Author: Shweta Taneja

Shweta Taneja writes fiction and science for kids and adults. Her bestselling works include a unique two-in-one flipbook which covers real stories of Indian scientists: They Made What? They Found What?, graphic novel Krishna: Defender of Dharma and critically-acclaimed fantasy fiction series Anantya Tantrist Mysteries. She was a finalist in the prestigious French award Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, AutHer 2022 award and has been awarded Editor’s Choice Award for best Asian science fiction. She is a Charles Wallace Writing Fellow and has given talks at international SF conferences including WorldCon at Dublin, Eurocon in France and the Cartoon Museum at London. Her work has been translated to Romanian, French and Dutch. Find her online with her handle @shwetawrites
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Three breasts and their stories

Everything to do with a woman’s breasts is taboo in our society, even though most of us have drunk milk from our mother’s breasts for the first year of our lives. The word ‘breast’ itself is a bleep on Indian television and cleavage mostly is blurred.

I had attended a theatre workshop some years back, women only, where the lady conducting it asked all of us to hide our body part which represented the word ‘shame’. All of us, Indian, speaking different languages, put hands across our breasts.

Like with all things, the ones that are most shameful or taboo are also the most attractive, desired in pornography, in Bollywood films and giggle-worthy MMSes in our Parliament. Breasts have become a complex symbol that combines both our sexuality and shame, something that we desire highly (both men and women) and at the same time are shamed by.

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The three breasted goddess at Meenakshi Temple, Madurai

This brings us to the first story I have for you, a hair-raising story of shaming breasts that I read thanks to an artist who shared something recently on Facebook. It’s the story of Nangeli, a dalit woman who lived in early 19th century in Cherthala. And unlike the stories I retell, this one is based in history and not myth, or in oral history as is the case with most past things one hears. In 19th century, the kings of Travancore had a breast tax on dalit women, called mulakkaram, which was to be paid by dalit women so that they could cover their breasts. The bigger the size of their breasts, the more the tax was to cover them up. Upper caste women could cover their bodies, without needing to pay any money to the state.

Continue reading “Three breasts and their stories”

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Interviews in Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle

Having been part of media for a long time, I know how easily and how fast people working there tend to forget you, moving on to the next thing they haven’t covered. But oh my, isn’t it fabulous to have that 15 seconds of attention? I feel like that now, when I post two really, really good interviews in different papers that came out a week or so back, both talking about chaos and supernatural tales and all things I love about Cult of Chaos. Check them out.

This came out in Deccan Chronicle and I haven’t been able to find a e-link for it. They used photographs from the last year’s coverage when I was doing detective workshops for The Ghost Hunters of Kurseong.

Deccan Chronicle February 2015
Meanwhile at Asian Age, the really polite Rohini who took my interview, told everyone about the book and mentioned my love of folklores. Read the complete article here or below.

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Shweta Taneja’s new book features India’s first woman tantrik crime buster, and marries the author’s twin passions: Detective fiction and fantasy

An adventure based in the “supernatural underworld of Delhi”, featuring India’s first “tantrik woman detective” — Shweta Taneja’s new book Cult of Chaos promises to be a crime-busting story unlike any other. Featuring Anantya Tantrist, a “spunky 23-year-old, gaali-spewing, beedi-smoking fearless tantrik who solves crimes”, Cult of Chaos combines its creator’s twin passions — detective fiction and fantasy.

It was when Shweta was working on a graphic novel called The Skull Rosary (which collated the occult tales of Shiva) that she got deeply interested in tantrism and the occult. “I started to explore tribal folklore, oral stories, goddess cults and non-authoritative tales in our villages. These tales, with their violent, sensually rich content surprised and fascinated me,” recounts Shweta. “Then one day, while reading a detective novel, the idea of creating a tantrik detective suddenly struck me. And I had a name for her: Anantya Tantrist, a leftover from a previous unfinished novel. Before I knew it, I had the beginnings of Cult of Chaos.”

Shweta spent the next year researching practising tantriks, shamans and superstitions. Articles, scholarly books, sensational texts even whispered stories, all of these provided material for her story. Then there was the daily newspaper, which also provided enough fodder for the dark details of her novel. “There’s nothing better than a newspaper to give you ideas. It has enough horror, disgust, hatred, violence, evil in its pages to keep your creativity flowing,” says Shweta. “There were so many scenes in the book that have been inspired by real incidents, things I read in the news. Not only about superstition or witch hunting, but also something that a crass politician would’ve said when yet another woman got raped. Everyday domestic violence, which is reported in a single paragraph, taken verbatim from police notes or crimes of caste and religion which are all about power — there’s no dearth of inspiration in our country, especially when one is writing a thriller.”

