Shrilok Homeless has the same acumen as Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. There is a difference, though. Shrilok, the Indian version of Sherlock, is a street kid in Mumbai who works as a humble chai (tea) seller. Rohan Doctor, the Indian version of Dr Watson, is a teenager who is always ready to drop everything to accompany Shrilok on his cases. And so the duo set out to investigate everything: from a kidnapping to the mystery of a jewel embedded in a vada pav .
This forms the premise of Deepika Murthy aka Pika Nani’s The Adventures of Shrilok Homeless. The book has been published in two volumes. While volume one is set in Mumbai, in volume two, Shrilok Homeless travels to Delhi, Bandipur in Karnataka, and even to London. The chapter titles are puns on some of the most well-known stories, such as ‘The Dogs of Bhaskerville’ and ‘A Scandal in Bollywood’.
Pika Nani decided to write Shrilok Homeless , which is completely different from her first book, Little Indians: Stories from Across the Country, as she wanted to try a different genre .
“I wanted to write a detective story, but I didn’t want a superhero as a character. I wanted someone who could solve crimes with deduction and logic. That is when I decided to adapt the Sherlock Holmes stories. They have already been widely adapted: in Bengal, you have Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi and in Singapore, there is Sherlock Sam. So when I read the entire Sherlock Holmes series, I wondered which characters to take and include.”
Bengaluru-based Pika Nani chose to set the volume in Mumbai “because I grew up there and it was familiar to me. Also there are people from all over the country in the city. Shrilok evolves from being Mumbai’s to India’s favourite detective”.
Though Shrilok Homeless is young adult fiction, it can be read by all age groups. However, Pika ensured the story was suitable for children aged above nine.
“The first book involves unusual crimes. And even though the second is about murders, there is no violence and gore in it.”
She adds that she wanted to write about current themes. “There is an ATM theft and I have also written about a mystery around a WhatsApp emoji code. Social media appeals to young adults, and that is why I have incorporated that in my novel.”
Deepika has used Pika Nani as a pen name since she was a child. “I used to write poems and stories. I completed my Masters in psychology and worked in the corporate sector for seven to eight years. I got used to writing in a typical language. But when I had my child and left work, I wondered what I could pursue. Writing came to mind. But I couldn’t write like I used to. I had to write creatively, and my pen name, Pika Nani, unlocked that creativity within me.”
The Adventures of Shrilok Homeless is a Penguin publication.
