Riyan Majumdar

Riyan is a boy Aria first meets in college. He seems strangely concerned about her, which makes Aria distrust and dislike him. But it later turns out that Riyan has a similar story to Aria's, and he is only curious to know just how similar their lives are.

I modeled Riyan on all the popular guys in school I have met over the years. Aria describes him as 'presentable'  (translation: handsome) and notes that he has a way of charming all the other students in college. However, I also wanted to show that the 'cool guy' isn't always the hero we dream them up to be. Riyan, despite being a smooth talker and instant hit with most people, is like any ordinary teenage guy when it comes to eating like a pig and taking catnaps.

Riyan is not perfect. He is a stress smoker and often gets distracted. He wants to be friends with Aria, but Aria doesn't trust anybody. Riyan is a big help in Bangladesh, as he is the only one who speaks Bengali.

Riyan is also what some people would call the 'hero' of the story, if you decide to ignore the fact Aria is a true heroine and he doesn't come close in the heroism scale. Aria admits to 'liking' him, but is too practical and cautious to act upon her feelings.

I loved creating Riyan. He is one of the most complex characters I have ever created. Now that I have my whole storyline all figured out, I know that Riyan will be a character that any reader would remember. 

Ismene Alastor

Let me introduce you to my newest character- Ismene Alastor.

Ismene is a nineteen-year-old girl from Vermont, USA. She married a boy from school when she was eighteem. A year later, her husband went missing. Ismene is out looking for her missing husband, Shiv, along with Shiv's brother Krishna.

As far as her appearance goes, Aria observes Ismene to be 'cute' with shoulder-length hair and deep blue eyes. Everybody's perception of her is rather belittling- since she impulsively married in her teens, she is automatically considered hopelessly emotional and unfit for a dangerous mission. She is sometimes considered a liability, as she is the only one in Aria's group with no articular skill or resources.

Don't be fooled by the short description of Ismene. She may not have the biggest role in the book, but she definitely has one of the most important ones. I would love to tell you more, but I can't give away the whole story, can I?

Keep checking out this blog to know more about all the characters of 'Unexplained Disappearances'.

Katniss versus Aria

Just watched the 'Hunger Games'. While the movie continues to make millions in the US, it's out of theatres in my city already. In fact, the day I watched the show, there were almost no people in the theatre, and there was only one show in the entire day. Nevertheless, the movie has played a big role in bringing 'Hunger Games' to India, as it was formerly virtually unknown in the subcontinent before the movie came out. Admittedly, movies play a big role popularizing any work of fiction overseas. I have seen a continuing trend in India- YA books become popular here only after the movies come out. Nobody knew of 'Twilight' here before the films. I had just one friend who knew about 'Percy Jackson'. And now, people are finally acknowledging the 'Hunger Games' franchise after it has already been Hollywoodized.


So let's admit the obvious truth- to become a mega success as a YA novelist, you need not only a good agent and publisher, but also a good producer and director.


But keeping aside the discussion about books being turned to films, I must say, I absolutely loved 'Hunger Games'. I mean, what wasn't to love? I loved the dystopian setting which is futuristic but still highly probable for our future. I loved the subtle political commentary about the totalitarian Capitol which never becomes a political sermon. I loved the true struggles of the character- starvation, oppression, poverty. I loved the editing- some parts of the book have been omitted, but the film still comes together as a whole without looking patchy. But above all else, I absolutely fell in love with the leading lady- Jennifer Lawrence aka Katniss Everdeen.


Katniss is a strong girl who gets caught up in a political cross-fire to save her family. (Read more) As much as I loved the character itself, I just have to say a few words about the actress who played her- Jennifer Lawrence. She is undoubtedly one of the brightest young talents in Hollywood right now. Not only is she very beautiful, but the fact that she was in a sci-fi movie and still managed to have everyone praising her acting skills speaks volumes about her talent. Besides, she's already been nominated for an Oscar and is one of the youngest Oscar-nominated actors ever.


