India, June 8 -- A civil rights lawyer by day, an author by night, Vaishnavi Patel constantly challenges the mainstream. Her first book gives us a contrarian version of the Ramayana-letting wicked stepmother Kaikeyi tell her side of the story.

On a recent Friday evening, we gathered on Zoom-Vaishnavi logged in from New Orleans, Louisiana. The book club readers joined from three continents-Toronto, London, India, and Singapore. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation:

Vaishnavi, your upbringing seems like a fascinating mix of Indian tradition and Western influences. Tell us about your childhood reading and how it shaped your approach to mythology.

I was the first person in my family born outside of India, born here shortly after ...