What prompted you to write Menaka’s Choice?
The author and journalist on her new book, Menaka’s Choice
What prompted you to write Menaka’s Choice?
We are familiar with the erotic Menaka-Vishwamitra episode. We often see both as caricatures: he the irascible rishi and she as the beauteous apsara. But what else?
Why did you choose mythological fiction as your genre?
Mythology provides a huge canvas for contemporary thought, and is closely linked with literature.
What was difficult about writing this book?
The hard part was making both protagonists more likeable!
All your books have had women as their central characters.
It is relationships that are more interesting than the gender of my protagonists.
How have your favourite authors influenced your writing?
Mentioning a few names would be both unfair on the other authors and dishonest on my part.
What is next?
I am at it. And it is about an extraordinary, misunderstood woman from mythology!
Where do you think mythology stands with the youth of today?
They love it! There is a lot of respect and fascination and questions they want answered.
Your characters are away from the established moulds of Menaka and Vishwamitra.
Yes, because this is not just a love story. It is the story of an ambitious, haughty king who wished to be a rishi and of a cornered but defiant woman who was the symbol of beauty and female sexual power.
You have called writing a disciplined activity.
I write about five hours every day—whether I like what I have written or not.
Tell us about your other passions...a shoe fetish?
Theatre and cinema! My shoe fetish, disappointingly, is a trying task. Most of the time, I don’t get shoes my size!