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Shiva Kumar

@shivak28

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Actor, Author, Filmmaker. Sci-Fi Fantasy trilogy: The Lanka Chronicles. Audiobook - An Awakening, Screenplay: Journey to Babylon, shivakumarauthor.com

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Back in 2014 I had this idea of writing a science fiction novel that explored the future of mythology. I wanted to tell stories from the South Asian epic traditions, examining them through a contemporary and futuristic lens. It falls broadly under the rubric of Indofuturism, a term encompassing writers exploring speculative and futuristic stories with South Asian themes.
My trilogy – The Lanka Chronicles, explores the ancient Indian epic – The Ramayana through this Indofuturistic lens. I imagined a future 200 years from now extrapolating where we as a civilization might be.
Back then I chose the narrator of my story to be an AI spaceship. Maya 1 is the first totally sentient AI spaceship that ‘bonds’ with its pilot in a visceral and physical way. AI nano-tech plasma merges with the human pilot’s blood through a connection behind his neck. The pilot and the AI ship become one. They think and perform as one fluid unit.
This idea is certainly not a new one, and I don’t claim to be the only writer who has come up with this concept. As Arthur C. Clarke stated: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
The world of AI has exploded in the last few years. It is growing exponentially, becoming more of an immutable fact. Yet it still seems a bit like magic. Anthropic, the makers of Claude are meeting with religious leaders to provide a moral framework to AI design. Increasingly the term ‘AI consciousness’ is emerging in online forums.
While I am fully aware of the doom and gloom scenario of AI, when I wrote my books back in 2014, I chose to explore AI as a positive force for humanity. My sentient AI spaceship, Maya 1 is aware of its superior intelligence but is endlessly fascinated by a human being’s intuitive leaps of ingenuity, creativity and capacity for love. I have no way of predicting where AI will go but there is no question that AI is affecting and influencing all of humanity.
As I re-read some passages from my books, I am struck by how much of what I speculated has already come true. I was not trying to predict the future, I was just writing science fiction. by @shivak28

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13 days ago

Regular guy! by @shivak28

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a month ago

Tech-doc by @shivak28

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a month ago

Caught a few before.... by @shivak28

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2 months ago

by @shivak28

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2 months ago

@mars_motel at @sleepwalk.nyc last night. Another great show. Here is a soulful rendition of one of my favorites from their repertoire - Second Son. @mynameissarik and @samadeus.innerversal for penning the awesome lyrics. Enjoy! by @shivak28

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3 months ago

As @theodysseymovie hits fever pitch and fans wait impatiently to watch it in IMAX, advance reviews of the film are pouring in. I haven’t seen the film yet but couldn’t resist reading some of them. Overall, they seem wildly positive. It’s a rollicking adventure with an angsty heart, as one reviewer put it. The essence of the story holds regardless of the frantic chirping about casting choices, the armor, and the license Nolan took in telling this story.
Last night I watched The Return, another take on the story of Odysseus starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche. It was a wonderful, thoughtful, ultra realistic take on what it might have been like for Odysseus to return from a Forever war, wander for another twelve years, lose all his soldiers, his sanity, his humanity and try to rebuild his shattered world, connect with a son he did not know and a wife warding off grubby, greedy suitors, holding out the forlorn hope that her husband might return alive.
These epics bear repeating under different guises and continue to connect with audiences across generations and cultures.
It got me thinking about my trilogy – The Lanka Chronicles, a reimagining of The Ramayana. In describing the story to readers and reviewers, I say it’s a mash up of The Odyssey and Dune. It’s just an easy way to provide a comparison but it’s so much more.
As I read, listen and watch content based on classic epics and mythologies, I realize how much of myself I have poured into these books. For me it’s an exploration of lost love, deep family bonds, unbreakable friendship, and a deep core of morality.
My trilogy finds a few readers each month, slowly chugging along and sometimes I despair that it may never find its audience. But then I get a review like this that makes me realize that once it’s out there, readers can find it, today, next week, next year or maybe a century from now.
The Lanka Chronicles is my contribution to the evergreen, ever relevant story of the Ramayana. Check it out and tell a friend. @shivak28 by @shivak28

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3 months ago

Went to see @themachinelive @citywinerynyc last night. As an ardent @pinkfloyd fan, I cannot tell you how blown away I was by this acoustic reinterpretation of Floyd music. I only had the presence of mind to film some of the quieter sections because when they rocked out, I was so in the moment I did not capture any of that but honestly, they were so amazing and soulful, it reminded me of why Floyd is still so seminal. by @shivak28

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3 months ago

Mars Motel killed it last night at #sleepwalk. Congrats to a band that keeps getting tighter, sharper and wilder with each performance. Sarik Kumar Justin Lieberthal. by @shivak28

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4 months ago

@mars_motel killed it last night. Congrats to a band that keeps getting sharper, tighter and wilder with each performance. @mynameissarik by @shivak28

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4 months ago

So proud of @mynameissarik and @mars_motel as I hold their first LP. Holding an album in my hand brings back so many memories of the days we used to reverently open records we just bought, place the LP on our record player, carefully set the needle down, and listen while reading the liner notes. It was a special and unique pleasure that had disappeared but slowly being revived by a new generation. After a hiatus, @mars_motel performs tomorrow night @sleepwalk.nyc . Can't wait to hear them! by @shivak28

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4 months ago

Nice to see history drop from my kitchen ceiling during renovation. 1955 LI newspaper used as insulation between rafters. by @shivak28

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4 months ago