Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note. In this episode, host Vinayak Varma talks to Rashmi Ruth Devadasan and Rakesh Khanna, the directors of Blaft (www.blaft.com), about the kind of books they like to read, the stories they're drawn to creating, and what they want to see more of out there on the bookshelves. Along the way they discuss everything from surrealist children's picture books to pulp comics, monsters, movies, avant garde music, and more. Rashmi Ruth Devadasan is a writer with over twenty-five years of experience in indie publishing, feature films, and Indian English theatre. With Blaft, she has been part of the selection, editing, design and production of the company's fiction in translation, comic book anthologies, original fiction, and zines. She is the author of Kumari Loves a Monster, a picture book created with the artist Shyam. She is a fan of fungi, moss, lichen, cephalopods, and jellyfish. Rashmi also draws gentle sample collector bots on a cacti-covered asteroid called Succulentious. These can be found on the 'Gram under the handle @kaimaurundai. Her TUK (The Ultimate Kanavu, or dream) is to direct a Godzilla film set in Chennai, where Godzilla’s introduction scene has him looming over Napier Bridge. Rakesh Khanna grew up in Berkeley, California, of mixed Punjabi and Anglo-American heritage. He is the author of Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India and the editor of The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction, Vol. 1 and 2. Sometimes he edits mathematics textbooks. He is also interested in marine invertebrates, palaeontology, demonology, combinatorics, and banging on things to see what they sound like. Follow Blaft on Instagram @blaftpublications and on Bluesky @blaft.bsky.social Visit www.blaft.com to buy their books. -- Happy Accidents is a series of in-depth conversations with seasoned creative practitioners on process, mastery and authenticity in the age of AI. Visit www.happyaccidents.co.in to subscribe, get updates, and find social links. Find Vinayak Varma at www.mixtape.in and instagram.com/moralpanicbutton
