Tom Jones, a foundling”. I don’t think of my reading as genre-driven anymore, though “history” is probably a key component.

My favorite authors have changed with time, so I am going to sample from different times of my life: Gore Vidal, Robert Graves, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Yukio Mishima, Jack London, Roberto Calasso, Marvin Harris, George Gamow, Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, Imre Lakatos, U.R. Anantha Murthy, R.K. Narayanan, A.K. Ramanujam, Thomas Mann, Enid Blyton, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, … Some of these authors didn’t even write fiction…

My favorite books – I don’t think in these terms but here are five … Gore Vidal’s “Creation”, Robert Graves’ “Julian”, Calasso’s “Ka”, Asimov’s “Foundation, books 1, 2, 3”, Mishima’s “Spring Snow”, Ramanujam’s “Folk Tales”, Russell’s “Why I am not a Christian”, Lakatos’ “Proofs and Refutations”, …

Oops, it’s more than 5…

9.       How was your journey with the book? From writing to publishing it, what all hindered the path and what made it smooth?

The path to publishing the first book has been a long and meandering. I first conceived of a novel based on the idea that the Mahabharata (The Great War) was a result of the Sarasvati drying up around 1900 BCE, during the height of what is called the Indus Valley Civilization, and the evolution of Hindu “Dharma” from that. That was 1991. I wanted to select episodes and modify them to reflect the proposed historical event, but the more I worked at it, the more it became clear that the background had to be built up and when I tried that the project became huge.

In 1992, I contacted A.K.Ramanujam and made a fool of myself because I knew very little about him (other than that he had written an anthology of folk stories). He was very kind. He read my summary and agreed to read the whole thing and told me to call back in a few weeks. I then read other books by him and freaked out – he was a giant of Indian literature and I had called him like he was my next-door neighbor. I did not have the courage to call him back, and when I finally did a year later, I found out that he had just passed away. I can only look back in horror & embarrassment.

In 1993, I mentioned this project to a close friend and he was excited – he suggested that I should make it an “Internet book”, publish a page with the background and one episode and invite the world to add episodes. He even had a prologue to a story he had written (It was much better written than mine) that he said he would add.  I could not see my way to doing this – maybe I should have.

In 1996 I showed my stuff to a well-known Indian writer. To be fair, he read it. His response was that I would never finish the project as it was conceived. He was right. That version was unwritable and perhaps unreadable.

Life went on and I stopped working actively on the book. I tried many different approaches to re-starting it, but failed. There was no story.

I gave up and wrote two papers on the idea and published in a Canadian journal and an Indian journal. Nobody read them, as far as I know.

I tried writing other novels, just to keep in practice. As a result, I have a number of unfinished novels sitting in my To Do list.

I started up again in about 2010. The project was still hopeless.

Then in 2013 I came up with the idea of writing just the life of Bhishma, since he was such a critical character in my concept. The first draft was finished in about 6 months, I worked with two editors for about 12-18 months and the book, The Last Kaurava a novel, was published in November 2015 by Leadstart.

What hindered? I was the biggest obstacle. I had/have terrible work habits – I only survived in the computer software job market because I was better at problem-solving than most people. I’ve pulled a rabbit put of a hat at the last minute a number of times. None of this helped me with writing this book.

What made it smooth? My family’s support, without a doubt. I credit the writing workshops I went to over many years in New York and Boston – they did not help me with this book (they had no Indian background), but the exercise of writing for an audience that gave critical feedback improved my writing. But I also credit the first editor (Jayashree Anand)  I worked with – I have never believed that an editor could help me, but her detailed feedback was truly fantastic. It helped me re-doing the first draft into a novel that could be sent to publishers.

10.   Any part of the book which:

a.       You want to change.

I removed the frame story from the version published in Nov. 2015. I also moved some of the discussions from the main text to an Appendix. The resulting story moves a bit faster.

b.      You find the best.

I like the opening chapter.

c.       You can re-read till death.

Don’t want to do that!

d.      You memorize by heart.

I will not do that – I will colour my other writing.

11.   I have noticed in all my reading experience that people have played with the story of Mahabharata. Young authors mend the truths sometimes. What have you done to avoid this?

I do not avoid it at all! I want to change anything that has magic, gods, anachronisms, etc..

-          My Bronze-Age story will not have a boy breaking a window by throwing a stone.

-          My story will not have steel long-swords which only came with the invention of steel!

-          There will be no gods, goddesses, rishis with magic powers, rakshasas, yakshas, apsaras, etc.

-          There will be no beautiful palaces built of gold and silver.

