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Ashok Rajamani releases anniversary edition of Imagine Carnivalesque
The author explores gender, sexuality, and hidden cultural impulses in South Asian literature through the book offering literary criticism.
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Staff Reporter - Fri, 12, Sep 2025
- 15:45 EDT
- 9
(L-R) Author Ashok Rajamani's book cover, and actress Deepti Gupta / Photo courtesy- Ashok Rajamani
Indian American Author Ashok Rajamani has announced the release of the digitally remastered, ten-year anniversary edition of Imagine Carnivalesque, his of book of bold and insightful literary criticism.
The audiobook is produced by Spiral Mirror Entertainment and narrated by Audie Award–winning actress Deepti Gupta.
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First published a decade ago, Imagine Carnivalesque examines the sexual mores and unconscious impulses embedded in past and more recent South Asian literature, engaging with epics such as Mahabharata and works of authors such as Salman Rushdie. In doing so, the book draws attention to questions of gender, sexuality, and cultural representation that are often overlooked in mainstream literary discourse.
For Rajamani, revisiting the book a decade later carries deep significance. “I wrote this book to uncover themes of gender and sexual representation in South Asian literature, which are rarely discussed. In doing so, I sought to reveal the importance of such visibility in subcontinental literature overall, and ultimately, in society itself. Given today’s political climate, in which rights of the marginalized are constantly under attack, the book matters more than ever,” he said.
Gupta, who has lent her voice to works by Jhumpa Lahiri and Geethanjali Shree, spoke of her personal connection to the project. “As an immigrant who belongs here and also nowhere, I resonated with the book, especially by how Ashok challenges social hierarchies and norms that abound in the South Asian diaspora. And now, on its ten-year anniversary,
I have personal reasons to rejoice in the book’s success: my teenager has gender non-conforming and queer peers, and I want these kids to become adults in a world that welcomes them with open arms.”
The anniversary edition of Imagine Carnivalesque aims to reaffirm the book’s role in shaping conversations around literature, identity, and inclusivity.
Rajamani is widely recognized for his acclaimed memoir, The Day My Brain Exploded: A True Story, which chronicles his survival from a massive brain hemorrhage at the age of 25 and explores themes of disability, race, and cultural taboos. The memoir is set to be adapted into a feature film by the producers of Slumdog Millionaire and Life of Pi.
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