With so much material to draw on, Shweta knew Anantya’s adventures wouldn’t be ending with one book. She’s already busy at work on a second story, set among “Delhi’s rich socialites who’re abusing a supernatural species for immortality” and a third, which will see the action shift to Varanasi as Anantya works on a case that will force her to confront her past.

“The more I write about Anantya, the more I continue to be spellbound with her and the world she inhabits,” says Shweta of her protagonist. “She’s completely opposite to all ideas of ‘decent’ women we have as a society… I think she has come from the desires of women of this country, the ones who have had it with restrictions and men keeping them safe. I think she is born from the frustration of being an independent woman and having to protect your choices, defy authorities, families, every step of way. I have tried to break gender boundaries with her character… I am freer, more confident today, because I wrote her. And I am hoping reading about her, has the same effect on other women and girls too. Sort of what Superman or Spiderman or Salman Khan has on boys. We need that for women.”

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As I was saying, isn’t attention so fabulous? Sad that it goes away in those mere 15 seconds. Still, I am rather enjoying the tick-tock in my favour. 🙂

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Yogini, menstrual blood and its power

When I first opened a Facebook page for Anantya Tantrist, the female tantrik protagonist of my fantasy series, I got a well-meaning advice from a ‘friend’ who informed me that Anantya can’t be a tantrik. His reasoning? Tantriks are all males. Women at best are support systems for them or their muses or powers.

As is the style of social media, he was quite confident about his uninformed opinion, calling it a fact. I politely asked him if he had heard of yoginis. He sort of had. ‘Aren’t they supernatural deities?’ he asked. Hmm, yes, I answered, and no.

Though mentioned in the Vedas as tantrics and even rishikas, centuries of patriarchal stronghold on written traditions have erased yoginis and their legacy from collective consciousness of our mythology. We don’t know much about these women, these yoginis, though there are a few international scholars who are trying to fish out texts and oral mentions in our collective histories. Some scholars call them accomplished sorceresses, some think they are the female versions of yogis, or women who are mistresses of yoga. They’re known across the world as celibate nuns, enlightened women, white magic witches, healers, saints, women who have mindpowers or siddhis. Women who are powerful, and independent and usually stand outside the traditional boundaries of patriarchy.

In today’s times, no one knows much about them. Discovered as recent is The Chaunsath Yogini temple, which stands in Hirapur, a small hamlet near Bhuvaneshwar, Orissa, is forgotten. I have to ask multiple rickshaws, who don’t know where it is. Locally, it’s known as the Mahamaya temple. Even though it’s a festive week, there is no one here except me and my husband who has been dragged along.

The temple itself is a surprise.It was discovered in a jungle in 1953, by a archeologist. None of the locals regarded it with any importance. It’s a circular shaped structure of stones, small and cozy. Inside is open to the sky. They say that the place is so powerful that no ceiling is needed to protect its power. Small, delicately carved images of the sixty four yoginis, created with black chlorite stone, stand in quiet contemplation inside, each a feet high, their hairstyles unique, breasts and body shape enhanced. There’s no sanctum sanctorum, nothing to protect them. Outside is a long flat platform, where the caretaker whispers dramatically, they used to sacrifice animals and even humans to tantric practices. I’ve never heard about this cult before, so I research. Continue reading “Yogini, menstrual blood and its power”

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Going digital for love

Come 14 February, these apps may be able to help men and women find a date, while offering women some sense of privacy and security

A new crop of dating apps is building in features that are women-friendly and hopes to protect them from fakes, trolls and potential harassment. Some offer only friends of friends as possible date options, most try to protect the identity of women. Here are a few that could help both men and women find a date this Valentine’s Day.

Woo

An Indian app, Woo claims to understand middle-class sensibilities, and places itself between a matchmaking and dating app. It says it wants to build an “exclusive community for educated, single professionals looking for meaningful relationships”. Once you’ve filled in the information for your profile, the algorithms automatically screen everything, from gender to relationship status and professional information, going through the user’s social networks, to try and identify dubious profiles. “We reject about 30% sign-ups because they aren’t in the right age group, or don’t have a profile photograph, or clash with their Facebook relationship status,” says Gurgaon-based Sumesh Menon, CEO and co-founder of U2opia Mobile, the developers of the app. Adding your LinkedIn profile gets you extra brownie points. Once you’re in, Woo automatically matches you with people you’re likely to click with, using the swipe “yes” or “no” feature. Other than this, it also allows you to record a 7-second audio pitch called Voice Intro for your possible mate. The app was launched in July and updated in January.

