The first book in the Age of Kalki trilogy, The Last Avatar is a mythology and science-fiction novel. The story begins in the not-so-distant future when the world falls victim to an apocalyptic war, a deadly sting operation by the terrorist group, Invisible Hand, brutally eliminates the Indian prime minister and the Union Cabinet. With chaos all around, national Emergency is declared. Against the backdrop of falling democracies around the world, an unconventional hero emerges – a vigilante known only as Kalki. Backed by a secret society called The Rudras, Kalki, along with Nushen, the Chinese superhuman spy, must do the impossible to save his country, and the world.
This is how author Vishwas Mudagal gives an introduction to his recently released book. “I was always fascinated with the prophecy of Kalki, the 10th and last avatar of God, who the ancient Hindu Puranas predict would be born to end the age of darkness on Earth. But what if the God incarnate was born as mortal like one of us and had to go through a tumultuous path with true grit and valor to save humanity from destroying itself?” asks Mudagal.
Mudagal first hit upon the idea of the book in 2010 — the idea kept him wide awake for a few nights. He took nearly eight years to create Kalki in flesh and blood. “Research shows that Kalki Purana was written as a response to the barbaric invasions by the foreign invaders (Huns and Mongols) from Central Asia. To end this brutal era, Vishnu had to appear on Earth to destroy the enemy and restore a pure way of life. This formed the basis of my story,” says the author.
For the book, Mudagal worked backward. He first focussed on creating Kalyug. “I needed a powerful enemy, so I created Chinese dictator General Jian, a merciless cruel man, who takes over the defence forces through a coup. I have introduced an ancient mercenary cult called the Invisible Hand that is believed to have been created in the 12th century by Genghis Khan, the brutal and ruthless conqueror. This cult has only one mission — they want to topple democracies and put in dictators and they won’t stop until they rule over every nation on the planet.
But there has to be one man who has to rise and stop this apocalyptic war, and that hero is Kalki. To defeat the powerful enemies, he has to bring back the Vanar Sena. Just like Lord Ram (who was an avatar of Lord Vishnu), Kalki also needs an army. But in this era of Science and Technology, how would he do that? He creates machines in the form of Gods — the Vanaroids,” he says. The book is full of such fascinating characters, secret societies, mysterious clans, superhumans, and supervillains. Isn’t that Interesting!
As an author, Mudagal is inspired by ordinary people around him. “I want to create more stories like that of Kalki that are enjoyable but I also hope that the day never comes when Kalki has to emerge because that would mean the beginning of an age of darkness war and lots of deaths and destruction. I hope Kalki remains an imaginary character forever,” he avers.