Software engineer-turned-author Dwai Lahiri calls his book The Mahāsiddha Field a mash-up of science fiction, fantasy and mythology.
Not surprising, considering the book borrows elements from puranas and itihasa, even as its characters — an elderly wandering mendicant in South India, two Indian-American men, and a mysterious sage — take readers along on their adventurous journey.
Dwai, who lives in the US, says in an email-interview, “I was influenced by our Itihasa and Puranic literature, often heard from my grandparents. We also had to study the Mahabharata and Ramayana as part of the Hindi language curriculum in school.”
Apart from all this, Dwai has also been a practitioner of the internal martial art of Taijiquan and its parent spiritual tradition of Daoism for two decades now. He says, “I find so much in common between Daoism and our Indic dharma traditions. That is now a life-long passion of mine, besides writing.” Dwai is also an amateur musician playing the guitar, bass, drums and also composes and produces his own music.
What was your inspiration for The Mahāsiddha Field?
I was inspired by classics such as Betaal Pachisi ; I was also a voracious science fiction reader. I developed a love for the fantasy genre via JRR Tolkien’s works. The thing that I found missing from popular literature was something that could bridge the divide between traditional India and the modern world in terms of sensibilities and taste.
Suddenly tossed into the modern world of computers, I got to the US in 2000 and felt like I had already lost my own identity/connection with my culture and traditions. I embarked on a quest to re-learn — in a more formal manner — about our traditional knowledge systems. I discovered and started reading a series of authors and then writing a column under the pen-name ‘Rudra’. I also began writing short stories and eventually began writing this book. I wanted to bring elements of classical Indian literature into a modern context, with the hope that the younger generations can get interested in our traditional modes of storytelling, in a manner that is more relatable to them. Why not write something that borrows elements from our Puranas and Itihāsa ?
Why did you choose the title The Mahāsiddha Field?
The term ‘Kshetrajna’ used in the Bhagavad Gita, refers to the one who knows the ‘Kshetra’, The Field (of manifestation). The Mahāsiddha Field is a reference to the field of manifestation that is known to someone, a Spiritual Adept of the highest order — a great yogi, a Maha Siddha. That field of manifestation, a product of the purified mind, is much grander than what is available to humans with our frailties. This is a story about ordinary people gaining access to the Mahasiddha Field, as their journey takes them through adventures that defy the ordinary limits of our mind.
A new breed of mythological storytellers combine mythology and fantasy while retelling classic stories. What was your approach?
I want to take the concepts, motifs and philosophical aspects of Indian classics, and present them in a modern context. My goal is for my readers to be entertained by a good story, plot and twists. In reading it, they would know more about the Indian classical world, our ‘mythology’ and maybe even develop an interest to research more. Indian classics offer a rich source of stories and characters; they offer us a narrative that’s different from the ‘Good vs Evil’ themes we are most familiar with. That is what I have explored in this book.
What were your challenges in writing?
The challenges were to be able to articulate the vast range and depth of philosophical sophistry that exists in Indian literature, in a manner that is not preachy, or dilute the entertainment factor of the storytelling. I pondered over how I can balance good old storytelling with the dissemination of a serious kind of philosophical thought.
Are more books in the offing?
I am currently writing the second volume of the Mahāsiddha series. I intend for this series to be a trilogy. I, of course, intend to continue writing, and hopefully, one day, it will become my primary profession.
(The Mahāsiddha Field by Dwai Lahiri; published by Author’s Channel; Price: ₹275; Available online)
