Anand Neelakantan says he is often mistaken for an asura, for he too has curly hair! Anand had enough of the pranks of little asuras who irritated him in his sleep! And so, he decided to give it back to them in this book! When not disturbed by the naughty little devils, he writes many a bestseller, such as: The Rise of Sivagami (Baahubali: Before the Beginning Book 1); Asura: Tale of the Vanquished; Ajaya: Roll of the Dice; Ajaya: Rise of Kali; Vanara: The Legend of Baali, Sugreeva and Tara; and, most recently, Chaturanga (Baahubali: Before the Beginning Book 2).
Anand also devotes his time penning down screenplays for television, such as Siya Ke Ram, Ashoka, Mahabali Hanuman, and columns for The Hindu, Indian Express, the Washington Post and the Sunday Express Magazine. In his free time, Anand, along with his wife, Aparna, kids, Ananya and Abhinav, and trusty sidekick, Jackie the Blackie, battles clumsy and naughty asuras who are always ready with their next mischievous prank!
To know more about little asuras and their pranks, you can connect with Anand on his website: www.anandneelakantan.com, on Instagram: @itsanandneel, Twitter: @itsanandneel, and Facebook: Anand Neelakantan.
Anand Neelakantan started writing around a decade ago and is now a household name. In his childhood he was exposed to the Indian mythological stories. He has then taken to writing stories based on Indian mythology. Before India came in contact with Islam, Christianity etc. and the concept of good vs. bad did not exist in India. In India there is no such clear differentiation and instead there is karma and karma phala. Even lord Krishna advices Arjuna to do his duty without worrying about the result. Mahabharata and Ramayana are not really stories of good vs. evil, instead they are about the karma of each person, and the result of their karma.
Samantak Bhadra asks him why he glorifies the defeated people in the epics. Anand says that actually in these epics Rama and Krishna both are human avatars and when there is anyone human there will be flaws.