Free for a trial period, with in-app purchases, on iOS and Google Play, starting from Rs.250. www.getwoo.at

TrulyMadly

Geolocation apps are best avoided if you fear stalkers. Indian-made TrulyMadly tries to ensure the profiles are authentic and only singles (checked by screening their Facebook profiles) make it to the app. In case someone tries to create a fake Facebook profile (required for sign-on), the algorithms in the dating app also check the profile to see how old it is, how many friends you have, your activity or news feed. Other security measures include asking for ID proof, checking online social profiles like LinkedIn and phone number verification. “Each of this increases your trust score,” says Delhi-based Sachin Bhatia, CEO, TrulyMadly. “Once you’re in, we do compatibility quizzes to ensure that people get relevant matches,” he says. The profile includes your profession, educational background and interests. You can swipe to show interest or reject. The app was launched in August.

Free on Android. App for iOS and Windows Phone to be launched by March. www.trulymadly.com

Thrill

Chat, deliver statuses, scroll through people in your area and find the ones you like. With this app, women can request a one-way video chat with a man, where her camera is off, to try and assess if he is genuine. Women can also use audio verification to speak to a potential date without disclosing their private number. “In Thrill (app), women have the power,” says Delhi-based Josh Israel, co-founder of Thrill. The Mumbai-based People Group, which owns the online matrimonial portal Shaadi.com, has recently bought a 25% stake in the company. “They can chat with anyone whereas guys can only express interest,” says Israel. Next on their list is video verification. The app was last updated in January.

Free on Android and iOS. www.thrillapp.com

Hinge

This one lets Facebook be your gatekeeper. It only shows up profiles of friends and friends of friends on your wall, so you hopefully stay away from the creeps. It also pulls in all the public information from a person’s Facebook profile—education, occupation and profile picture—so you can take a quick decision. “You are two times likely to like someone you’re socially connected to, you’ll feel more comfortable, and it’s the best way to meet common friends,” says Samir Kapadia…..

….Read the complete list over at Livemint.com

 

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Reviews that made me blush

Reviews of Cult of Chaos are pouring in on Facebook, over at Twitter, Goodreads, in blogs and media. So many places to find little cuddles of happiness for Anantya. These few in particular made me blush with happiness. Some are from friends who have no reason to be nasty or nice for that matter. And some are from strangers.

REVIEW 1: From a kind stranger

Read the complete review here.

If I could only use three alphabets to describe this book, they would be OMG. Oh My God!!! is the only exclamation that comes remotely close to describing my feeling after reading this book. While I have heard of writers having fantastic imaginations and amazing story telling skills, it is very rare that one comes across a writer having both of these, and trust me when I say this Shweta Taneja has both of these in abundance, and Cult of Chaos is surely proof of that.

I could gush on and on about how good the book is, and how wonderfully well it is paced and how it promises to be the start of an exciting new series of Anantya Tantrist mysteries, if she decides to write a sequel and many more books, but I would simply not be able to do any justice to the book itself, and all you readers of this review also would not understand or appreciate the same unless you read the book itself….

…To take a character like Anantya Tantrist and go ahead and put her in a chaotic dystopian future where tantriks, magic, rituals and humans co-exist in a somewhat fragile relationship was a masterstroke by the author. The richness of the author’s imagination clearly shines through in her description of the goings-on without having to resort to time-tried and tested tropes such as providing vivid descriptions of the environment, the cities, the people etc….

There’s more. Read the complete review on the kind fellow’s blog here.

REVIEW 2: From a friend who’s honest

Kalika read the book in a day, came over for tea and even gifted me a beautiful, beautiful bag. Just like that. And here’s what she said at Goodreads:  Continue reading “Reviews that made me blush”

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When The Hindu saw me laugh

Recently at a wedding related puja, I giggled at something inane when an uncle came upto me and said, ‘Don’t laugh!’ I was rather cheeky to the prim-dhoti clad old man and answered, ‘But uncle I laugh at everything!’

