Unexpectedly, one day, a 700-year-old tree in the depths of a Karnataka forest became one of the starting points for writer GL Sham Prasad’s latest fictional world. During research for Kantara: Chapter 1, the writer visited a Karnataka tiger reserve with Rishab Shetty as part of a wildlife conservation programme. When forest officers showed them a tree believed to be 700-800 years old, its presence stayed with him. “There was something profoundly captivating about it. Its sheer presence made it feel as though it possessed a divine energy,” he recalls, the starting point of his new novel, Kanka, set in the Western Ghats in 1891. The ancient tree and the tribe that worships it become part of a fictional folk tale that holds a mystery within the larger narrative. Kanka ( Pinaka Publications; ₹210) written in Kannada, brings together British-era India, history, folklore, mythology, science fiction and the supernatural.
The story itself had been taking shape in Prasad’s mind for years. His fascination with the title Kanka began with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, whose palindrome title prompted him to explore the Kannada word. “The very first image it evoked was of a mysterious bird soaring over the mist-covered Western Ghats. I had long wanted to write a story set during the British era and Kanka immediately felt like the perfect title and premise. However, by the time I returned from Kundapura after completing my work on Kantara, the story had transformed completely in my mind,” he says.
At the centre of this world is Devansh Byale, a freedom fighter on death row who knows he has only 15 days left to live. For Prasad, the character’s awareness of his fate became central to his personality. “When someone is certain of their fate, they have nothing left to lose and that philosophy became the foundation for creating this character. As a rebel fighting against British rule, he spends most of his life deep within the forests.” Devansh is skilled in guerrilla warfare and has developed close relationships with the tribal communities around him.
Building a believable world around such an unusual premise required extensive research. Prasad looked into history, science, mythology and the geography of the Western Ghats. “History became the foundation, while fantasy evolved as a natural extension of it. I remained faithful to the historical setting, culture and timeline, allowing mythology to emerge organically from that world rather than overpower it,” he explains.
Although his work on Kantara: Chapter 1 inevitably informs his understanding of folklore, Prasad was conscious of giving Kanka its own identity, as he shares, “If there is one creative influence I have carried forward, it is the art of blending folklore seamlessly into the narrative, something I learned while working on Kantara.”
The novel also gave him a freedom that screenwriting could not. After years of working within the collaborative world of cinema, returning to prose allowed him to build without the limitations of actors, budgets, locations and production logistics. “For me, it is just the writer, the blank page and the ink.” Yet his cinematic sensibility remains central to his prose. He writes ‘scene by scene, with vivid visual descriptions, carefully staged moments and dialogues that leave an impact.’
That visual instinct extends to the book itself as it features around 40 illustrations, which Prasad describes as an experiment to help readers navigate its expansive world, including its multiple timelines, Yugas and Lokas. Having previously written the thriller Red Boot Rosy, Prasad deliberately moves beyond a single genre with the book. Ultimately, he hopes the novel will do more than entertain. In an age of artificial intelligence and short-form content, he wants to draw readers back to books and, beyond that, towards curiosity. “If Kanka encourages readers to explore Indian history and mythology with a fresh perspective, to question, research and discover more after they have turned the final page, I would consider that to be the novel’s greatest success,” he signs off.