In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Ananya Devarajan, the brilliant mind behind Kismat Connection, a heartfelt tale that beautifully weaves together themes of fate, love, and cultural identity. Ananya opens up about her inspiration for the story, the significance of exploring second chances in relationships, and the importance of embracing one’s roots in today’s fast-paced world. With a writing style that captures emotion and depth, she takes us on a journey through the creation of Kismat Connection, offering a glimpse into her creative process and what readers can expect from this captivating novel.
Sanah: What part of the story came to you first; was it the characters or the prophecy bit?
Ananya: So I think the first part that actually came to me was the fake dating to prove a point.
In high school, I dated a boy to prove a point to my parents. And it was like this whole funny thing; he was in love with me the whole time. And I remember telling him before we started dating, “Hey, I’m dating you to prove a point to my parents.”
And he was like, “Oh, yeah, I’m totally okay with this. I’ve been in love with you for the last six months.” And that’s exactly how Kismat Connection happened.
Two months into our relationship, I was like, “I’m gonna break up with you before we go to college.” And he’s like, “You know, you like to write books. This will be a really cool book, don’t you think?”
And I was like, “You know what, you’re right.”
Sanah: So that was what you framed the rest of the story around?
Ananya: I knew I wanted to do fake dating to prove a point because I like putting a spin on the traditional tropes that we see a lot. But, I also knew this was the first book that I was going to write that was going to be undeniably, for myself. And a big part of that is writing about the Indian American experience, but not just writing it in what is like the stereotypical lens of what it means to be an Indian American. I wanted to kind of go into the nitty gritty of what it means to grow up in a diaspora and how our experiences as South Asians are very, very different on an individual based level, and a lot of the representation we currently see is very much pigeonholed into one type of South Asian representation.
Sanah: Is there anything that influenced you or any books that you read and were like, wow, this is like the first time I’ve seen rep like this.
Ananya: When Dimple Met Rishi. What I liked about it was that it was an Indian girl and Indian boy falling in love; there was no pressure for there to be a Caucasian love interest that validates the culture of the Indian main character. So that was the first representation where I was like, “I can do this.”
Also, The Trouble with Hating You. Reading that book is what gave me this whole secondary arc of what I want to do with my books, which is critiquing common issues in the Indian American community, through a lens that’s not biased in one way or the other.
It’s important, in addition to giving representation that heals our community, also give representation that’s accurate to the things that we go through, so that our next generation can handle it better. Kismat Connection really talks about the pressure that we put on a lot of Indian American kids to succeed beyond their wildest dreams. And sometimes how parents don’t even necessarily feel that they need to put a role into it. They add the pressure, but they don’t add the responsibility to take care of that child, which will be seen with Arjun and his mother where expects him to do well, but doesn’t feel like she needs to put any effort into it. That’s what I wanted to talk about with Kismat Connection.
Sanah: How did you decide which of those specific cultural issues to include, was it all based on experience?
Ananya: Coming into college, I met my first group of Indian friends for the first time — and my family structure is really, really healthy; they’ve supported me with no strings attached. I thought it was normal, until I met a lot of my Indian friends. And they were like, you got really lucky with your parents. That is not the norm.
I realized we need to talk about how parents need to adjust the way they raise their kids, especially when they’re first-generation. We’re already dealing with so many different elements of our culture in America and our parents adding to it and forcing these expectations tend to make it harder for the kids to develop a strong relationship with their family. So that’s why I have Madhuri’s family as an almost perfect juxtaposition to Arjun’s family.
Sanah: So how was it being a student and then writing at the same time?
Ananya: I took turns balancing things. I’ll be really honest, my fall quarter at UCI, I was not a good student. I did not do well in any of my classes. I was struggling because in high school, I was the kid that didn’t have to put an effort and got A’s and I came to college and I was in a bio major and all bio majors are really intense about being good bio majors.
So I would go to class, I would write the book during class, and I would not really retain anything from class. And I would go and hide in the laundry room of my dorm, sit on top of a laundry machine and write my book.
I got really good at compartmentalizing. You know, you set aside three hours for school, you set aside three hours for writing. And I hold myself to these really intense timetables until it gets done. So just a lot of discipline and self control.
Sanah: How was it writing off the first date scene at the wedding – did it fulfill your Bollywood dreams?
Ananya: Yeah, I love that scene. Ajab Si is the song I want to have my first dance to at my wedding. And I just like dancing. I just think it’s so fun; I danced for 12 years.
