Some stories begin with a character, some with a place, and some with a question that refuses to go away. For Sandeep Narpala, the starting point was a news report in 2016 about the Kohinoor diamond and India’s demand for its return.
What stayed with him was not simply the diamond’s extraordinary history, but the larger question surrounding it: who gets to decide where a piece of history belongs? Nearly a decade later, that question has found its way into The Sparks of Light and Love: A Journey of Heart, Heritage, and Hope, Sandeep’s debut novel, where the Kohinoor becomes the centre of a story that moves between historical conflict, crime, romance and personal sacrifice.
A scientist by profession, Sandeep wrote the novel alongside a demanding career and family life, with his wife, Bindhu, serving as his first and most exacting reader. The result is a book that uses a familiar historical object to explore questions of identity, belonging, love and the complicated ways in which the past continues to shape the present.
We began by going back to the moment when the story first took hold.
Your debut began with a news headline. What stayed with you strongly enough to become a novel?
Sandeep Narpala: In 2016, I came across a report about India asking for the Kohinoor to be returned and Britain declining the request. The response suggested that returning contested objects would leave British museums empty. That idea stayed with me because it seemed to reduce a deep historical wound to a practical inconvenience.
I wanted to explore the Kohinoor’s journey and the larger question of where it belongs, but I wanted to do it through fiction. I wanted the story to feel contemporary, non-linear and alive rather than read like a historical lecture.
That starting point eventually led to a much larger story, one in which the diamond is not merely an object from history, but something capable of affecting the lives of people in the present.
How would you introduce The Sparks of Light and Love to a reader encountering it for the first time?
Sandeep Narpala: It is a historical novel that brings romance, crime and heritage together around the Kohinoor. The diamond has been stolen, and Prince Suryanarayana, a gemologist, becomes the prime suspect. Vajra, the woman he loves, is suffering from visions connected to the diamond’s violent past.
Prince believes he can save her, but the very thing that might save her could also destroy them both. The chase drives the story forward, but the emotional and historical consequences matter just as much.
The novel brings together history, romance and crime. Why did the story need all three?
Sandeep Narpala: History gave me the diamond and the empires that claimed it. Crime gave the novel its engine and made the question urgent. Romance gave readers a reason to care about what Prince does and whether Vajra survives.
I did not begin by choosing a market category. I wanted a story large enough to hold the India I know: emotional, complicated, historically aware and still moving forward.
The title itself carries a sense of symbolism. What does The Sparks of Light and Love mean to you?
Sandeep Narpala: The title arrived late. Sparks are small, but they are how fires begin. Light is what the diamond promises, and Koh-i-Noor itself means “Mountain of Light.” Light is also what Vajra’s visions take away from her.
Love is the force that refuses to remain safely in the past. Put together, the words describe the movement of the novel: one spark, then another, until the story becomes impossible to ignore.
The Kohinoor has been written about extensively. How did you approach researching a diamond with such a complicated history?
Sandeep Narpala: I followed the public record: its origins, the kingdoms through which it passed, the colonial seizure and the long debate over its return. Research gave me the structure beneath the fiction. But I also had to keep asking whether the people in the story were alive.
I talked through scenes with my wife, Bindhu for years. She was the first reader and the hardest critic, and she would not let the history become an excuse for losing the human pulse of the story.
Was there a particular part of the writing process that proved especially difficult?
Sandeep Narpala: Time and courage. I was writing while building a scientific career and raising a family. Chapters disappeared, and some months or even years produced very little.
The other challenge was avoiding a lecture, travelogue or costume drama. I wanted Prince and Vajra to matter even if the diamond vanished from the plot. I finished through persistence, encouragement from Bindhu and a helpful nudge from a neighbour.
You came to fiction without a formal literary background. How did you turn that insecurity into progress?
Sandeep Narpala: At first, it felt like a real disadvantage. Eventually, I decided to use every responsible form of help available, including technology, AI, feedback, editing and a professional team, to move the story from my mind to the page.
Tools can help, but they cannot finish the emotional work for you. You still have to decide what the story means, revise it and accept honest criticism. Finishing became more important than waiting to feel qualified.
Editing, then, became an important part of that journey. When did you know the manuscript was finally ready?
Sandeep Narpala: Editing was the second half of writing. The early drafts were rough because I was trying to capture the story. Revision asked whether a line made the reader turn the page or merely asked the reader to admire the author. If it was the second, I cut it.
I knew the manuscript was ready when the middle turn could still surprise me, the last twist could still hurt, and I could give the book to a stranger without standing nearby to explain it.
What do you hope readers carry away from the story?
Sandeep Narpala: I want them to feel that history is not behind us; it is sitting at the table. I hope they talk about the Kohinoor again and ask where it belongs.
I also hope the book brings attention to Sialidosis. A portion of its earnings will support people living with this rare inherited condition. If the novel entertains readers while also sending some light towards families carrying an overlooked burden, then heart, heritage and hope have become more than words.
And finally, what would you tell an aspiring writer who has a story but no permission to begin?
Sandeep Narpala: Start writing. Put your thoughts on the page before worrying about whether they are impressive. Find an editor, publisher, marketing team and one honest reader. Protect the hours and finish.
Ten years taught me that ideas and talent are common, but completed manuscripts are not. Cut the sentence you love if it does not serve the page, then release the book before you explain all its life away. Readers will complete the journey.
About the Author
Sandeep Narpala is a scientist, debut novelist and storyteller whose creative journey has unfolded alongside a demanding professional career and family life. Based in Frederick, Maryland, he spent nearly a decade carrying the idea for his first novel from an unforgettable news headline to a finished manuscript.
Throughout that journey, his wife, Bindhu, became the story’s first and most exacting critic, while the hope of inspiring his daughters, Saanvika and Sanika, and his nephews and nieces remained a deeply personal motivation. His approach to writing is refreshingly direct: you do not need literary credentials or permission to begin telling a story, but you do need the discipline to revise, finish and ultimately trust it to readers.
About the Book
The Sparks of Light and Love: A Journey of Heart, Heritage, and Hope brings together historical fiction, romance and crime against the enduring mystery of the Kohinoor diamond.
When the legendary stone disappears from London, gemologist Prince Suryanarayana becomes the prime suspect. His love for Vajra, whose health is threatened by visions connected to the diamond’s troubled past, draws him into a dangerous conflict involving British authorities, Detective Scott and the enigmatic Amarkesh Vitrodi. At its heart, the novel explores whether the law can resolve a dispute shaped by colonial power, and how far love can justify deception when history itself remains unsettled.
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