Thinking about Katniss made me compare her to my darling character, Aria Suri. I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the two. Both embark on dangerous missions for the sake of family. Both are the emotional backbones of their family. Both are focused and practical, as opposed to ultra-feminine and silly, as is the case with a lot of female protagonists out there. They both have the will power and determination to fight until death.

Katniss Everdeen

Aria Suri

So, I decided to do a comparitive study of two. Both characters have been analysed by me in the table below. Read the table and tell me what you think. Who would you rather root for? It might be a little hard, becayse Katniss has already taster silver screen glory while Aria remains in unpublished backwaters, but try to have an open, objective mind.

Criteria	Katniss Everdeen	Aria Suri
Name	I don’t like Katniss’ name much. FYI, she’s been named after the plant  better known as Sagittaria and her surname is similar to a character from ‘Far From The Maddening Crowd’. Her name has been criticized widely and some say it’s the worst part of her characterization. Katniss isn’t exactly a phonetic pleaser. I mean, it’s not exactly pleasant to hear. However, I’ll give it full marks for originality and uniqueness.	As I’ve written before, ‘Aria’ is derived from the word ‘Aryan’. It’s usually a boy’s name, but I modified it to make it suitable for a girl. I wanted it to sound ambiguous so that nobody would know where Aria is from.
Appearance	Katniss has olive skin and dark eyes and hair- typical of all the people in her district belonging to her class. She is also a victim of starvation.	Aria has long, thick dark hair and big brown eyes. She believes there is nothing special about her appearance, but everybody else seems to notice how she can easily pass off as someone from a different country. She dresses simply and doesn’t believe in showing off her beauty.
Dilemmas and Struggles	1.      Her father died in a mine explosion. 2.      Her family suffers from poverty. 3.      She has to hunt illegally to get food for her family. 4.      Her family totally depends on her. 5.      She participates in the Hunger Games as a replacement for her little sister.	1.      Her brother disappeared a year ago. 2.      Her family suffers great emotional distress. Her mother couldn’t handle losing her son and is a patient of depression. 3.      She is the only one who can save her family from whoever took her brother away from them. 4.      She takes care of her mother’s medications and has to hide her own feelings for the sake of others. 5.      She embarks on a dangerous, potentially lethal mission to find her brother.
Skills	Katniss is a highly skilled archer, hunter, and trapper, having learned these from her father and Gale, honed to keep her family from starving. She uses her archery and her daring to score an 11 (out of a possible 12) during the pre-games judging. She has been well educated on edible, medicinal, and poisonous plant life of District 12.	Aria is a very skilled academic and manages to get into a great college despite her family problems. She knows something about everything, which often comes in handy. She is an expert in crisis management, and is able to logically think through pros and cons before making any decision.
Romantic Entanglements	Katniss is a vertice in a love triangle involving her friend Gale Hawthorne and her fellow Hunger Games winner Peeta Mellark.	Aria admits to ‘liking’ Riyan Majumdar, her friend from college whose father is also missing. However, in an situation wherein she is surrounded by true danger at all times, she doesn’t allow herself to act upon her feelings.

So, what do you think- If the two young ladies had to battle until death in a literary battlefield, who would survive?
	Katniss Everdeen
	Aria Suri
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So, what do you think- If the two young ladies had to battle until death in a literary battlefield, who would survive?

The Mystery Girl- Constantinova Pasini

Constantinova 'Nova' Pasini is my mystery girl. She's the one who comes to Aria, claiming to be her last link to her brother.

Nova's appearance is striking. She's a tall redhead. She often stands out while in India, causing people to take more notice than necessary for her mission. For some reason, I based her look on Alice Burdeu (but she's not 6'1"). I know it's a little uninspired to make your characters look like international models, but Alice Burdeu is the definition of 'offbeat' and 'strinking'.

