Kalpish Ratna

Kalpana Swaminathan and Ishrat Syed are surgeons who write together as Kalpish Ratna, an almost anagram of their first names. Melding Farsi and Sanskrit, it means the pleasures of imagination.

Kalpish Ratna have written novels, short stories, nonfiction and essays over the last three decades. Their acclaimed writings include The Quarantine Papers, shortlisted for the Crossword Fiction Award in 2010; The Nalanda Chronicles; the short story collection Synapse. Uncertain Life & Sure Death, Once Upon A Hill and Room 000 look at Bombay with new eyes. Fat, The Secret Life of Zika Virus,A Crown of Thorns, and Gastronama examine the entanglements between our bodies, disease and the environment. Kalpish Ratna have also written stories for children: Doctor Wrasse of Crystal Rock, Nyagrodha, and A Pandemonium in Pakshila.