Today I’d like to introduce you to the protagonist of my book Viara Wodeyar. A feisty, beautiful and congenial royal. Also a figment of my imagination. Here’s an excerpt from the book that captures her beginning. Just like the book, she is a work in progress.

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Deft, svelte, and sharp Viara Wodeyar graduated with top honors from Delhi’s prestigious Lady Shri Ram College before she ran into the halls of the North and South Blocks, the nation’s premier c-suite that literally ran the nation’s well-oiled machinery. Working for the government was never her cup of tea or so she surmised, but today 30000 feet above the air on Pushnak she closed her eyes for one last time before she was onto the mission of a lifetime. Tossing her long french-braided hair behind her back she jumped into oblivion. The cool air hit her nose and the impulse to scream had to be muffled, just a couple of seconds more she thought as she pulled the lever to release her parachute. Into enemy territory was never an easy task, Viara knew, yet she braced herself and remembered the reason why she was here.

In a couple of seconds as she descended into the plains of the Indus her whole life flashed before her eyes.

The drums sounded loud as the head of staff at the Mysore Palace ran towards the King, “Its a girl, your Majesty”, Naim said to the King. The King was in his office signing off official documents that the Government of Karnataka needed before the end of the day. His joy knew no bounds as he shuffled the signed papers into a briefcase and dashed past Naim, his most trusted help, and ran towards the royal residences. The titles were only titular but Mahadev Wodeyar the fifth, required no introduction and nor would his daughter he thought. Though the benefactor of the title, Mahadev had a deep inkling that his daughter, born the Princess of Mysore, Viara would shine beyond the precincts of his erstwhile empire. After all she was born into the new India, an India that no one knew was headed where.

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Let me know what you think!