A marketing consultant by profession, Virat Vilas Pawar, turned debut author with, Heroes of Wars: Men from The Future. The sci-fi mythological novel offers an alternate theory of Indian epic, Mahabharata. The 25-year-old holds a bachelor’s degree in mass media and is a member of Suraksha Abhiyan, an NGO creating awareness about road safety.
Tell us about the book.
Heroes of Wars combines science fiction and mythology, a rare combination as the two genres are poles apart. It is a sci-fi version of the Mahabharata. The characters are influenced by the original characters, but I have changed a few things in the story and its setting.
How did you get the idea of writing this book?
I grew up heavily inspired by Indian mythology and parallelly watching cartoons. While doing so, I always felt a little disconnect with the characters because it didn’t have the desi flavour. I couldn’t connect with the taxis, the underground metro and the huge glass buildings.
While I watched those cartoons, I always imagined how it would be if something like this happens in India? That’s how I started spending my time writing on the last pages of my notebooks until I got my own laptop and then it was me and 200 GB of free space. I always wanted something that we could experience with wow factor on par with the Western countries. When I decided to finally write, it occurred to me… what is one thing very familiar to Indians? Our rich mythology. And what is the most famous epic? the Mahabharata. That was it; I decided to club my two favourite genres by adding time travel and action.
The portrayal of the 20 characters inspired from the original version were created to appease the current generation. Give a gist.
The characters are from the year 3025. That’s over 100 years from now. These characters travel from the future to the past in the times of Mahabharata because Lord Krishna decides to recruit them for fighting the war at Kurukshetra. The book’s illustration is by my talented team — Shubhdeep Roy and Shiladitya Bose. My idea was to show futuristic technology with the flavour of Indianness in it, and that is how we came up with those character designs.
You are an entrepreneur, author and a part of NGO Suraksha Abhiyan. How do you juggle all three?
My time table is pretty clear. I work during the day and write at night, because nobody disturbs me at night. Being an entrepreneur is a compulsion as I have to bring food to the table. Working for the NGO is my responsibility towards society and writing is my soul. So, I have to play all the parts.
What next?
I completed my second novel, Viyadhara & The Universe of Magic, on magic-fantasy, which is currently in the editing process.