Alice Burdeu (left)

Nova reamains a mystery to Aria throughout the novel because she comes out of nowhere and never reveals much. She has a story of her own and her own reasons to look for Aria's brother. But she is an unskilled fighter. She has the will to uncover secrets, but not the experience. She claims to be the last person to have seen Aria's brother alive.

As far as her characteristics are concerned, there aren't much. She keeps a safe distance from everyone and as compared to Aria, she is ruthless. She knows her undertaking will save lives, but may also involve taking a few. This ruthlessness stems from the fact that she has nothing to lose.

Nova is Slovenian. That's because that's the last foreign country my dad was invited to and also because it's a place which doesn't always get mentioned in YA novels. But who knows? Maybe she's a Russian pretending to be Slovenian so nobody can trace her roots! With Nova, you never really know.

My Protagonist- Aria Suri

Let's start with a name. "What's in a name?" Shakespeare asked. My answer to his question is- "Everything". As a child, I was teased a lot about my name (Shreyonti Chakraborty can be a tongue twister) and with time, the teasing went away, but there is one thing that still persists- people who can't pronounce my name. Sometimes, my best friend gets it wrong. But at the same time, I love unique names, which is why I say a strict "No" to anybody who tries to call me by a nickname.

I wanted my protagonist to have a name which was striking, but still short and easy to pronounce. I didn't want it to sound too Indian as despite the story being set in India, it is not about India. I wanted her name to be kind of ambiguous, not giving away her nationality or ethnicity.

For some reason, I loved the name 'Arya'. The name 'Aryan' is a pretty common Indan boy's name. We sometimes have five Aryans in the same classroom (I am not making that up). I wanted a similar name for a girl. 'Aryan' means 'noble'. It is also the name of a race. I feminised it and made it 'Arya'. But that didn't satisfy my criteria for ambiguity. So, I changed the spelling and made it 'Aria'.

Aria Suri- the words just rolled off my tongue. It had a nice ring to it and I selected it for my protagonist.

Then, her appearance needed to be sketched for the reader. Let me get one thing straight- her appearance is not important. Aria isn't the kind of character who depends on being beautiful so she can have an interesting love triangle. But still, I wanted to give her a certain look to make her easy to visualize. So, I gave her medium-length, very wavy hair, but for the sake of simplicity f her character, she keeps it tied up with a scrunchie. She has big, expressive eyes and an olive skin tone. She is 5'6" (I like my characters to be as tall as me) and there is nothing striking about her weight or built. She is beautiful, but not in the most conventional way.

Then came the characterizations. All I know is that I like Nina Dobrev's 'Elena Gilbert/ Katerina Petrova' more than Kristen Stewart's 'Bella Swan'. Also, I like Anushka Sharma's 'Shruti Kakkar' (my pick for best young female protagonist in recent Hindi cinema) a lot more than the bimbettes that are in every Bollywood movie these days. I wanted Aria to be deep and complex, not just a cookie-cutter character with a personality that can be described in a few words.

Aria can be cold sometimes. She is indifferent to her peers, often considering herself above them. But that's because she has the life experience of a fifty-year-old. She takes her responsibilities seriously, but she still repents having to take them and does not try to be noble because she knows her brother's disappearance changed her life. She has a firm resolve and is determined to do what's best for her family. But she still takes a back seat when her parents try to be in control, knowing she is after all, just a young girl. She is brave, but more than that, she is practical. She's not trying to turn her life into a sob story. She also doesn't want to embark on an adventure to find her brother until she is forced to; she is not really a sucker for thrills.

When I started writing Aria, I said, "The hell with sweetness!" Aria is sweet, but on the inside. I understand it's important to make a character likeable, but I don't like to make their likeability obvious. Take Bella, for instance. She is shown to be such an innocent girl who is also a bad liar, but ultimately, she is pretty good at lying when it comes to hiding truths about vampires.

But still, if I had to describe Aria in four words, they'd be- sincere, courageous, smart and most importantly, real!