OF MYSTERY THRILLERS AND SETTINGS OF THE INDIAN CULTURAL MILIEU

Chirdeep Malhotra . Updated: 7/14/2020 2:15:07 PM Books and Authors

Author Interview: Vee Kumari

Vee Kumari lives in Burbank, USA. She grew up in the south of India. She has a doctorate in Anatomy and was a faculty member at the UC Davis Medical Center and the Keck School of Medicine. Teaching neuroanatomy to medical students, she also published many scientific papers and continued to read contemporary mystery fiction. She has recently come out with the book “Dharma: A Rekha Rao Mystery”, which is her debut fiction that incorporates her observations on the lives of Indian immigrants and Indian Americans in the US. She is also an actor who has appeared in TV shows, including Criminal Minds and Glow, and produced and was the lead in a short film, Halwa, which garnered first prize in HBO’s 2019 APAV contest. In a candid chat with Chirdeep Malhotra, she talks about her debut book, her writing journey, her favourite books and authors, and much more. Read on!



Please tell us more about Vee Kumari as a person.

I love to cook Indian food, for my family. I used to entertain groups of people. But now I prefer meeting with one or two people only, so conversations could be more interactive and genuine. I read, write, act when I have a chance to do that. Spend time with my family. I adore my teenaged grandsons! They are fun, loving and well-behaved. One of them read my book and loved it.



Has writing always been a part of your life? Or did you chance upon it later on and then instantly fell in love with it?

I’ve always loved words and wanted to become an English Professor. But my parents sent me to med school. I loved the subjects I studied but had a hard time dissociating from the suffering of patients, esp. kids. I believe that is why I took an alternate route: to teach and do research. I loved teaching first-year medical students the intricacies of human neural pathways.



Please tell us more about your book “Dharma: A Rekha Rao Mystery”.

The book's synopsis is- “The protagonist is Rekha Rao, a thirty-something Indian American professor of art history, who is disillusioned by academia and haunted by the murder of her father, for which she believes police convicted the wrong person. She then gets entangled in a second murder, that of her mentor and father figure, Professor Joseph Faust. An idol of the Hindu Goddess Durga was used as the murder weapon and left on the body. Rekha is asked to help Detective Al Newton understand the relationship, if any, between the meaning of the statue and the motive for murder.” Apart from what you can find from the synopsis, the most important thing I would like to comment on is that it took me seven years to write and publish my book. I call it my “Seven-Year Itch”. I’d give up on it and put it away, but the itch persisted. I’m glad now that I responded to it to complete the novel.



This is your debut book, and you have delved into the Mystery Thriller genre. How did the idea of writing this book emerge?

The Mystery genre was my first love in books. As a child, I grew up on Sherlock Holmes, Poirot and Miss Marple. This book was built around a story I heard on Oprah when she was on air, about a family’s grief. I would leave it at that for fear I’d give away a subplot in the novel. The story I heard stayed with me, and I created my main story around it.



Tell us more about the protagonist Rekha Rao. How did the character come to you and how much did she change in the process of writing the novel?

I’m unable to say how I created Rekha. She doesn’t resemble either of my daughters or any of their friends. She’s a composite of elements I had observed in young adults as my children were growing up. I needed to root her anxiety and indecision in something substantive and this led to the PTSD component. I hope the readers sense her growth at the end of the story.



Apart from being a gripping mystery, the book also describes India’s rich cultural history with élan. This also imparts a colourful aspect to the storyline. How important was incorporating this element in the book, to you, and to the storyline?

I have to say these elements were not added intentionally. I needed Rekha to have a specialty as a professor, and a context to connect with the Durga. Having included the Durga, I felt compelled to bring in some mythology associated with the Goddess. Again, I needed to do this in context and in small doses, or I would turn many readers away. I hope I wasn’t heavy-handed.



What kind of research did you do for the book?

About archaeology including a real excavation in Jwalapuram that led to the discovery of microliths. About the manifestations of PTSD. I also read about Goethe’s Faust who is compared to Professor Faust by his son.



What challenges did you face while writing this book?

The main challenge, as I mentioned before, was to complete it. I gave up on it many, many times.



As a doctor-neuroanatomy professor-author-actor, how do your various roles inform one another?

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to be an English Professor, and that would have naturally led me to a career of writing. But that didn’t happen. The saving grace was that I always read fiction along the side, while prepping for lectures, doing experiments in the lab and publishing scientific papers. Early on it was mostly mystery but then I discovered non-mystery genres. I think all novels have mysteries enfolded within them. Those are the type of novels I want to write in the future.



Can you recommend five books from any genre, for our readers to add to their reading lists, that you particularly cherish?

Anything written by Isabelle Allende: “Paula” is my favourite. “A Place for Us” by Fatima Farheen Mirza. “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel” by Gail Honeyman. “Wish You Well” by David Baldacci. “An American Marriage” by Tayari Jones.



There are many new writers and poets who are aspiring to get their work published. What would you say to them?

If characters and story elements keep popping up in your mind, and you cannot get rid of them, believe me, you have a story to tell. Write it, persist with it even if it takes you seven years or more.



What are you working on next? Any exciting new projects our readers should look out for?

I’ve decided to move away from pure mystery and write about lives, relationships and experiences of Indian immigrants in the US. There are so many stories to tell from the vantage point of someone who has now lived in the US for over 30 years. And as I said earlier, any novel will have reveals at the end.
I’ve completed the first draft of my second novel about an Indian Immigrant family whose American dream is shattered when one of their daughters goes missing.



Can you share with our readers a motivational quote that keeps you going?

Honestly, nothing profound! Try, try again, comes to mind!


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