Kronikles started as a series of bedtime stories I concocted for my little boy and girl. Simple short stories of heroes and villains with a lot of tickles, helpless laughter and monster attacks in between.
It became addictive for all of us for a while. Eventually, my children grew up and are busy figuring out the hard facts of college life. Left in the lurch with all these ideas raging in my head, the only thing I could do was pen (key) them down.
‘Shatru-Kronikles Book 1’ is urban fantasy based on Indian mythology. I started with Wikipedia research on Mahabharata. One thing led to another until I digested three versions of Mahabharata, Kalki Purana, Garuda Purana, English translations of Ayyavazhi literature, Kanda Purana, alternate versions of Ramayana, Rig Veda…the list went on.
I mixed that with Stephen Hawking only to realize our myth and quantum physics have a lot in common. (Quantum physicists maintain that life is a dream. Does Maya strike a bell? And I don’t mean the girl either). My all-time favorite management guru, Peter Drucker’s book on the practice of management was a great inspiration, especially in structuring the hierarchies in the books.
I learned about the magical properties of the eye, varieties of light, time continuum and they all matched with stories in the Hindu Puranas. Would you believe I found out there are three different ways to turn invisible? (None of them worked for me.)
The journey began seven years ago. It hasn’t ended yet, not by a long shot. Always provided I and my staunch reader are around, the journey will be a happy and fulfilling one.
I enjoyed writing ‘Shatru.’ I hope you enjoy reading it too.
Shatru starts with the sentence, ‘By its nature, the universe gravitates towards chaos.’
