Indian sci fi is a fascinating genre as it employs familiar tropes in a very traditional but fast-changing society. I recently read and reviewed this short piece by Indrapramit Das called *Kali_Na* that invites its reader into a unique but captivating world.
India is a young country. Though, many consider the land to be an ancient gateway to culture, civilisation and heritage, India is still a young country. A large number of Indian households gained access to the internet in the mid 2000s. These were the middle class, the conformists who stayed within the limits of decency. The silent majority, however, never had their voices heard, their opinions discussed, their "rougher around the edges" ideas dissected. But then in 2016, through the wonders of [disruptive technology](https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/reliance-jio-turns-one-from-a-disruptive-4g-telco-to-a-network-leader-in-one-year-4008315.html/amp), they didn't need to stay silent any more.
Once India's common man was on the *interweb* there was no stopping their voice. And as these voices only grew louder and more boisterous, the opinions only became nastier and the discourse veered off the beaten path of decency and respect.
India's hyper aggressive, hyper nationalist 'troll army* was born. And in a matter of 4 short years, government agencies, large corporations and the odd bollywood celebrity has successfully mobilised this troll army to mould dialogue and to filter out unsolicited opinions.
This phenomenon is meticulously explored in Indrapramit Das's *Kali_Na.* A story that combines female empowerment with the avante garde, this is a great example of how an author can successfully use their own heritage and background to stitch together such a gripping tale.
*Kali_Na* is steeped in rich Indian culture, it explores the stories many *Desi* children have heard about *Ma Durga,* the Goddess of Divine Power. She is the embodiment of strength and morality as she balances good and evil on the tip of her legendary weapons.
Das masterfully bridges the gap between these traditional stories and path breaking virtual reality technology. With every instance of rich folklore storytelling, they interject with instances of 21st century India and how our young protagonist fights to survive in an ever changing and fast evolving society.
The story opens with the traditional festival season in India, where millions have flocked to the streets of [Calcutta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkata?wprov=sfla1) to catch a view of a VR goddess. Human kind's penchant for the divine does not diminish as the years go by, in fact with the onset of newer technologies, their hunger and yearning to meet their goddess face to face grows even stronger.
Durga our young protagonists and a name sake of the Goddess is our guide in this world. Through her eyes we see the future where *the opium of the masses* now comes at a cost.
However, this science fiction story is more than just an exploration of societal chasms between the traditional and the modern. Das, in fact creates a very real world. A real world that has empowered the *belligerent troll army* to stand up and speak out against anything that is not shaped by the pockets of their masters.
Here in, lies our story. The story of Durga, good and evil. As the three forces come to meet each other, one can expect many bangs and explosions.
Through Durga's eyes, Das explores the culture of cyber-bullying and the limits to which such trolls will go to spit their venom. The reader should not expect an insipid retelling of the fight between good and evil. Rather this is a tale of the pushback against a hateful wave of intolerance that has grown in leaps and bounds. The author has only been clever enough to create a compelling world using the tools of his culture, a world which he drags the reader into as they read *Kali_Na.*
*Kali_Na* is available as a short story in the science fiction anthology, *The Mythic Dream.*
https://redd.it/hu80pm@r_books