-          Characters will have jobs…

12.   Why the word “LAST”?

Devavrata’s step-brothers died without children and Satyavati asks her son, the Vyaasa (who is writing the story) to father children for them. So, Pandu and Dhritarashtra are the Vyaasa’s children! Not descendants of Kuru, at least not by birth. In my story, Devavrata has a son, Shikhandin (not true in the original). So, Shikhandin is a Kaurava. Bhishma and Shikhandin are the last Kauravas and the story begins with Shikhandin dead.

13.   Share your favorite quotes from the book?

I am trying to avoid remembering such writing details.

14.   Should the readers come with fresh mind to your novel or they can have some pre-conceived notions after reading the title?

Yes, absolutely! But if you come with preconceptions, be prepared to see them broken.

15.   Would you like to pass on a message to your readers before they try your book?

This is a relaxed book that will make you contemplate. Any fighting is brief and people do not fire arrows until their arms are tired. If you know the Mahabharata, you will find that just reading the first page will challenge the original in many, many places!

About the book:

"“I am Amba.” The voice rang in Devavrat’s ear like a forgotten melody. ... Ancient memories from lost time veered in and out of focus. The memories came with flooding questions. How could it be Amba? What was she doing, here and now? ...I must see her. He tried to turn. The stub of an arrow, sticking under his left shoulder, made him pause with every move, however slight.

Devavrat Bhishma is dying, wounded. He tells Yudhishthira the story of how the Kurus established Hastinapur as a trading outpost on the frontier of Panchnad. The river Sarasvati dried up creating a crisis for Panchnad as cities were abandoned and immigrants poured into Hastinapur looking for safety and support. The Kurus under Devavrat address the crisis with social policy. The success comes at a cost to Devavrat’s personal life. Devavrat’s narration becomes part of the epic poem of the Great War. The story survives, memorised as oral history by the Kavi Sangha, the guild of bards. A thousand years later, the story is written down by Vyaasa, the head of the Kavi Sangha, with help from many others.

“No Indian ever hears the [epics] for the first time ... It requires great courage, therefore to re-imagine [the Great War] as the author has done. He captures the reader’s attention from the start, with a sense of theatre, making the characters tangible and even more complex than in the original.
.…The book … conveys the high tension of the immediate.

S. Anandalakshmy, Ph.D.
President
Bala Mandir Research Foundation
Former Director
Lady Irwin College, Delhi"

About the author:

"Kamesh Ramakrishna grew up in Bombay (now Mumbai) and completed his undergraduate studies at IIT-Kanpur. He went on to obtain a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, specialising in Artificial Intelligence. He worked as a professor and a software engineer; received some patents; was software architect for some foundational products; was CTO for a startup; and in recent years, has been a consulting software architect. For over twenty years, Kamesh has been an avid student of history, archaeology, science and philosophy and the interconnection between these disciplines. Kamesh has published the core ideas underlying this novel in two reviewed journals - The Trumpeter (Canada) and The Indian Journal of Eco criticism. Kamesh lives with his family in Massachusetts."

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Book Review: Half Pants Full Pants by Anand Suspi

Book: Half Pants, Full Pants: Real-Life Tales from Shimoga

Author: Anand Suspi 

Genre: Short stories

Publisher: Hector Beverages India Private Limited

Pages: 221

Price: 195

Blurb:

Half Pants, Full Pants is a collection of real-life stories of growing up in Shimoga. An ode to innocence and mischief, these stories are guaranteed to set off a journey back in time.

Review:

Short stories are always better when you don’t know what to read next. Half pants, full pants is a great book with some very simple and some very intricate tales which revolves around the lives of characters that are as real as air. This book contains true accounts from a small place Shimoga that you can find really touching and remarkable.

I loved the former stories more then the latter ones because they had an unmatchable charm in them. You can't put the book down no matter what. Every story takes you down the lane, make you remember the old days when you did all those things in your childhood. You smile without being conscious enough.

The good thing is that the author didn’t waver from his theme and stick to what was expected from the book. And the real life tales thing made everything much more better and warming.

Every character was special in the book, it is hard to pick one. There was so much in everyone that things were elevated beyond normalcy.

The cover and the title also makes you smile. Every single thing of the book is crafted in such a way that you become nostalgic. The good thing is the variation, it was everywhere in the book.

All in all the book was a great, quick and easy read. It had a everything which a grown up needs in this running world, to have a break and relish some moments of happiness.

Check out the spotlight of the book for more details Spotlight

About the author:

Anand Suspi has been an advertising writer for the past 20 years. He has spent a large part of his career in Lowe Lintas. He lives in Gurgaon and runs his own ad agency, AndAnd.

