CHENNAI: Repetitive nightmares, a move from Chennai to Mumbai, the suicide of a mother, patriarchy, control and a quest shrouded in mystery. After the success of her novel Birds Of Prey — which was adapted to the web series Irai on Aha in 2022 — Archana Sarat returned with the launch of her second psychological thriller, Sleeping Dogs on Saturday at The Belstead Hotel.
“One interesting fact is that some parts of Sleeping Dogs were written even before Birds Of Prey (2016), and I have written bits and pieces over the years. My writing process is different with every book. I worked on this during the pandemic and it was like looking at a car headlight; I wrote only as far as the headlight went (and continued like that). It was over the years and there was a lot of rewriting,” mentioned the author, who has written across several genres over the past six years Chief guest Radhika Sarathkumar, actor, entrepreneur, and producer, unveiled the book in the presence of Kavitha Aravind, Santha Devi, Dr Jayashree Sharma, Shanthi Ponnaiah, and the author, among other invited guests.
Having read the book beforehand, Dr Jayashree gave the audience a gist and provided her insights, “The story follows a 21-year-old Aarna who is trying to solve the puzzle of her mother’s suicide. There is a lot of medical jargon in the book, Archana has done a lot of homework. The story is like a Margazhi kolam. There are so many dots in the story and once you join them at the end, you are left with the beautiful kolam.” For the plotline, she had to research sickness, changes in blood group and more, the author shared. “When I was in India, it was easier to research since I had access to people.
In Singapore (where she relocated and wrote a lot of the book), I did research through a lot of books and Google,” she added. Between the lines of the mystery thriller also lie the themes of human nature, women empowerment and the consequences of patriarchal setups. Archana shared in a press note that even educated women from high societies do not always get the freedom to pursue their heart’s desires, their wish to make meaningful contributions to society often trampled by their own families. This is highlighted in Sleeping Dogs. Speaking of what she thinks of the reality of this with author Vignesh Sivasankar, she said, “There is a general patriarchal culture and we (women) are fighting against it. It is changing, albeit very slowly.
And like all changes, it should happen from home, from men. They should do it for the women at their homes, appreciate them and not feel jealous of their successes. People are vulnerable. Somewhere, society says men should not be vulnerable. That they should be strong and it has a lot to do with how we are conditioned.” The story also touches upon the taboo subject of mental health. Despite passionately speaking about these topics at the launch, Archana informs that she does not set out to write a story with such themes in mind. “The story comes first; the theme is secondary.
We write about things that are close to our heart. I didn’t think about the cause before I wrote it,” she said. Archana believes stories have the power to shape thoughts and change lives. Here’s to see if Aarna’s journey to find the truth and her interactions with her step-mother, father and the past, bring about more than just an interesting tale. The book is available at readomania. com. Price: Rs 399.