Author Interview- Mayank Shridhar

About the author:

Mayank is a successful technologist and has published numerous white papers on Information Technology. Despite a leaning towards software, Mayank has contributed articles and poems actively to school newsletters and college papers, also serving as an editor of his college magazine. Mulling over fantasy stories from mythologies across the world, Mayank’s curiosity is always piqued by historical details, creative imaginations as well as scientific facts.

With a gold medal in Computer Engineering, numerous industry accolades, and several chess tournaments under his belt, his ideas and creative writing zeal have found expression in the publication of this book, which is a narration of how fact could possibly be the basis of fantasy.

Mayank lived and worked in several countries before striking roots in Bengaluru, India. To his friends, he remains the same guy with whom they grew up in Ranchi – passionate about his beliefs, an avid fan of rock music, animal lover, and an accomplished chess player.

1. Among all the mythological characters, why did you choose Krishna?

Krishna is easily my most favourite mythological character. He represents justice with a touch of smartness; he is ready to beat unfair opponents at their own game. I find his character very relevant even in today’s times. I wanted to write a realistic story about Krishna, entirely fictional, but as if he were a human with extraordinary capabilities, who existed in our country’s past.

2. What was the most challenging part about this story?

I challenged myself to accommodate a few fantastic events described in the Mahabharata, but with realism. That was the toughest part. The evolution of Krishna’s character from a cowherd who plays the flute and is surrounded by gopis, to a legendary level martial artist who vanquishes the most feared and evil ruler of the land, forms the crux of this story.

3. How have you portrayed Krishna’s friends and family in the story?

I have made certain alterations to the characters as I found appropriate. For example, Balaram and Krishna weren’t twins as per the Mahabharata but I have considered them as unidentical twins (Balaram being the older twin) as it suited my story more. I hope that such small modifications don’t offend any of my readers as it is all done in good spirit. The relationship between Yashoda and the mischievous young Krishna is also explored in this book.

4. How in depth have you characterized the asuras?

There is only one encounter with an Asura in my book – Putana. Since I have based my story on realism, Asuras are described as a ‘cannibalistic forest-dwelling tribe’ who, over generations, have mutated into larger and dangerous beings due to their eating habits and disposition. Putana belongs to a faction of the Asuras who were like alchemists and were familiar with toxicology.

5. How different is your story from the other mythological books in the market?

My book hypothesises that extraordinary battle victories attributed to Krishna were a result of circumstances that helped him acquire extraordinary martial arts skills, and that divinity was more a result of feats accomplished through those skills. It also makes a connection between Tibet and ancient India.

Additionally, I have attempted to map my story against the historical timing of civilization. For instance, the events in my story happen during the Bronze Age (as per one of theories that estimate a timeline for Krishna’s birth), hence the weapons described in my book are all made of copper and brass.

I am not aware that any other book has made these connections.

6. Tell me something about your book that is not mentioned in the blurb.

The last chapter of the book explores the deification of ordinary humans. Globally, this process might explain heroic mythological characters and their god or demi-god status. Perhaps stories exemplifying glorious individuals served to solicit desired behaviours from people in a better way than sages and gurus simply preaching prescriptive morally correct or incorrect behaviour. The last chapter presents a dialogue between the protagonists of the book on this topic and eventually, the subject of divinity is left to the reader’s interpretation.

7. Tell me something about the cover design and its significance in the story.

Krishna’s most common depictions are him holding a flute, standing beside Radha, or drawing his Chakra. However, I wanted to bring out the martial arts aspects in the cover page. Hence, it carries a picture depicting Krishna’s training phase at the Mansarovar in the presence of his guru, with the beauty of Tibet in the background.

8. How did you do the research work for your book?

I researched various subjects pertinent to the period of Krishna’s existence: a scientific estimate of his birthdate, the kingdoms which existed during that timeline, the kinds of weapons that were used, etc. I also created a map of kingdoms and cities of the time, derived from the Vedic accounts, but I have modified them. My research work was appreciated by my literary agent – The Book Bakers, and my publisher – Petals Publishers and Distributors, which gave me the confidence in the uniqueness of my story.

9. A technologist and author, two contrasting professions. How do you manage both?

Writing has been a lifelong passion of mine. Since I was a child, I have written poems, short stories, articles, hundreds of blogs, millions of lines of code, technical documents, white papers, viewpoints – you name it. Perhaps since the COVID lockdown, I have learnt how to divide time judiciously between passion and profession.

10. How do you plan your writing?

As a software professional, I have the habit of writing bullet points, so my stories are first written as bullets which I expand into paragraphs. I need a very quiet environment for writing; hence, I often prefer to do it late in the night after everyone in my house has fallen asleep.

11. How long did it take for you to write the book?

I started writing my thoughts about the divinity of our mythological characters in an article during my college days (around 2002-2003). A precursor to this book, I published it around 2015-16 as a blog. I started my work on the book around September 2019. My writing picked up pace during the 2020 lockdown. The time-period between May 2020 to September 2020 is when I have written most of the material.

12. Is mythology knowledge necessary to read your book?

No. I have written my book from a historical perspective, and it can be enjoyed as a fiction by one and all. There is a surprise appearance of a much-revered character in Chapter 5 “The Mystery Warrior”. To identify him, a sketchy knowledge of our pantheon of Hindu deities would do.