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Book Review: The Indus Challenge By R. Durgadoss

Book: The Indus Challenge

Author: R. Durgadoss

Genre: Fiction (Mythology/History)

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Pages: 324

Price: 250

Blurb:

Bharat is in chaos. While the kingdoms fight each other, Alexander’s forces gather for the assault, their leader lured by tales of supernatural weapons and the elixir of immortality. Only one man can save the subcontinent from domination by the Greeks: the young Chandragupta Maurya, trained under the aegis of the ‘dark Brahmin’, Chanakya.

When an ancient seal is found, sharing the secrets of the brahmastra, the redoubtable weapon of the Mahabharata, it is up to Rudra, young commander of the Mauryan Nava Yuva Sena and lifelong friend and confidante of Chandragupta, to decode it. Along with his fellow commandos and with the able guidance of his guru, Rudra embarks on a quest that takes him from the snowy peaks of the Himalayas to the seas of Rameshwaram, hunting the clues that will lead him to the brahmastra. On the way, he meets the Chiranjivis, ancient beings tasked with divine duties and learns the secrets behind his own birth and his mysterious powers.

But Rudra must be careful, for not all enemies were dispersed with the death of the mighty Alexander. Treachery lurks in the home and when Rudra is framed for the attempted murder of his sovereign, he must pull every trick at his disposal to reveal the enemy and save his kingdom from plunging, once more, into bloodshed and chaos.

A historical, mythological adventure story, The Indus Challenge is sure to appeal to readers interested in the storied past of India and the legends woven into its soil.

Review:

The Indus Challenge is not like every other mythological book. It has much more turns, much more stories hidden beneath the whole concept. There is not just one aspect to it, there are different faces, different phases at every other turn.

The story is normal, but with different angles. I have never read a book of such subject-matter. I was hoping to find something different from the book but great new deals of things were served.

The problem arrived in the never-ending narration of events. I was just so distracted from so many flashbacks that it became hard after some time to go on like that. The author though maintained a good bridge between the past and present still it was not working in the bigger picture.

I liked the tale of Queen Helena because I knew about her very less. Her side of the tale was intriguing. I loved all the proceedings, her anger, her frustration, everything about her was great.

Also I loved reading about Chanakaya, his presence, his magnificence is all laid out in proper forms. He is shown as sharp and witty guru, which is expected from him. The whole episode of the little adventure Rudra and Chanakaya go on is really nerve-wrecking. There are a lot of puzzles, lot of places and lot of situations.

Best part of all this was the group that was formed, the puzzles, the violations, the hindrances and the different tactics involved at every step.

The book was full of details, stories and suspense. It really lived up to the expectations if one forgets the long and boring narrations by different characters. The book was much better towards the ending. The middle was so okayish that it brought the level of the book down.

It is that sort of  a book which will make you want to read the next phase of Rudra’s and Chankaya’s life. Though I didn’t read the first book in the series but still it didn’t feel like I have missed that much.

Check the spotlight of the book for more details about the book Spotlight

About the author:

R. Durgadoss (his associates call him Dr DD) is an entrepreneur, inspirational speaker, writer and coach. He holds a PhD in Corporate Finance. He has a career spanning more than three decades with leading multinational institutions of high repute.

He has a deep-rooted passion for Indian mythology, history and philosophy. Since his childhood he has been able to attract a number of followers with his mesmerizing storytelling abilities. Wherever history is a mystery, he fills gaps with his creative spin.

Having held his audience spellbound with powerful storytelling during his lectures in international forums, he thought it was time to focus on a series of fiction in the historical/mythological genre. The Indus Challenge is the second book in this series.

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Book Review: Rafflesia: The Banished Princess by Gautam

Book: Rafflesia: The Banished Princess

Author: Gautam

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Leadstart Publishing

Price: 395

Pages: 397

Blurb:

"Rafflesia: The Banished Princess"

The curtains draw up. Lights are dimmed. The musical is about to begin. As the beautiful princess descends on stage, the mythical creatures from her kingdom come alive. Flickers of brilliant colors
blaze across as mesmerizing music pulsates from one corner of the theatre to the other. A fairy tale is about to unfold…

As young children, we often come across things that stay in our hearts forever. For Appu, it is a fairy tale about a beautiful princess. He lives with her in a world filled with the magical creatures from her kingdom until the real world beckons. A reluctant Appu steps into it as a striking young man and struggles to find his place.

