Avni Doshi joins The New Indian Express to discuss her new novel The First House—a deeply introspective exploration of marriage, loneliness, family, identity and the patterns that shape our lives. In this conversation, Doshi reflects on the novel’s central question: how much agency do we really have over our own lives? From family and ancestral patterns to destiny, free will and the possibility of breaking away from inherited structures, she explores the forces that shape who we become.
She also discusses the recurring figure of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, and how the motif becomes a symbol of identity and freedom outside an oppressive family structure. The conversation moves into mythology, the collective unconscious, feminism, cultural inheritance and the politics of reclaiming personal experiences—including Doshi’s thoughts on the Kumbh Mela, religion and the appropriation of culture by political forces. Is loneliness part of becoming yourself? Can we escape the patterns we inherit? And what does it mean to reclaim culture and identity on your own terms? Watch the full conversation with Avni Doshi.