Someone else gave me a well-meaning ‘tip’ over at Facebook: “You’ve written a dark, occult book, perhaps you should look mysterious and author-ly rather than laugh/smile in photographs.”

Yes, well meaning marketing advice. But in a world where everything to do with humour is banned, where people kill each other over cartoons, where people take criticism seriously and jump from high rises, where people ban cab companies for rapes, what else can you do but laugh? Laughter is necessary, even if it doesn’t help Anantya much (Sorry, babes. You’re on your own now). So I laugh. Even when all I think and see are violence and darkness. For who would the anger or mysteriousness or seriousness help? With a laugh perhaps people will listen, smile and have a nicer day?

It seems Sravasti of The Hindu, who came to my book launch the other day, seemed to think the same. She chose this laugh-out-loud image of mine to go with the event coverage as well as the word ‘occult’. On the front page of MetroPlus, the city supplement of The Hindu.

Cult of Chaos, The Hindu, Bangaluru, Feb0515

Read the article online.

PS: Anantya, sorry, damage done. You shouldn’t have come to me, instead you should’ve gone to some brooding fellow’s brooding head.

 

 

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Interviews: Mail Today, New Indian Express, NewsNation

Phew, Anantya seems to be getting a lot of attention. In a good, good way. Last week, three interviews came out about her.

New Indian Express called me after the book launch and did a huge interview on the book without misquoting me, except in one place (atleast the spellings were all correct). Thank you for kindness, people. Read it here.

Interview in New Indian Express in February
Interview in New Indian Express in February

 

Mail Today did an interview with me on Cult of Chaos. It was great because the interview came on the same page as Shashi Tharoor’s new book’s interview. How cool? And the photograph is taken by my brother who got super excited to see his work in papers too.

The first question the journalist asked me on Anantya was:

Are you an advocate of women empowerment? Comes out strongly in the book.  

And my answer was:

Is the aggressive, car-slamming, bullet-dodging alpha characters that Salman Khan or Rajnikanth play in their movies an advocacy of men empowerment? If yes, then I agree, that Anantya Tantrist is a female alternative to it. Continue reading “Interviews: Mail Today, New Indian Express, NewsNation”

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Four reasons your book got rejected

Early morning, you open your email box and out pops yet another rejection from a publisher you had your heart on. You fume, you wither, you get depressed and angry and want to hit someone. Everyone is against your voice. And you feel one of these things:

–       Your writing isn’t good enough.
–       You are not good enough.
–       You have no influence with the editor/publisher.
–       Nothing in India happens without money involved.
–       You should’ve gone to a literary festival and made ‘friends’ and maybe that would’ve helped.
–       No one understands your book. They are all idiots over at the publisher’s.
Sorry, none of the above reasons might be the ones that made your book get a no from the publisher. If they’ve sent you a rejection it means that your pitch actually made it to some editor’s table, got consideration and a refusal. It means it was given a fair chance. I have spoken to a lot of editors and publishers in the last five years and these are the most common reasons I found publishers rejected my work. None of it had to do with me or the book I had written.

1 It didn’t match the publisher’s list

A publisher is a commercial business. Every year, they have a boardroom meeting where they try and figure the trends worldwide, genres and book kinds they think will do well in the market. So each editor already has a list of sorts beginning of their commercial year: Tags in mind like #MetroRead #HighFantasy, #ParanormalRomance, #WarStories, #CelebrityExpose. In comes your book. It doesn’t fit into the boxes they’ve figured. The list they’ve prepared. Only if the editor really, really likes the pitch and then the manuscript will they veer from the list. So if you happen to write the ‘fashionable’ genre of the moment, you’re more likely to be noticed. For example, when Twilight series did well, suddenly all publishers started to take in more fantasy romances. It didn’t mean there weren’t romances being written before, it just meant they started to get a yes from the listmakers.

2 You sent it to the wrong editor

Finding the right editor to pitch your work to is essential in getting it published. There are two things to look out for. First of all, what section is the editor handling? Big publishing houses in India have segregated editors in their editorial team. There’s a Young Adult editor, a Children’s editor, an Adult Fiction editor and a non-Fiction one. So your first step is to find the right genre editor within each publishing house you are targeting. Secondly, editors are hardworking people who are deeply passionate about the books they pick up for their list. Each editor across the industry, loves a particular genre. Do your research for each publishing house, find the right editor and try and connect with them and pitch to them directly. Some of them are open to it. I’ve done is successfully two times in the past.

