Tales of the past and present

She had an affinity towards fiction right from her childhood, when she was exposed to the world of Chandamama stories. And then she  grew up to pursue a technical career. Techie-turned-author, Sumana Khan, decided to write a book, purely out of passion. Her first book, The Revenge of Kaivalya is set in the lush forests of Sakleshpura in Bengaluru, where a man dies under mysterious circumstances and his body is branded with words in ancient Kannada script with an eerie silhouette of a young woman. At the same time in modern day Bengaluru, Neel a young man wonders if his friends are playing a prank on him. We speak to Sumana Khan on the turning point in her life.

“I studied at the MES College in Bengaluru and worked for 13 years as an IT consultant. I decided to take a break from my corporate career and took to writing earnestly. Writing has always been a part of my life — but only this time, it became the primary focus. I would wake up every morning with the question ‘What shall I write today?’ From that perspective, I guess I was always a writer,” she confides.

We wonder how the subject of her book came about and she reveals, “I think the story chooses the writer! We have grown up reading and listening to all things mystical — be it our complex mythologies or something like Chandamama stories. Personally, I quite enjoy fictitious genres like, crime/thrillers/horror. But more than the genre, I am fascinated by the art of storytelling. That’s how I ended up writing a paranormal thriller using a very wide canvas.”

Trying to strike a fine balance between the modern and the ancient world, she states, “The key is the word ‘modern’. We are modern, in terms of our lifestyle. But by and large, we are a nation that is quite deeply connected to our roots, consciously or not. We may move around in luxury cars — but not without a small Ganesha on the dashboard! We may travel all over the world, but we manage to celebrate our festivals in whatever way possible — even in the remotest corners. So I did not really have to strive to create a balance. This balance is already there in our lives — almost like an invisible bridge!” Sumana is an avid blogger (kaapizone. blogspot.com), a voracious reader, a movie buff and loves to sketch.