Who was Vatsyayana? What motivated this intriguing personality in the third century to compile ancient erotic texts, replete with his witty aphorisms, into the Kama Sutra, the ultimate treatise on love and the art of lovemaking? Kama is a fictionalised account of the life and times of Vatsyayana. Seemingly, a manual for the hedonist about town, the Kama Sutra reveals another tale written in blood of broken hearts, lyrical violence, ageless love and unbridled lust. Set in 273 AD, in a land fraught with war and unrest, Kama is the story of a catastrophic day in a writer-artist’s life that sets him off on a journey unto himself, beyond the boundaries of love, family and betrayal. This fast-paced story of tragedy and triumph beguiles and captivates as it flits seamlessly between an agonising past, an erotic present and a cataclysmic future.

Jaya Misra is a writer, creative director and producer in the world of television, films and documentaries. She has also nurtured projects on sports, fashion and fiction. Deeply influenced by the works of Anais Nin, Erica Jong, and Virginia Woolf, Jaya takes a keen interest in issues pertaining to women’s rights. Jaya believes that Vatsyayana was not a mere ascetic, but one of ancient India’s first feminists. Witty, passionate, caustic and opinionated, Jaya often writes tongue-in-cheek articles under a popular pseudonym. Kama: The Story of the Kama Sutra is her debut novel.