Twin sensation transport believers into world of fantasy

Teenage author Swiss–Indian twins, Jyoti and Suresh Guptara, have brought a world of fantasy for the believers in India, with the launch of their debut fantasy novel, Conspiracy of Calaspia (Rs. 495, Tara Press).

The novel, aimed at young adults, is a crossover book is on the lines of JRR Tolkien's classic Lord of the Rings. The Conspiracy has been woven out from the fantasies the twins used to enact as kids. "We started writing these stories at the age of 11. The fact that we are twins helped us bounce ideas off each other and the stories shaped up over six years," said 18–year–old Jyoti, who grew up on books by David Eddings and George Mcdonald.

The story is set in Calaspia, an imaginary alternative universe and the protagonist is Bryn Bellyset, heir to a vast commercial empire who however led a very sheltered life until he came of age. More than a story, Calaspia is a subtle parody, full of satire and symbols alongside action and adventure. The Christian education of the twins appears clearly in their first work; in the novel there is no lack of episodes highlighting redemption and pardon.

"Our novel is different from [Harry] Potter as it is set in an alternative universe," added the Swiss–based Jyoti, who is a full time novelist now.

The twins are also working on six more novels in the same seven–volume series called The Insanity Saga.

"Fantasy isn't all about gore and monsters, it's about what extraordinary events do to ordinary people, their lives and relationships," Jyoti Guptara explained. "The Insanity Saga is primarily about a cast of heroes, great and small, pitted against the powers of Insanity, a corrupting force both internal and cosmically external. We play a lot with appearance and reality, surface and substance. A "good" character often ends up having to fight himself by turning into his own bane."

"Like most fantasies we try to transport the reader to a new yet believable world – Calaspia – to witness the life and struggles of her people. Here we encounter various plots: deception and betrayal, friendship and trust, enmity and suspicion, mystery and murder," he said, adding, "In our day and age, we must first of all examine what is good and what is evil?"

"In the Insanity series, we hope to portray both sides and let readers come to their own conclusions. So although an antagonist's actions are sometimes most blatantly wrong, we try to examine his side of the story," he said.

"Unlike most fantasies, the clash between the creatures of light and dark is not the focus. Instead we explore the light and the dark within each character, and how this affects the rest of the world," Jyoti said, adding that they were inspired by Tolkien's classic, Lord of the Rings, "to strive to reach that level."

"Actually it was my idea, and Suresh helped me develop it," he added, noting that started writing this book when they were 11 years.

As for the Indian influences in the book, Suresh said, "There are Indian influences to be found in Calaspia. They would be subtle, something all Indians would identify with. The people from the main characters' tribe call older people 'uncle' and 'auntie.' One character from a race of mythical creatures uses the word 'baba' and then there are references to their cuisine, for example 'gulabbi' (gulab jamuns). We don't want to give every detail away because recognizing the more subtle ones could be fun."

Jyoti and Guresh were born in England in 1988 and they spent the first seven years of their life there before moving to Switzerland with their parents.

Jyoti and Suresh Guptara are the teenage sons of Professor Prabhu Guptara, well known writer, speaker, business executive and Christian layman. Prabhu is currently the Executive Director, Organizational Development, for Wolfsberg (a subsidiary of UBS – one of the largest banks in the world) and a Visiting Professor at various universities and business schools around the world.

The book was launched in Delhi on December 19, 2006 and in Goa in January 3, 2007. The book is scheduled to be launched in Chennai and Hyderabad also.