I really liked this idea of this dancer who has not wanted to do what she loves for the longest time. And so an external factor, she starts to fall in love and dancing again, through her love for someone else, whether she knows it or not at the time. And it also feels very Bollywood. Like, “We can’t say this to each other. So we’re gonna dance it out.”
Sanah: So what is it like writing romance? How do you create chemistry between characters on the page?
Ananya: I don’t plan out character chemistry. I think that that kind of comes naturally on the page. You can tell what characters are going to say to each other or how they’re going to act with each other just by knowing who they are individually as people.
But, there’s a funny story about how I started writing romance. My first book I ever wrote is a thriller—it’s a really, really bad thriller—and I had someone read it, because I did wanted to publish it. And that person was like, ‘Hey, like not to be totally mean to you or anything. This book was awful. I could not get through it. But the reason I got through it was because I kind of liked the romance you had as your secondary arc. Maybe you should consider doing that instead.’ I was 16. And I was like, Well, what else do I have to lose? I might as well. So I wrote this romance novel.
Sanah: How did you develop the dialogue and make it seem so realistic?
Ananya: I was the same age as these characters when I wrote them. Like, those are conversations that I was having with the people that I loved. I wrote this book, during a transition from high school to college when I was learning more about my culture. A lot of those big conversations are things that more or less did happen. And also Gen Z dialogue written by a Gen Z author tends to feel a bit more realistic because it is what we know. We’re not reflecting back on a time in our life necessarily to create this dialogue, we are intimately experiencing it as we’re writing it.
Sanah: How do you build tension in those scenes where they’re about to get into an argument or there’s gonna be a fight or they’re really upset at each other?
Ananya: didn’t plot the majority of this book, but I did know the emotional beats I wanted to hit. So one of the big arguments that they have is when Madhuri is trying to steal the astrology book from her mother’s bookshelf. And she’s toppling on this chair, mid mental breakdown, tears streaming down her face, and he catches her eye; she lands on top of him.
He’s like, ‘Oh, my God, I could kiss this girl.’ But she’s also sobbing about her entire life and saying ‘I want to know what happens, I don’t trust you. I don’t trust anything. I don’t trust the universe. Everything’s going so badly for me. Why are you here? Why are you staying like this shouldn’t be happening.’ And Arjun, you know, has to be like, ‘You can’t spoil our story. And you have to trust me, that’s the only way you’re gonna have a successful relationship, even if that’s a friendship between the two of us.’
Madhuri needed to have a moment where she was not perfect Madhuri who gets whatever she wants. And I needed Arjun to see that because Arjun had her on a pedestal for the first half of this book, where she can do no wrong—she is perfect, she has no problems or sadness or feelings whatsoever. But, he sees this new side of her; she’s angry, and she’s taking it out on him, and not in the way that she used to. And I think that builds tension. You’re seeing a different side of this character that holds herself in a certain way. And the person that she loves is also seeing that side of her for the first time. And I think when that happens, it’s going to turn into a conflict, right?
Even in real life, like when you are friends with someone after a year, you’re going to see a different side of them. And you have to reevaluate, “Do you still click? Do you still fit?” And sometimes that comes with arguments and fights until you realize that your love for them, supersedes those differences. So I think that was how a lot of the tension scenes come up where it’s like, “You are now different people. Figure it out. And if you don’t, it’s not gonna work out.” And every time they did figure it out. That’s why they’re in love.
Sanah: Is there anything that we didn’t really talk about that you want to share for readers who finished the book? Or anything for people who want to pick it up?
Ananya: Rule your destiny is the tagline. And I think a big takeaway from this book is, free will fully does exist. Even when you are destined for somebody, like how Madhuri was destined to end up with Arjun. She was destined to do it in her way. And I think that there’s this derivative thinking of like, ‘if you’re destined for something, it will just happen.’ You don’t have to put in your work. You don’t have to become a better person. You don’t have to earn it if it’s destined. But that’s not true. I think your destiny is fully based off of what you put into it. And it is malleable. The reason why I say rule your destiny is you have the free will to rule over what you’re meant for.
For readers that are picking up Kismat Connection, you are fully in control of your life and you are allowed to do whatever you want to get what you need. You’re not going to be punished for choosing yourself and for choosing the destiny that you want. If people do punish you for that, that’s not the people that are meant to be in your life, you will find people who support you as you go and try to build your destiny.
Make sure to pick up a copy of Ananya Devarajan’s Kismat Connection , at your local indie bookstore.
