| Time is not a river, It is a knot. Līlā, a Santhal girl from the forests of Eastern India, becomes the living face of Mahākāl — the eternal time that binds past, present and future. Across three worlds and three centuries she must unravel the knot she herself helps create. The Chronotantra trilogy is a compelling narrative that transcends the typical tropes of science fiction. |
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While the novels are set in human settlements on Earth, Mars, and Titan, and feature sophisticated artificial intelligence, their central preoccupation lies not in the intricacies of world-building or the familiar conflict between humanity and machines. Instead, the trilogy embarks on a profound intellectual and narrative journey focused on the evolving identity and role of Kalki, a figure whose revelation ultimately illuminates the very nature of civilizational progress. |
| Chronotantra - The first novel of the trilogy introduces a shattered Earth where chaos reigns outside the walls of thirty-nine AI-governed technopolises. In Chandilis, the very first of these enclaves, we meet Līlā, a young Santhal woman from Eastern India, whose quiet life is upended when she begins to question the smart systems that guide and control her life. She rebels and runs to Mars to escape control but realises that there is an enigmatic Kalki’s whose true identity remains hidden even from the machines that now rule the world. This is where the journey begins. |  |
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Chronoyantra - In the second book, the story leaps forward to Mars and backward through time. Līlā’s son Shibu, working with an advanced digital intelligence, runs quantum simulations to uncover the real origins of the Kalki legend. As past and future collide, the trilogy reveals that the founding of Chandilis was far more complex — and far more deliberate — than anyone imagined. The mystery deepens. |
| Chronomantra - The final novel brings the story to its astonishing conclusions spread across Titan, Earth and across the centuries. In the far future, descendants of Līlā and the Hermit finally come face to face with the truth: Kalki was never a single human leader, but something far more powerful and timeless. The endless knot of Mahākāl is untied at last, closing the loop that began in the ruins of 21st-century Earth. |  |
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In essence, the Chronotantra trilogy asks a deeper question: what truly shapes and guides the progress of civilisation? It is neither a charismatic leader nor a victory of humans over machines. Instead, it reveals Kalki as a decentralised, autonomous intelligent protocol — born from human vision yet operating beyond human control — that quietly steers society toward order and stability in a technologically advanced age. This is the trilogy’s true and lasting revelation. |
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