3 The sales team thought it wasn’t sellable

The decision to publish a book is not of an editor’s alone or even of the editorial team overall. They do sort of a round table conference with their sales and marketing team. The book rights are bought only if the sales team feels confident that it can sell it in the market. Yes, if you’ve got the right editor to vouch for your book and he/she is willing to fight it out in that discussion, your book has a better chance. Which is why the point above is so important. Getting a voice in the publishing house which vouches for you. It helped me get my Anantya Tantrist three-book deal.

4 Your pitch wasn’t focused

We might be great at long form but when it comes to creating the right pitch, many of us fail miserably. In this scenario, the concept of an elevator pitch is quite helpful. If you meet a stranger in an elevator (the speedy ones), what will you say your book is about? You have five seconds. Do this exercise again and again till you cut all the vague meat off your book and know EXACTLY what to say about your book. Then write the email you’re going to send to a publisher. Any good publishing house gets a whopping number of book pitches a day. They call it the slush pile, because a lot of them are badly written emails, unclear and confused. Editors don’t have time to wade through each of them. They go by instinct and a well-written, focused email will always turn them on. It helps to know what each editor is looking for. So instead of a generic email to all, try and send a personalized one to up your chances.

There’s a lot of luck involved in the process and I wish you all the best. If you know of any other reasons of rejections, put them down in the comment box below.

(Also posted over at storywala.blogspot.in as a guest post)

Continue reading “Four reasons your book got rejected”

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Discussion at Bangalore Writers Workshop

Wonders never cease. Only a few years ago, I was scrounging websites and blogs, emailing and trolling authors for a bit of wiseness, gyan on writing that could come my way. And then the wonderful Bhumika from Bangalore Writers Workshop invited me over on a Saturday to speak on the art of writing and to answer all those questions are arise in the hearts of people who are crazy enough to get started on a writing journey.

There was a small group of about fifteen people there, tired as they’d just finished their classes on writing and here was another person going to give them gyan. But they didn’t show it. Instead, they were brave and curious and asked questions. They asked me the usual ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’, ‘How did you get published?’, ‘What’s the process of your writing?’ and the direct ‘How do you earn?’ and the difficult ‘When do you know a manuscript is ready to be submitted?’

I tried this for the first time, going to meet a group with no agenda, no preparation but myself and the work I’ve done. And I tried to answer as truthfully as possible, making sure hope was always alive. For I am just one point of view. And there are many other.

And so we chatted and spent the evening. In a rare lull of questions, I asked everyone who were the Indian authors they’d read or heard of: Amartya Sen, Salman Rushdie and then finally, ‘Chetan Bhagat’ with a disclaimer, ‘Though I’ve not read him.’

Ending with a few photos from the event.

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Giveaway: Tell me a superstition; get Anantya

Sharath Komarraju is a pal who’s written a guest post for my blog, helped me so many times online with advice and also come to my book launch. He’s a fabulous writer and runs contests with freebies on his website regularly. His Contest Number 13th had to have a Cult of Chaos connection, considering the book is all about occult and folklore. So we’re doing a giveaway at his blog.

This is what he wants you to do.

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OPEN for entries. Last date for submission: 24th February, 2015

Hello, all! Contest 13 is upon us, and in keeping with the theme of the number, this time we’ll write about superstitions.

Before we get to the topic, though, I have an announcement to make about our contests. We’re soon moving from a fortnightly schedule to a monthly schedule. So the contest will stay open for longer, which means we’ll hopefully get more and better entries. The prize, which has been stuck at 500 rupees for a while now, will be doubled to 1000 rupees.

I’m doing this because I want to run monthly giveaways as well, on the 15th-to-15th cycle, where people will get a chance to win various prizes in return for insignificant acts such as leaving comments. If all of this doesn’t make sense, don’t worry. As a follower of the blog, nothing much will change, except a few timelines here and there which you will get used to soon enough.

TOPIC

Since we’re on Contest 13, it will be almost criminal of us if we did not write about fears and superstitions. As you know, the number 13 has always had an ominous significance in the world of the supernatural. It is not so much an Indian motif, but let’s use it as an excuse to ruminate upon the other-worldly anyway.

Why? Because it’s fun! All right, so this time, the topic to write on is:

What is your pet superstition?

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Head to his website, where he suggests ideas, links of superstitions and ways for you to participate in the contest. All answers should be posted as comments on HIS blog, before the end of this month. So what is your superstition?