The Seventh Swar, Pan Macmillan India, 2026

Seven deaths.

A secret waiting to be sung.

When an old woman is stabbed to death in her Mumbai apartment, ex-cop-turned-private-investigator Satyadarshi expects it to be a routine murder investigation. Well, as routine as murders ever get. But the deeper she digs, the more confounding the case appears.

Clues hidden in classical music, an innocuous-looking wall hanging she keeps seeing everywhere and a tattered old book that seems abuzz with secrets rooted in ancient Indian history … As she is vaulted back to King Ashoka’s times (yes, that Ashoka) by her unusual discoveries, she finds the threads of his legacy entangled with those of her own life in ways she is completely unprepared for.

As she chases leads through Mumbai’s humid chaos, Satyadarshi also has to fend off her mother’s relentless matchmaking, investigate an overweight So-Bo dog and deal with an almost-date whose nerdy facts and unexpectedly muscular chest make her heart race. Not to mention the growing pile of bodies further ensnaring her in a conspiracy that spans across centuries and threatens to upend everything she knows to be true about her family and herself.

Witty, pacy and dripping with Mumbai’s entropic charm, The Seventh Swar is a classic murder mystery with a rom-com twist.

The Seventh Swar is the first in a trilogy, part of the Satyadarshi Universe, Pan Macmillan, India, 2026.

Beneath Divided Skies, Vishwakarma Publications, 2024

In 1947, Satya, a teenager, is orphaned by the Partition, and flees to India to join a clandestine organization rescuing abducted women. Risking her life in undercover missions, Satya’s unwavering determination reflects the unyielding resilience of the human spirit. She finds purpose and unexpected love with a Pakistani officer. As she battles for women’s freedom, Satya faces an agonizing choice—will duty to her country overshadow her heart’s desire, or can she reconcile love and purpose amidst the chaos?

Based on the ‘Rescue and Restoration Act of 1949’, Beneath Divided Skies explores the lives of social workers, women, and the hard choices they face.

Beneath Divided Skies was launched at the Partition Museum, Delhi, on Shaheed Diwas, 23rd March 2024, in conversation with Dr. Shalini Mullick.

• Selected for MAMI Work-to-Screen Market (2024)
• PhD dissertation subject (St Xavier’s University, Kolkata)
• Featured in an academic volume on trauma in South Asian women’s fiction