What follows is an evocative tale of love and loss, friendship and betrayal, as the story travels through the snow-peaked mountains of Arunachal to the golden deserts of Jaisalmer, the tulip gardens of
Holland to the lush greens of Kerala. Does Appu find what he had set out for? The answer lies in Rafflesia — The Banished Princess because in her story, lay his!"

Review:

The book Rafflesia is a very well knitted tale, surrounding a bunch of people who have a very different side, very peculiar way of behaving in the book, which makes the book a really enjoyable treat. From the very start the book travels in two dimensions.

Well, the trend of playing with flashbacks is so much in trend that it didn’t came as a surprise. The author managed both the scenarios with perfection and everything was complementing the larger picture in the long run.

I particularly enjoyed the flashback more than the present world because it had a lot of sincerity and pieces that were so innocent and emotional that it was so easy to connect with them. I always waited for the bigger Appu to vanish and smaller version of him to appear and tickle me everywhere with his little doings.

The characters in the book were of great range and I enjoyed them beyond any limits. I loved Appu, I adored Rahul, and I loved their mothers and their fathers. It was a great family saga written in a very simplistic manner which kept the pace moving with ease. Not at one point I felt bored but yes the book was extended without any specific need.

Also I felt that there was a need to decipher the meanings of the phrases used in a foreign language in brackets or at the end of the book because due to that the connectivity was broken and that is one reason why I sometimes wanted to skip the narration that dealt with the life of a grown up Appu.

Good part about the book is that it is relatable. It is easy to wear Appu’s shoes if you are an Indian kid. The appearance of such part is really enjoyable. The book tells you how Indian kids are so unique, they have a very different way to deal with things or rather they are brought up that way.

The hardship, the turmoil’s, the people accompanying the shy and reserved Appu is really delightful. If and only if some parts were trimmed while editing, some phrases were re-told so that they became understandable, the book could have reached the zenith.

Still it is a great read with right amounts of everything. The good thing is that it can attract any reader irrespective of her or his choices.

About the author:

A B-School graduate, Gautam is a business analyst by profession. Considers the laptop as among his best friends and nurses a secret desire to turn an entrepreneur someday.

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Book Review: 37+ Grace Marks By Vishal Anand

Book: 37+ Grace Marks

Author: Vishal Anand

Genre: Fiction (Romance)

Publisher: Srishti Publishers

Pages: 190

Price: 175

Blurb:

What happens when you fall in love at first sight? That too in college, which is supposed to be the best time of one's life. But is it the best place to find love too?

Viraj falls head over heels in love with his classmate Nimisha, who could make boys on campus go crazy. While his friends Punit and Sahil just want to have fun - despite poor mark-sheets, grace marks to pass, and other everyday adventures - Viraj wants more from his life and love.

Life has led Viraj to the edge of a cliff. He has a choice to make – to forget everything and jump, or fight.

What brought him here? An unrequited love, encounters with law, or the dilemma of grace marks? Where does Viraj's story eventually end?

Welcome to 37 + Grace Marks, Viraj's journey to discover that there is more to life than marks.

Review:

37+ Grace Marks takes you back in your college days with ease. There is a lot to see and inspect in the chaos and mayhem. It is a book about friendship, love, college and a degree that isn't always easy to grasp.

The story is about a boy Viraj who is dealing with a lot of things at the same time which is very common of a situation in any book which deals with a college life, a girl, some brat friends and an interesting journey through the lawns of a college premises.

The characters of the book are not very appealing. If I talk about the lead character Viraj then he reminds me of Kundan from Ranjhana movie. Let me re-quote, just reminds and it is not a fact to be precise. He has everything a girl  never wants in a guy. I hated him every time he crossed my eyes with a new problem or situation in the book. I liked Nimisha for standing out for herself and being what she was throughout the book without changing at all.

The side characters like Laila, Mutthu etc were not complementing the story in any way. I liked Viraj's friends and I always longed for friends who are beside you even in your mistakes.

The story is very bland in the starting. The first 80 or so pages can be read in less than an hour because they have nothing interesting in terms of dialogues, characters and doesn't contain any twists and turns majorly.

The next 110 pages are also the same. There is very less of a story and certain emotions are projected meanwhile which took negative form for me in one way or the other. There were very less likable part in the book. If I had to jot down them then I would pick the essence of friendship and the college life shown somewhere in between the book. I just liked that.

Apart from that the book wasn't up to the mark. I can recommend it to only those who are new to reading or are interested in reading a very light and extremely quick book to reach their Goodreads reading goals in 2017 a bit faster.


Connect with the author:

• www.vishalanand.co.in
• Twitter: @vishalanand07
• Facebook: fb.com/storytellervishal

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