The world of India, both modern and traditional, offers
unlimited stories--about people and places and gods. I never have to think up a
story. The challenge for me is to keep up with the onslaught of ideas that
billow out of an image I encounter in a museum or an article I glance at while
turning the pages of a newspaper. The story at the heart of When Krishna Calls is one such idea
mixing modern and traditional worlds in India.
One of the first things I learned when I arrived in India in
late 1975 was that everyone below the westernized middle class was in debt.
This is not the debt of student loans, or a mortgage that makes newlyweds
"house poor." Nor is it the kind of debt some investors carry with
the expectation that in the end they'll reap great rewards.
In traditional India, among lower-income caste groups, debt is
essential to the economy. Money circulates in different ways in different
strata of society, but at the lowest level, the point of debt is to keep money
moving among people. Debts are repaid because no one wants to be shut out of
the economy. The interest rate might be high, sometimes up to ten percent a
month, but the total amounts borrowed are small and the spending can be
significant in filtering through several businesses. The moneylender is usually
someone well known to the borrower, the owner of a local vegetable stand or the
employer of a maidservant or gardener. Whoever it is, it is rarely a bank.
And then there is the modern version of this loan business,
and this is where things change. Large amounts of money change hands, much of
it hidden in sham ownership deals, and all of it beyond the reach of the
government. And the men who make the loans are not anything like the friendly
vegetable seller. And you can guess which one has the greater influence.
This is the story behind When
Krishna Calls. An employee of Hotel Delite goes missing, suspected of
killing her husband, and is taken captive by a known loan shark. But he isn't
interested in her. He's interested in something else.
Anita Ray, always ready to help, wants to find Nisha, someone
she likes and admires. But when she finds out her Auntie Meena is involved,
Anita realizes much more is on the line, perhaps more than she's ever had to
deal with.
Once again, traditional and modern India clash before they
blend. And Anita is pushed to the brink when she tries to rescue both Nisha and
Auntie Meena.
When Krishna Calls
is the last of the Anita Ray mysteries to be published by Five Star/Gale,
Cengage. It will appear in August 2016. But I know there will be more
adventures for Anita Ray.
Available for preorder now.
http://www.amazon.com/When-Krishna-Calls-Anita-Mystery/dp/1432832255%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAIC4DTHWMHZAANS6Q%26tag%3Dspeculativefic05%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1432832255
