Anuja Chandramouli is a bestselling author and new age Indian classicist widely regarded as one of the finest writers in mythology, historical fiction, and fantasy. She followed up her highly acclaimed debut novel, Arjuna: Saga of a Pandava Warrior-Prince, which was named as one of the top 5 sellers in the Indian writing category for the year 2012 by Amazon India with Kamadeva: The God of Desire, Shakti: The Divine Feminine, Yama’s Lieutenant and its sequel, Yama’s Lieutenant and the Stone Witch. Her articles, short stories, and book reviews appear in various publications like The New Indian Express, The Hindu, Scroll.in, and Femina. Some of her other books are Kartikeya: The Destroyer’s Son, Prithviraj Chauhan: The Emperor of Hearts, Padmavati: The Burning Queen, Ganga: The Constant Goddess, and Muhammad Bin Tughlaq: Tale of a Tyrant. Her book, Mohini: The Enchantress was the winner of the JK Papers and Times of India Popular Choice AutHer Award for the year 2021. Her books are also available as audiobooks and have been translated into Hindi. Abhimanyu: Son of Arjuna is her latest book and has been shortlisted for the Atta Galatta – Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize.
An accomplished TEDx speaker and storyteller, Anuja Chandramouli, regularly conducts workshops on creative writing, mythology, and empowerment in schools and colleges across the country. Her Mahabharata and Ramayana with Anuja storytelling series are now available on YouTube, Spotify, TuneIn Alexa, and Apple Podcasts. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. This mother of two little girls lives in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu.
In an exclusive interview with Nitish Raj; Editor-in-Chief, The Literary Mirror the bestselling author talks about the various aspects of historical fiction and fantasy genre.
Q.1: How much your degree in psychology has helped you in writing historical fiction?
AC: I think we authors use practically every single thing we have observed, thought about, obsessed over, studied, read, gossiped about, fantasized about, etc. in our writing. Even secrets divulged to us are probably fair game! It is all fodder for the creative mill.
My degree in Psychology is no exception to this rule. It helps me probe the psyche of my characters and gain a better understanding of their rich inner lives as well as the motivating factors that drive them. It is useful whether I am writing in the mythology, historical fiction, or fantasy genres,
Q.2: What are those elements which make historical fiction relevant to modern readers?
AC: History is always so very entertaining and of course, it has educational value but the latter aspect of it gets overly emphasized to the detriment of the former. I don’t know why so many historians feel the need to establish their impeccable scholarly credentials by making a fascinating subject like History deadly dull while attempting to drown the unwary with endlessly dry verbiage and dates.
This is the main reason Historical fiction is more fun. It is a fascinating way to imbibe the lessons history has to impart without having to traipse through pages and pages of sheer tedium to get to the meaty, good portions of epic adventure, love, war, sex, and scandals that are to be found at the heart of the pages of documented history while giving the imagination free rein as well.
Q.3: You have written novels on historical figures like Rani Padmavati in The Burning Queen and also on the Indian god in Kamdeva: The God of Desire. How tough it is to write two novels in completely two different genres?
AC: Whether it is the history of mythology, I do my research very meticulously before I begin the process of writing. The idea is to do my best by the character I have chosen. Whether it is mythology or historical fiction, there are bound to be challenges, on account of how these characters hold such a special place in the collective consciousness of the average Indian. You never know what can trigger controversy and bring a world of trouble to your doorstep. Yet, you don’t want to be bogged down by all this while writing, which is why sense and sensitivity is important, but it is even more important to write with honesty and stay true to your vision above all else.
Q.4: You are one of the few authors in the country to write in the high fantasy genre. What are the challenges to write in high fantasy than the regular fantasy genre?
AC: I don’t really dwell on the challenges. It is always fun to push yourself and explore spaces that are far removed from your comfort zone. Yama’s Lieutenant and the sequel, Yama’s Lieutenant and the Stone Witch will always be special because it was a rollicking adventure from start to finish and I was very happy with the result. Hopefully, someday both will be made into a blockbuster movie or web series.
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Q.5: Your debut novel; Arjuna: Saga of a Pandava Warrior Prince was named as one of the top 5 books in the Indian Writing category by Amazon India. How has the initial recognition helped in shaping your entire literary career?
AC: The success of Arjuna boosted my confidence and gave me the courage to persist with what is a lonely, challenging but ultimately rewarding job. Writing the book and getting it published was very difficult but my efforts paid off and it is perfectly lovely that so many people buy the book to this day and email me or slide into my DMs to let me know that they loved it.
Q.6: You have been a Speaker at various prestigious literary festivals. How do you perceive the Lit Fest culture mushrooming in the country?
AC: Literary Festivals are a great way to bring together the diminishing breed of people who have nothing but love and respect for the written word. It is wonderful to meet fellow authors and bond with readers. I also like to visit the bookstores and browse through the collections and buy a few books. Barring a few exceptions, they are all gems!
In these fast–paced times, when everybody is suffering from ADHD and spending their lives with their eyes glued to assorted handheld gadgets/Netflix/Amazon Prime and can’t be bothered with books or reading it is more important than ever to inculcate a love for books and reading. Lit Fests play a vital role in this regard.
Q.7: You have also been an avid columnist penning down your thoughts on several topics. How do you see the culture of writing columns getting diminished as opposed to the golden era of literature?
AC: The problem is nowadays there are more writers than readers. This is an awful trend, and I genuinely don’t get writers who proudly claim that they don’t read. This can’t be emphasized enough – if you want to write, you have to read. There are no two ways about it. For my part, I am not able to read as much as I used to but I make it a point to read every single day and I also review as many books as I can to give other authors a fillip of encouragement.
As for my columns which I love working on, it always surprises me when I am accosted in public by people, I have never met who claim they read all my columns faithfully. Very grateful to these and those who take the time to email me after reading my take on current events to convey their appreciation or disgust. At the end of the day, it is nice to know that though readers are an endangered species, they are still out there, because every time a reader dies, a writer does too.
