Ananya Devarajan on Her Debut YA Romance Novel “Kismat Connection”

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could use the stars to predict our destiny? It’s not nice for 17-year-old Madhuri Iyer. After an astrological reading prophesies mass failure during her senior year, Madhuri resolves to prove the existence of her free will by devising a plan guaranteed to work: She plans to avoid falling for her best friend since childhood, Arjun Mehta, by keeping him in the friend zone in their purely experimental romantic relationship. Meanwhile, Arjun’s reading predicts a year of good luck. With their contradicting destinies now inextricably linked, whose fortune will win out? 

Madhuri has to decide if defying her own destiny is worth breaking Arjun’s heart — and her own.

That’s how we meet the leading characters of Ananya Devarajan’s YA romance debut, “Kismat Connection”. Through the novel’s dual POV structure, the audience can feel the determination, defiance, and pining from both characters who still have their own unique personalities and backgrounds. From Madhuri’s Bharatanatyam past to Arjun’s relationship with his mother, “Kismat Connection” is Indian American representation, without tokenization, on the second generation acceptance of culture. 

Aside from being a debut author, Devarajan is studying to be a doctor. Graduating from University of California, Irvine with a major in neurobiology and a minor in English, Devarajan knows what it’s like to exist in two worlds. On TikTok, Devarajan prepared for the release of her first novel — from unboxing her advanced reader copies to creating a “Choose Your Own Adventure: ‘Kismat Connection’” edition — to build anticipation. She also confirmed her acceptance to medical school in New York. Many congratulations are in order!

Mochi Mag caught up with Ananya Devarajan to chat all things “Kismat Connection” which led to conversations on books, astrology, and representation. 

In her downtime as an avid reader, Devarajan says her favorite tropes are second chance romance, academic rivals, and friends-to-lovers. “Especially childhood best friends to lovers. Obviously, I wrote that into my debut. I love the idea of someone knowing you better than anyone else, and still wanting to love you. They see all your flaws and they’re not bored of you. They’ve been friends with you for so many years, and continue to want to spend all their time with their person for years and years.”

Astrology comes from Indian culture

For the bildungsroman aspect of “Kismat Connection,” Devarajan thought back to when she was learning to accept herself and her identity. “I wanted to see what the history of my culture looked like, and discovered that astrology comes from Indian culture,” Devarajan explains. “It made me interested in learning more. I like that it didn’t ask anything of me. What you put into it is what you get out of it.”

Originally known as Jyotisha, Vedic astrology or Hindu astrology studies the movement of stars and their influence on human life. The stars are the driving force in the first act of the novel. The Iyer family’s women have always married their first love, which incites Madhuri to defy this pattern and create such a rash experiment. While the book covers the rarity that is Madhuri’s all-Sagittarius placements, Devarajan shares the big three of the other two leading characters. A confirmed Pisces sun and Scorpio moon, “Arjun is very much a water-sign boy, but his rising is in Leo. He presents himself as the almost untouchable scholarly jock. However, when you actually talk to him you understand that he’s very emotional.” She then thought about the placements of Reina for an upcoming project. Aside from being a Libra sun and Taurus moon, Devarajan says that Reina is also a Gemini rising. “I don’t think people really understand her on first impression. I think Gemini risings have the best potential to surprise someone in the best way.”

Devarajan critiques mainstream understanding of astrology as surface-level and superficial. “Astrology is a way of understanding the world when you’re feeling lost. With ‘Kismat Connection,’ I wanted to portray how astrology is not necessarily a 100% predictive power. It can motivate you to prove it wrong, if you want to view it that way, or something to bring you comfort when you’re lost and you don’t know where you’re going.”

Representation without tokenization

The author’s family is also a large inspiration for the book. There are two diametrically opposed families in the book to contrast and challenge the ways immigrant culture may manifest. Instead of cutting fruit, please apologize. Devarajan says parents can treat their children like the ones to break generational trauma cycles, “In Asian American households, a lot of us are first- or second-generation [immigrants]. Our parents’ trauma informs the way we bond and express our emotions. When my parents immigrated, they had no choice but to have their daughters be their best friends. When you view your children not as your offspring, but as your friends, as your companions, and as your community, then you treat them with the respect that you would give anyone else.” Alternatively, if you do not have access to family and community, this concept could be seen as a privilege.

While the YA novel centers the experiences of Indian American teenagers, Devarajan knows that more can be said for Indian American representation. “If you’re asking for Hindu Indian representation, it’s not going to be the same as Muslim Indian representation, but they’re both going to be marketed as Indian representation. Religion, in a lot of cases, does matter in the South Asian community and in the diaspora — that identity informs culture.”

In response to the harsh criticisms of Max original animated series “Velma,” Devarajan argues that South Asian representation has grown exponentially because people like Mindy Kaling were the first Asians in the room. “Why do we put so much pressure on one person to represent an entire diaspora of not just Indian Americans, but Indians and South Asian people? I can’t fault Mindy Kaling for writing from her lived experience. She represented that and now we have so much more Indian representation. You don’t have to watch it if it’s not for you. Now you can watch ‘Ms. Marvel’ or ‘Bridgerton’, as a few examples.”

Devarajan recognizes the complexity and diverse experiences among one group and instead asks for representation in terms of a theme, not restricted by identity. “I think that’s a way we could stop with the generalization of representation: to be targeted in our approach. I can’t write a book and call it an Indian American representation, especially when I come from a Hindu perspective. However, I can say ‘Kismat Connection’ is an Indian American representation that specifically focuses on acceptance of culture and acceptance of dance as a modality of culture.”

Representation isn’t the end goal for Ananya Deverajan but it is a starting point. “This asking for representation is coming from a place of starvation. We haven’t had any representation, so how can you qualify a term if you don’t know what the bounds are?”

“Kismat Connection” was published on June 13, 2023. Order “Kismat Connection” on Bookshop or Barnes and Nobles.