Inspired and intrigued by the cast system

He appears without his trademark beard. Krishnabhaskar Mangalasseri is not sure if he should be photographed this way. Will he look an author, he asks. All doubts vanish when he sits down to talk about his book  Hiranyagarbham. The release is happening this Saturday, and he has a lot of running about to do. But then Krishnabhaskar has always done that sort of thing, handle multiple jobs at the same time, and still write.

This is however his first book. Before, it has been short stories in English and Malayalam published in several magazines. The thought of a novel has been on his head for a while and he took five years to research on this subject.

“Hiranyagarbham (golden womb) is one of the 16 major ceremonies (mahadanams) that a Kshatriya goes through,” Krishnabhaskar says. He reluctantly admits there is a Kshatriya background to him. “There are also many friends, and I used to read a lot.” What had intrigued him so much is learning how the Kshatriyas, who ruled a nation, stooped in front of a powerless and weaker Brahmin. “Where does the Brahmin get his power?” he asks.

He puts this idea into his book, in the backdrop of a family. There is Unni, aged 34, coming back to his hometown in Ernakulam. He had always been a rebel, a college dropout, who ran away from home after creating certain issues in town. He had always questioned why they, who were Kshatriyas, had to wear a poonool (sacred thread) and be vegetarians like a Brahmin. He goes from being an agnostic to wondering if god is nothing but the good people who had been in his life. As Krishnabhaskar narrates his story with the clarity only an author could have, you ask the obvious, is that how he thought too, about life and god. “This being my first novel, there will of course be autobiographic bits. I have always been against the caste system, avoiding casteist surnames and such.”

There is also in Krishnabhaskar’s words the brevity that comes with experience, for he works as the faculty at the FISAT Business School. He is also one of the partners and creative heads at Digi Faktory, a 360 degree cinema marketing firm. As if these were not enough for him, Krishnabhaskar also dwells in modeling and occasional acting. You would have seen him in Asha Black playing a cop, a movie that he co-wrote the script of. His book release happens at Hotel PGS Vedanta, Lissie Junction, Kochi on April 2, at 5.30pm in the presence of collector MG Rajamanickam, writer KL Mohana Varma and musician Sreevalsan J Menon.