Today I am hosting Laxmi Hariharan in celebration of her new release The Destiny of Shaitan. Check out the guest post below and make sure to enter the giveaway at the end of this post for a chance to win either a $15 Amazon Gift Card or Autographed Paperback of The Destiny of Shaitan.
My Life in Epics —Laxmi Hariharan
Her favourite purple cotton nine yards saree, starched to within an inch of its life, rustled in protest as my sixty-five-year-old grandmother leaned towards the five-year-old me. “She is the goddess of wealth and good fortune, the consort of Lord Vishnu. The festival of Diwali, the Indian new year, is celebrated in her honour.” My heart beat fast I was introduced to my namesake the goddess Lakshmi. She looked so beautiful—a curvaceous woman, with a serene smile on her face, she was normally clad in a pink saree, and shown standing on a lotus which signifies both purity and fertility. A stream of gold coins gushed from her right palm signifying her generosity on those she was pleased with. Would I one day grow up to be as beautiful as her I wondered, running my fingers through my unruly mop of curly hair.
My first brush with science fiction was thus the adventures of these Indian gods and goddesses as I graduated to reading Amar Chitra Katha. A series of Indian comic books, which introduced me to the treasure trove of Indian mythology.
Flying chariots that sailed soundlessly through air travelling vast distances in the twinkling of an eye; handsome princes teleporting to the aid of their beautiful true loves; swarthy gods who could reduce humans to ashes by dint of opening their third eye; battle scenes with clashes between millions of humans, gods, half-humans-half-animal creatures wielding bows, arrows, swords and those incredible swirling discs which could be hurled with unerring precision at enemies beheading them. I loved the blood, the gore & the romance.
The gods had super powers, but very human hearts. They fell in love, cheated on wives, took mistresses, had affairs, cursed their children, killed in battle and were killed themselves, bequeathed their kingdoms to their children, finally renouncing the material world for the spiritual when they reached middle age.
On the other side of the coin, I lived in the world of Enid Blyton with the Famous Five, Secret Seven and the Five Find-outters—I was there when they tracked down the bad guys, while wishing for a real sip of their lemonade and biting off more than they could chew from the ginger biscuits. I also went to boarding school at Mallory Towers and enjoyed many midnight feasts in the darkened hallways before graduating to join the Legion of Superheroes. I felt the pain of the origins of Batman and my heart fluttered with the arrival of the Man of Steel in my life. His romance with Lois Lane captured my heart, and I loved his double life. If only I too could slip from one skin into another, just like that.
Shortly, I discovered a different kind of Men of Steel. It was love at first sight with the TDH (tall, dark & handsome) Mills & Boon hero. Long summer days were spent dreaming of a knight in shining armor, carrying the torch for a first crush, heart racing at close encounters of the lovable kind, crying over lost love, getting through heart breaks—I couldn’t wait to grow up and experience it all.
Graduating in real life from High School, brought me to Earth with a thud. For the next many years I slaved under the weight of the crushing expectations of Indian academia. A B.Sc in Biochemistry, don’t ask!
All the while longing to hold a pen in my hand and write my bestseller. I left home, wanderlust making me run away from home through the dusty trails of Malaysia, the rain forests of Ubud, the crowded beaches of Kuta, the shimmering sorrow of Siam Reap and the exquisite artistry of Angkor Wat. I arrived at the futuristic city of Hong Kong. Tall sky-eating towers which looked down on little me, the apartments jostled knuckle-to-knuckle, more than seven thousand souls squeezed into each square mile. I couldn’t breathe. My palpitating heart wrung out its broken words and so the author was born.
To the swoosh of Harry Potter’s broomsticks, I swam underwater with Percy Jackson, couldn’t decide if I loved or hated Bella, absolutely adored Katniss, picked up swordplay from Arya Stark and was reborn in a new Avatar.
Author meet thyself.
About Laxmi Hariharan: I am a writer, technophile & dare I say, a futurist, with a penchant for chai and growing eye-catching flowers. Wanderlust drove me out of my home country India and I travelled across Asia, living in Singapore and Hong Kong before coming home to London. I am inspired by Indian mythology; I draw strength from the stories my grandmother narrated to me as a child. It is in acknowledging my roots that I found my voice. When not writing I love walking in the woods with my soulmate, and indulging my inner geek.a Rafflecopter giveaway