Dev Prasad’s most recent offering, The Curse of Surya is a modern day crime thriller but with a backdrop of ancient Indian history and religion — a story about three protagonists coming from different parts of the world to India.
“Each one comes with a different purpose. Unfortunately, they become the prime suspects because of a terrorist attack at one of India’s most famous temples. The only way for them to prove their innocence is to find a gem that has been lost for 5,000 years. So the rest of the book is mainly about deciphering codes, cryptograms and hunting for the lost gem that takes the protagonists across different parts of the country. They are chased not only by the police but also many terrorist organisations in the world — chases by roads, planes, helicopters and motorboats!” quips the author.
With his previous book, Pitch It, and The Curse of Surya belonging to completely different genres, how did he make the transition? Dev responds, “I have written three books and each of them has been a different genre. My first book Krishna: A Journey Through the Lands & Legends of Krishna is a spiritual travelogue; my second, Pitch It! belongs to the business management genre that links cricket with the corporate world. Since I read and write a lot on varied topics, it has not been very tough to make a transition. I read a lot about Indian history and religion. Like most Indians, I am also a very huge fan of cricket. These are reflected in my writings.”
He also explains how he chose this particular myth to base his story on — “I had travelled multiple times to numerous tourist places associated with Lord Krishna — places such as Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Dwarka, Somnath, Kurukshetra, etc.
During my visits, I had come across many fascinating places — like the corridor connecting Krishna Janmasthan Temple with a mosque in Mathura, two Dwarkas in Gujarat (Mainland Dwarka and an island called Bet Dwarka) and another ‘lost city’ Dwarka buried under the Arabian Sea. Can you imagine an entire kingdom buried under the sea since 5,000 years? During my childhood days, I had also heard the famous story of Shyamantaka Gem and Lord Krishna’s association with it. When I saw such ancient and intriguing places, some of them lost and buried, I decided to write a book that links all these places.”
Many people have told him that it would make for a great movie — on the lines of the Indiana Jones series featuring Harrison Ford. “Though my initial thoughts was just to write a book, now I am seriously thinking of getting this made into a movie. It would be wonderful if I could find a movie producer and a director,” Dev smiles.
Next up, he is working on another crime thriller — “This one too has a strong connect with religion — this time, it is going to be Christianity. I work in the IT field, so under normal circumstances, life would have been pretty one-dimensional. However, being a writer, I get to meet different types of people which has made my life an amazing journey.”
