Writer-Journalist Richa Lakhera On Her Latest Novel ‘Contamination’, A Militia-Horror

Contamination pits modern evil against ancient supernatural forces. It is the story of people devastated by war and tormented by phantasmic creatures. Richa thinks Militia horror is quite under-utilized in India. The story plays out in a contemporary setting but also in the realm of the supernatural. The character arc of the hero, Amba, a militia soldier with exceptional combat skills, follows the classic Joseph Campbell monomyth template, which is the skeleton for most good vs evil stories.?
The story begins with a small team of the tribal militia headed by Amba who is searching for missing men from her unit. Richa mentions she has tried to merge the very human frustrations of being a female combat leading a small tribal militia unit and the tensions are escalated by Amba’s nemesis the psychopathic Colonel Rosie Madbull’s interference with local customs and greed to acquire their land and the story is merged with supernatural horror. It is a constant attempt to survive the paranoia of constant war on many levels when wounded soldiers, low on ammunition and supplies, transform from doing the hunting to becoming the prey, which takes them to the edge of being human.

A reluctant hero, to begin with, the overall theme is of choosing light over darkness but also, for Amba, about the transformative power of forgiveness. ?When asked about Amba’s female strength in comparison with the male heroes, Richa stands by the fact that heroism is gender agnostic. There is no separate uniform for a ‘female hero’ and a ‘male hero’. Amba goes through the trials of operating in male-dominated zones. There are always those men who think less of her and there is no reason for them to make changes to help her succeed. Richa says the hero Amba gets frustrated and often fails. But like a true hero, Amba is not afraid to ask for help. She must fight for her place like any girl. Giving orders is not polite if you are a girl. Leading a militia unit that consists of men has its own challenges especially as the environment becomes more and more intimidating and unsettling, under a relentless onslaught of horror imagery and disturbing atmospherics, so there is a lot of action, bullets, and grenades flying about.

While the core of the story of Contamination is a fight of good vs evil, there is an intriguing subtext as the soldiers trek towards their target, with the icy temperature and unnerving atmospherics. The relentless onslaught of horror imagery gets your heart in your mouth, and the fictional map in the novel will help readers orient themselves in the fictional world. Richa says maps help readers imagine the narrative when the plot is playing out in fictional places. The story ends with a rather sudden and unexpected twist, and the author says it is a distinctly chilling ending that she had not thought of and it ‘worked itself out’. The ending predicts a sequel.

As someone who had been closely interacting with the movie industry, she thinks it’s empowering to watch the paradigm change in women's stories. Having said that, she feels there is no denying that the social structure across worlds largely retains the form men have imprinted on it and films reflect that ethos. She is concerned with the fact that the images and terms used to define women remained stagnant as the ideal spectator was assumed to be male. Movies have a sorry record of catering to toxic masculine binaries. Women assert themselves but only a true Hero would overcome the age-old specification that confines her to regressive roles defined by politics, society, or religion.

Manoj Bajpayi has called the book ‘Brilliant’, and added that ‘Richa writes vividly of the wicked’. Screenwriter-British Playwright Farrukh Dhondy observes, ‘Supernature is India’s Godmother. Contamination gives her an eerie and action filled avatar.’

From writing about hardships while working in a news channel in her first book GARBAGE BEAT to the exploitation of women in the glamour industry in ITEM GIRL, to mentions of the greed of corporates in HUNGRY GODS, Richa has done it all. Her next book, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is a pacy Militia thriller combined with Political drama set in North India.

For Richa, the book Contamination was a deeply immersive writing experience. She has tried to develop an original universe, one that she hopes she can return to in future stories.
You can get your copy of Richa Lakhera’s Contamination at: https://amzn.to/3TN27Xy