Kersi Khambatta was a sailor for 23 years, until the itch to write became too urgent to ignore. He wrote the screenplays for the critically acclaimed movies, Being Cyrus (2006) and Finding Fanny (2014). His debut novel “The Village of Pointless Conversation” (2016) made the Tata Lit Fest Long List for First Book Award. While writing novels remain his main motive for waking up every day, he has written numerous shows for multiple streaming platforms: Akoori (2018, for Zee 5), an Indian adaptation of the Spanish show Elite for Netflix India (slated for release late 2022), and a hacker/spy show for Lionsgate India (as yet untitled and slated for release in 2023). Kersi’s new novel, tentatively titled The Stowaway, is a crackling, sprawling family saga set in the drug-fuelled, gang-riddled, communally charged Bombay of the 1990s, and is being represented by A Suitable Agency.