The Vishakanya's Choice Read Online Free

of the time in which it was written and how it forced me to grapple with my own choices. Contemplating a world where choice was a currency exposed my myopia. I saw myself as stuck, wandering and waiting. But mostly, I was whining. I felt like giving up, convinced that every cosmic machine had ground its heel on my writing dreams. But I made the choice to try harder. I read more, wrote more. Learned more. And that choice made all the difference.

A Chat with Roshani Chokshi
    Following last year's “Subversive Fairy Tales”, the thematic call for 2015 short stories was “First Contact.” Unlike the other stories on this particular roster of First Contact tales,
The Vishakanya’s Choice
is outside of the realm of science fiction and more closely aligned with historical fantasy. Tell us how you envision The Vishakanya’s Choice in relation to the “First Contact” theme?
    I took the concept of contact at face value, as in the touch of another person or an electrifying moment of skin contact, eye contact. With the folklore of the vishakanyas, that first contact is a true test of the femme fatale. Quite literally! I loved this theme because it prompted how we interpret contact across stories and traditions. That mythos of the vishakanya and the urban legend about how Alexander the Great met his end with poison felt like a good fit.
    Talk to us about the research and history that went into your short story—did you do any research into the history of the Vishakanya and the tradition of young female assassins? And why or what inspired you to focus on the death of Alexander the Great at the hands of such an assassin?
    The first time I stumbled across any mention of vishakanyas was in the popular Indian comic books, Amar Chitra Katha. They were mentioned as beautiful assassins used against enemies during the Mauryan Empire. This image of the poison damsel stayed with me out of pity. That connection of intimacy would be cut off from someone like her. As for Alexander the Great, there are so many intriguing theories about how he died. Death by poison is the most popular one. But how was it administered? What were the circumstances? Given his campaigns in the Indian subcontinent and some of the artistic renderings of King Porus submitting to Alexander, I was taken by the idea of how far a conquered person’s resentment would stretch. To me, it seemed more poetic and romantic that he would have died by the hands of this poison damsel and that in their shared time, perhaps they discover a kindred experience in one another.
    Another favorite aspect of
The Vishakanya’s Choice
is the concept of Choice itself. What inspired your interpretation of Choice as a precious item held by kings and conquerors? And what is the significance of this interpretation of Choice, given the story's ultimate ending?
    I mention this in the inspirations and influences essay, but interpreting Choice as something that could be held came to mind after a family friend lost their daughter. I hated that sense of powerlessness. I hated that she had no choice. And from there, I kept thinking about the word “had” and what possession means or
could
mean. Portraying Choice as something you could literally possess is a bit of wish fulfillment, as if things can always change as long as you’ve got the right talisman in hand.
    Tell us a bit about your experience writing short stories: what would you say are the advantages and potential pitfalls of writing short fiction?
    I love the emotional impact of a short story in a short time frame. For example, Ken Liu’s “The Paper Menagerie” gave me a story hangover for DAYS. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Short stories are wonderful because they can be enigmatic and remain sort of vague without detriment to the narrative. Perhaps it’s just me, but I feel a compulsion to tie every loose thread when I’m working on a novel. Short fiction frees you of