The Golden Dakini (Hachette India; ₹499), Charu Singh’s second book in ‘The Maitreya Chronicles’ series, picks up the threads of the story from her first title Path of the Swan . In an interaction soon after her first book, in 2014, Singh had revealed to this writer that she wasn’t sure if it would become a trilogy.
Four summers later, Singh is measured when she talks about the third book at work. “There is a sort of conclusion to the story in book two, but it is also open-ended with scope to progress further.” She has a rough idea for book three but is yet to begin writing it.
The Maitreya Chronicles, for the uninitiated, is a fantasy fiction with mythology-inspired characters and narrates a clash between celestial beings from Shambala kingdom and the evil forces or ‘asurs’, and borrows elements of Vajrayana Buddhism of Tibet.
Contemporary Indian fiction has witnessed several mythological fantasy series and what sets The Golden Dakini apart is the descent of celestial beings and asurs in contemporary India, as they traverse Delhi, the northeastern states, Ladakh and Kashmir in their pursuit of the mythical mount Meru.
This arrival of celestial forces in a modern day context gives rise to uncanny situations; the celestials refer to means of transport used by humans — be it buses, cars or aircrafts — as mundane transport, as opposed to a celestial transportation through secret passages that they can open up through mantras and travel from, say, Sikkim to Delhi in a matter of minutes. “When I was writing this story, I was looking for ideas that would make these mythological characters interesting in a contemporary setting. These celestial beings have accepted their human forms for a mission. Their powers are slightly limited in the human form but they still retain their wisdom and harness it, with the help of mantras, to do different things; they conjure up their own clothes and hide their tracks from the enemies,” says Singh. Where necessary, the asurs, the celestial characters and the yakshas use ‘glamour’ or a cloak to appear as human as possible in their physical features.
Singh terms this series more fantasy than mythology. And, being familiar with the northeastern states, she set the story predominantly in this region.
The Guwahati-based writer says the trigger for the story came years ago when she wondered what it would be for celestials to live in our world. Mount Meru, she says, is an apt part of the saga given its mythical references. “There are legends about this mountain that no one has seen; it is said that Meru stretches from the earth to the heavens. I leveraged on this thought for my story.”
Peppered throughout the narrative as the groups traverse different regions, there are vivid descriptions of regional cuisine, from steaming teas to momos, thukpa, and potatoes in creamy gravies. Ask Singh if it’s a reflection of her love for food and she laughs, “Not really, but food is always an important part of a fantasy story and since I am familiar with the cuisine in these regions, I incorporated it.”
Apart from the third book of ‘The Maitreya Chronicles’, she’s working on a colonial work set in the northwest frontier region.
