Author Spotlight- Mayur Deshpande
Mayur Deshpande is a writer who navigates the delicate balance between realism and imagination with remarkable sensitivity. An analyst by profession and an engineer by training, he brings a unique blend of logic, emotional depth, and narrative curiosity to his storytelling. Born in the small town of Pusad in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region and now settled in Pune, Deshpande’s journey is a testament to the quiet power of reinvention. While his career initially revolved around the precision of business analytics, he eventually found himself drawn toward the world of words—where data gave way to dreams and analysis made room for empathy.
His literary journey began with Mirrors of Self-Manifestation, a self-help novel that explores the relationship between a father and son as they navigate personal growth, identity, and purpose. Deeply inspired by his own experiences and emotions as a father, Deshpande crafted a narrative that resonated with readers for its honesty, warmth, and insight. The book earned positive reviews across platforms, marking him as a fresh voice with a deeply personal and reflective style.
The emotional heart of Deshpande’s writing lies in the parent-child bond, particularly the bond between a father and his daughter. He often cites his young daughter as his greatest muse, and this influence becomes especially clear in his second novel, A Tightrope Oracle. This powerful work tells the story of Sarsi, a young girl from the marginalised Javmalsi community, who performs tightrope acts on the streets with her parents to survive. When Sarsi discovers she can see glimpses of the future through reflections in car windshields, her life changes forever—but not always for the better.
Rather than turning Sarsi into a conventional hero or mystic saviour, Deshpande paints her as a deeply human character burdened by her gift. The novel explores the challenges of morality, the unpredictability of fate, and the heavy responsibility that comes with power. Sarsi is caught between being a girl from a forgotten community and a reluctant oracle asked to bear the emotional weight of an entire society. As she uses her gift to help people, she also grapples with the limits of what she can change. The future, as she learns, is fragile and resistant to interference—and trying to alter it often comes at a cost.
A Tightrope Oracle does not shy away from the harsh realities of poverty, political oppression, or the everyday invisibility of India’s underprivileged. But what makes the story compelling is not just its social conscience—it’s the emotional truth at its core. Sarsi’s relationship with her father, her quiet marriage to the kind-hearted Shamu, and her eventual transformation into a symbol of resilience and compassion, all point to Deshpande’s belief in the enduring strength of human connection. He gives voice to those who are usually unheard, turning their struggles into stories that demand attention and empathy.
The story is framed through the eyes of a city-based narrator, a journalist who is initially a curious outsider but slowly becomes part of Sarsi’s world. His own journey—from disillusionment in a corporate job to witnessing raw humanity in its most resilient form—mirrors the journey Deshpande invites the reader to take: from comfort into consciousness, from distance into understanding.
In contrast to the realism of A Tightrope Oracle, Deshpande’s upcoming novel Mallie dives into the world of fantasy. It tells the story of a girl who grows up believing in the mythical “Midas touch” of humanity, only to discover a darker, older reality hidden beneath the glittering surface of her world. Drawing from childhood tales, folklore, and mythology, Mallie blurs the lines between myth and truth, inviting readers to question their understanding of power and privilege. And yet, even in this fantasy setting, the emotional themes remain grounded. At its heart, Mallie is also a story about a father trying to protect his daughter from a world that demands too much from her.
Mayur Deshpande’s writing stands out not because it is loud or sensational, but because it is honest, intentional, and deeply human. He writes with restraint, but also with urgency—highlighting the quiet revolutions that happen in homes, in forgotten communities, in the hearts of those who are often overlooked. Whether it’s the spiritual realism of A Tightrope Oracle, the mythic world of Mallie, or the introspective warmth of Mirrors of Self-Manifestation, Deshpande’s stories are connected by a common thread: the belief that empathy can be a form of resistance, and that even the smallest lives hold immense power and meaning.
In a literary landscape where spectacle often overshadows substance, Mayur Deshpande is a writer who chooses depth over drama. His work is a quiet but persistent reminder that stories, at their best, are mirrors—not only to our potential, but to the realities we too often ignore. Through his characters, he gives us not just someone to admire, but someone to believe in.