My debut novel, Beyond the Newsroom, was published in India in 2007 to rave reviews in the Indian press. It was the first Indian novel to describe in graphic detail, the unholy alliance between the fourth estate and the mafia. The novel soon acquired a sizeable fan following of readers from India, the US, the UK, the Philippines, Iran and other countries. The book's membership grew on booksites like Shelfari.

I am a journalist with more than 25 years' experience in leading Indian publications, including the Times of India, Outlook and Financial Express. I am on the faculty of the Times (of India) School of Journalism.

Contact Me: Oswald Pereira

I've now completed writing my second novel. Called Revenge of the Naked Princess, the novel captures the brutality of forced religious conversions in India in the 16th century. Even before its publication, the novel has attracted positive response from readers on my blog Revenge of the Naked Princess.

Revenge of the Naked Princess is a story on the dark age of forced conversions. It shows how nebulous the lines between religion and carnage can be.

Revenge of the Naked Princess: The Story

When the joint forces of Portugal’s ‘Grocer’ King John III and the Holy See, with an eye on the market for spices and sacred crosses, set out to spread the message of love and compassion, they leave behind a deathly trail of murder and mayhem.

The story begins on a hot, humid May morning in 1560. A powerful conversion brigade with a monstrous six-horse driven cannon raids the palace of the beautiful tribal Princess Darshana Kamya Kathodi in Yehoorwada. The brigade bears the king’s conversion order for her and her people, sealed by the Holy See’s promise of a new heaven. When Princess Darshana refuses to comply, she is raped and killed. But the indomitable, sometimes playful spirit of the young princess returns to seek revenge.