What inspired you to create the characters of Detective Radha Bose and Aditya Gokhale? How did their personalities evolve during the writing process?
A couple years ago I found a story I’d written in 2015, and its protagonist was named Radha Bose, so I’ve always had her in my head. I can no longer remember her origin. Aditya was me. I wrote the original book during the height of my depression and anxiety, and I needed an outlet, so I created a character that was basically me with a few modifications. He has since developed into his own character, though. I don’t think their personalities evolved at all during the writing process, because I’ve always had a crystal-clear image of who these two individuals are. I didn’t start plotting the case until I was 100% sure. Their personalities do evolve quite a bit throughout the series, though, as… things happen. I can’t go into further detail. Spoilers.
In Reason to Fight, psychological elements play a significant role. What challenges did you face in balancing the mystery and psychological drama aspects of the story?
I’ve always written Radha and Aditya as real people, not as characters who stop existing when the story ends, which is why, whenever I’m planning a Radha-Aditya book, I divide the story into days, like Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and what have you, so after any big story moment, I don’t move on to the next one. I explore the aftermath, which is usually emotional or dramatic. So, in general, not always, but in general, I go from story moment to emotional moment to story moment to emotional moment, as the day progresses. A huge story moment might occur, for example, at 1 PM, and while Aditya and Radha are having lunch at 2, they might have a confrontation. I don’t skip ahead to the next story moment at 4 PM. There are exceptions, of course, since that isn’t necessarily how I structure the entire plot. The best way I can explain it is that I visualize the story moment/emotional moment division as a seesaw, so I always have this innate sense, that, okay, if I insert another drama moment here, it’ll become overdramatic, or if I move on to another big plot moment, it’ll become too mechanical; these are real people, they need time to process what is happening. I always try to keep the seesaw balanced. I hope that makes sense. I’m always extremely bad at explaining any aspect of my writing process.
Radha Bose is a strong and complex character. What do you think makes her stand out from other detectives in the genre?
I’m not saying this goes for all female protagonists, but I’ve noticed a trend that, especially when written by men, female protagonists tend to either be a whiter-than-white reincarnation of Mother Mary herself, or a villain of such venom as to make Judas blush. I feel Radha has a balance. There’s a lot to like about her, but there’s also a lot to dislike about her. She’s a real human being. She is not on a pedestal, she hasn’t been dramatized or sexualized. She also doesn’t represent all womankind. She’s a person, a normal person with her own hopes and dreams and virtues and vices. I don’t think of her as a book character, and I hope that shows. I hope she does come across as a real person, one with both goodness and evil in her heart, and the capacity to both create and destroy, just like the rest of us.
Radha and Aditya have a unique dynamic. How did you go about developing their relationship, and what do you think makes it compelling for readers?
Radha is a serious, professional, hard-working former soldier. Aditya is a sardonic, anti-authority teenager. They are about as alike as chalk and cheese. Yet, as the reader will learn, the deeper into the book they go, both possess certain deep, intrinsic similarities, in character, in mindset, and more. It’s like the roots of a tree, but upside down, where on the surface they appear far apart, but as they keep interacting, we trace the paths of the roots coming closer and closer, until they finally merge at the base of the tree. And I hope that journey is compelling for the readers, because these are damaged people, both struggling with mental illness, both with tons of baggage and obstacles to overcome, yet the first time they lay eyes on each other, an instant connection is formed. There is push, there is pull, there are fights, there are make-ups. There are two unique individuals, forming a deep, primal bond. Above all, these are, I hope, realistic, relatable people, that readers can actually connect to.
The title Reason to Fight suggests a deep underlying motivation. Can you share how this theme plays out in the lives of your characters?
No, I can’t reveal the exact meaning, sorry. Spoilers. What I will say is that, when you hear the words “reason to fight”, you automatically think of existential meaning and purpose, a reason to try to overcome one’s challenges, a reason to kick and scream and try to survive, the kind of reason a lost soul might discover during a murder/suicide investigation.
As a psychological mystery, Reason to Fight keeps readers guessing. What techniques did you use to maintain suspense and keep the readers engaged?
The best whodunnits and suspense novels, I find, spend the first two-thirds of the book erecting a trail of dominos, that in the final third comes crashing down. In Reason to Fight, I tried to lay a trail of breadcrumbs for observant readers to follow, to keep them trying to anticipate what comes next. Plus, since this is a detective novel, creating suspense isn’t that difficult, since the point of an investigation is to slowly uncover the truth. It is a truth that I hope is compelling, and one that, again, observant readers will likely be able to guess if they pay attention through the first 60% of the book, since there are multiple twists, but I do leave clues throughout the first two-thirds of the story.
The psychological aspects of Reason to Fight are intricate and layered. How did you ensure that the psychological elements were both authentic and engaging without overwhelming the mystery?
To be honest, I never worried about the psychological elements overwhelming the mystery, because the psychological elements will overwhelm the mystery. That’s unavoidable. This is above all a character-driven novel, and people always remember the characters. Take a franchise like Harry Potter. Few are those who can still, having neither read the book nor watched the movie in years, recall the precise details of the plot of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. But everyone remembers Harry Potter and Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger and Sirius Black. I have tried to maintain a balance, but the personal, dramatic moments will always resonate deeper with readers, because they are people, reading about fellow people.
The book is based in Kolkata. What role does the setting play in it? How did you choose the locations, and how do they contribute to the overall atmosphere of the story?
I grew up in Kolkata. It’s my home, it’s where I belong. It’s the city I know the best. So setting the story there was a no-brainer. North Kolkata is in general cleaner and more new than South Kolkata, I feel. South Kolkata is what people imagine when they hear “Kolkata”. Those are the neighborhoods with the richest histories and cultures. So, naturally, to capture the essence of the city, the majority of the story is set in South Kolkata. And Bengalis are characters anyway. They are some of the most vibrant, jovial, eccentric people I’ve met. This, to me, was perfect, because a good detective story needs good characters. I honestly don’t think Reason to Fight would work in any other city. It’s difficult to put into words, but Radha Bose and Aditya Gokhale belong in Kolkata.
What do you hope readers take away from Reason to Fight in terms of understanding human nature and the complexities of the mind?
My biggest hope in that regard is that readers walk away with at least a slightly better understanding of mental illness and how depressed people might think, their mindsets, their fears, their vulnerabilities. I have been clinically depressed for eleven years now, so I should know. Apart from that, I never make a point to, well, make a point about a character’s mindset or psychological complexity. I just want to create realistic people. That’s it. I don’t want to, you know, say anything about human psychology. I want my characters to be both good and bad, both heroes and villains, just like the rest of us.
What next for Chandrayan Gupta as well as Radha and Aditya? More books in the series or are you looking to try out something else?
I am currently working on the sequel to Reason to Fight, which I’ve titled Fate Misnamed. The series will contain seven books. It’s my main focus for now. But I do also have ideas about a couple standalone books, so let’s see.