Author Dev Prasad believes that if a person goes to a place to make a living, he/she should make it a point to learn the local language and to eat local delicacies, instead of reaching out to generic dishes. Born in Bangalore and after having lived in Delhi and Ahmedabad, Dev went to NIT Trichy for his studies. By figuring out what was written on the bus signboards, he learnt to read Tamil, finding “the script simple.” His first book was a travelogue that explored the unknown places that Krishna visited and lived, his second drew an analogy between cricket and corporate management and his third, The Curse of Surya , a crime thriller, tells the story of three people who are in search of the Syamantaka jewel. He talks about his inspiration and his latest book.
How did The Curse of Surya come about?
It’s funny. The research for my first book, Krishna: A Journey Through the Lands , helped with the research for this book as well. In 2005, my family and I set out to north India (Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri) and then to Braj Bhoomi, where we went around Mathura and Vrindavan. Before going on this trip, I did some research and found that not much information was available on these two places. So, I decided that writing a book would be a good idea. The Curse of Surya’s main protagonist is an Indian woman, a TV reporter based in Singapore, who is asked to report from Agra on a special assignment. Following a terrorist attack on the Krishna temple, which makes them fugitives from the law, she accompanies a tourist to Mathura, where they must decipher a series of complex cryptographs to find the Syamantaka jewel and prove their innocence. The jewel plays an important role in Lord Krishna’s life.
Your first book was based on mythology and the second on management. Do you have a fascination for different genres?
My second book came about as an accident. I was asked to write an article for my company’s newsletter minus the usual management jargon. One day, on my way to work, I saw children playing cricket in a government school, making do with what they had. Later, I stopped by a well-to-do Bangalore school, where the same game was played, but with all the necessary equipment. This made me think that the game ties people of all classes. That’s how Pitch It! came about as a small story with accompanying anecdotes. The article became so popular that a local newspaper wanted to carry it. Then readers sent me emails asking for it to be published as a book.
Your inspirations?
Sidney Sheldon and PG Wodehouse, mainly. Sheldon’s books always feature a young, beautiful girl as the protagonist who gets into trouble. The book traces her story and how she gets out of the problem; this made a big impact on me. I decided that if I was going to write a book, my protagonist would also be a woman, who is not just physically attractive, but alsointellectual, multi-faceted and a feminist.
What next?
Another modern day crime thriller is in the works, this time about Christianity.
