This is your second book which looks at the Ramayana with a feminist gaze. Was the idea of The Missing Queen born when you wrote Sita’s Ramayana?
Actually, it was the other way around. I wrote The Missing Queen and, for years, it languished in a drawer, gathering dust, and I had a hard time finding a publisher for it. Four years ago, I went to the Jaipur Literature Festival with a draft of the manuscript, and ran into my old publisher, Gita Wolf of Tara Books, who published my first book — The Mahabharata — A Child’s View. We talked about the Ramayana — and Gita told me about Moyna’s work (who did the artwork for Sita’s Ramayana), and I immediately jumped at the chance to be involved with Sita’s Ramayana. The Missing Queen, since then, has been through many drafts and re-writes. There were times when I felt that it would never get published — but I think those years of hoping, of polishing and re-drafting were essential for me to hone my skills, and it forced me to question whether I wanted to be a writer. I’m sure now that this is what I want to be.

Author Samhita Arni wrote her first book, The Mahabharata — A Child’s View when she was eight years old. File Photo