A thriller about murder, witchcraft, and royals

The sequel to my first debut novel The Hawa Mahal Murders is now with the publisher...waiting to be published. It's been ready for many months but finally with the publisher.

This took me a long time to finish. Five years. I took time to write the first one too, but was sure I'd write the next one much faster. I thought maybe 2-3 years. Being more experienced and confident, I was sure I could do it. 

Personal events intertwined. Births and deaths in close family and also plenty of travel. This shouldn’t be a reason for the delay, but it is.

There is nothing more I would like than to shut myself off from the outside world and write…write…write. But I chose not to do that.

Why? Writing makes you more conscious of being alive, but writing is not life. 

Is writing my life? I have to grudgingly admit that no, writing is not my life. Maybe if I was alone in this world with nobody I loved deeply, and if I lived on an island with pots of money, then writing could easily become my life. So that's decided. Writing is not my life. I love others and want to be with them too...I am not a typical writer. Neither melancholy and nor do I crave for solitude. In fact I crave company...laughter, noise, food, drink and parties. Does this make me an odd personality in the world of writers? Well, I guess it does make me odd in the world of good writers. Somehow I always believed that the best writers are committed 100% to writing. 

Do I think I am a bad writer or a good writer? Good, very good. Not literary, but very good at writing suspense and mystery. Very good at characterisation. I think I write better novels than many mystery writers who are famous...people will think it's my ego talking. Well, I truely believe it and don't consider myself egoistic in the least.

Writing is my passion, even if it isn't my life. It makes my heart sing, my soul float and it makes time fly. I may fantasize living on an island in an ocean or in the Himalayas, just writing, but I know I won't last more than a week. 

When I was in my teens and till the early twenties, reading was my life. Reading was exclusively my life. Nothing else mattered. I read everything I could get my hands on. I ignored life. I ignored friends. I ignored family. But by the mid-twenties, I was involved in life, involved with earning money, and involved with my children. That is why my novel, a book I always wanted to write came late. Very late. I don't regret it. 

I loved every minute of writing The Hawa Mahal Murders. Just like I loved every minute of writing its sequel. Yes, it's a sequel. What's it about? That will be my next post.

Hopefully it will launch soon. 

My writing will continue. Writing helps me breathe. So does Life.

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Sequel to the HM Murders is ready

Writing here after a long time. 

I was busy finishing the sequel to The Hawa Mahal Murders. The title will be revealed later, and I promise that the sequel is as exciting, if not better than the HM Murders. One of the criticisms I faced about the HM Murders was that there were too many characters. I loved them and felt they were important, my intention being to make it as real as possible. But I get the reader point of view. In the sequel there are fewer characters. Sub-plots are present and they add depth to the story. Like the HM Murders, it's not a run-of-the-mill mystery. There is a deep exploration of the characters' minds, including that of the villain/s.

The story is about a female detective, a single parent, trying to earn a living. Risking her livelihood and her life, she disappears into a small town to investigate a murder/s. The story is not plot-driven. Nor was The HM Murders. I let the characters take me where they wanted to go. There was suspense and dread in it for me as well. 

The novel has been a long time to write, because of three things. One, I write slowly. Two, ageing parents, and three, travel. 

But it’s done and I am satisfied. I am satisfied with the story and the premise, and also because there is closure at the end, not just for me, but for the characters, Smita and Jai. I enjoyed being with my favourite characters on their onward journey. Saying goodbye to them was hard. 

Work has started on a third book. It's non-fiction. At the same time, my mind is swirling with ideas for a third novel. I want to create new characters for this one. 

Another thing I want to do is to get on social media because have I been an abject failure in that area. I am starting anew with Bluesky. I like the hope it symbolises. This is my handle there: 

@nitajk.bsky.social

Cancer: Big C in the city -

Cancer: Big C in the city

Nita Jatar Kulkarni

Published in the Sunday Express, New Delhi, on the 13th of May 2012.

She has ridden sleighs in the North Pole. She loves elk refuges. She has lost money in casinos but doesn’t complain. She is happy cheering the Chennai Super Kings at IPL matches. She is an engineer who runs a multinational startup in India. She is also a two-time cancer survivor. Her motto is, “Play the best hand

A Writing Mind

Writing is a lonely job. In fact, loneliness is a prerequisite of sorts, isn’t it? At least for me, it is. Unless I am alone in my own quiet space, I find it difficult to write. Actually, loneliness is not the right word because it has a negative slant to it. The word “emptiness” describes it better…a kind of vacant feeling which takes away the clutter and noise of the outside world. The mind is opened up to all sorts of possibilities. It’s vacant. It’s as if one is in an alternate universe where anything is possible and nothing is impossible. 

Physically, one can describe it as being in a vast desert with nothing in sight. Or being in a little boat in an endless ocean. 

Those who can get into their writing mind-space in a noisy, busy environment are lucky or I should say that they are super motivated. These are people who write anywhere and at anytime. They are super-productive and write novel after novel after novel…makes me feel so useless. 

I’ve written a lot – and I mean a LOT – in my life but just one novel, that too after struggling with it for a few years. And now I am in the midst of my second one but it hasn't gone as fast as it should have. The only satisfaction I have is that I wrote a damn good novel. I am proud of The Hawa Mahal Murders. There's nothing I want to change in it. In fact, if anything, I fear I may not be able to write a novel as good as my first one. 

I always believed that I was pretty self-motivated…after all, going at a novel for years without knowing whether a publisher will pick it up…that requires at least a little self-motivation. But perhaps I am not sufficiently motivated. I wasn’t able to get into the right frame of mind in these covid times. I don’t want to get into the mundane details of it…but suffice to say that the time has now passed and I’m getting back on track.

I always thought not writing = not working and time wasted. I don’t put that kind of pressure on myself anymore. I write because I love it and I because I know I want to write another damn good novel!

(Image by LEEROY Agency from Pixabay)

Know what you eat – Decoding food labels

Read between the Lines

Nita Jatar Kulkarni.

Published in the Sunday Express on 1st April 2012.

You consume a packet of instant noodles secure in the belief that it contains no monosodium glutamate. After all, the food label claims that it has “No added msg.”

You help yourself to an extra serving of “Diet Chivda,” sure that it’s a low calorie snack.

You pick a brand of biscuits because it says “Zero transfats” and “Zero Cholesterol.”

What if you found out that the instant noodles contain msg, the diet chivda is as calorific and as fat-laden as another, and the biscuits aren’t what you believed them to be? The chances are that

Urban Living can affect health

When Wealth isn’t Health

Published in the Sunday Express on 18th March 2012.

Nita Jatar Kulkarni

(Some names have been changed in the text of this article although the original article has the actual names. The names of medical professionals have not been changed.)

A peek into the life of Mohan Gandhi, a single urban professional working in the events and entertainment industry in Mumbai, takes us to the heart of what’s wrong with modern Indian lifestyles. Rohan works 12 hours a day going up to 16-20 while outstation, eats at least one meal at an odd time, often works on weekends, regularly eats leftovers, eats at least a dozen meals at restaurants in a month and snacks at restaurants every single day. If that’s not enough, his four favourite foods are