“I have grown a lot as a human through my interactions with all things Indian.”

Sweden-born author Zac O’Yeah believes he is a South Indian reborn in the Arctic Circle due to bad karma. Perhaps that is why he couldn’t shake off the country after his first trip around 30 years ago. So, he stayed and penned a trilogy of detective novels titled Mr Majestic!, where the protagonist traverses the underbelly of Bengaluru, solving crimes and fighting thugs. An interview with the novelist reveals his real-life adventures are no less interesting.

- ADILA MATRA

Tell us about your first visit to India and why you made the country your home.

When I first landed in Delhi, I was a young and ignorant tourist, so the whole bazaar experience was a bit rich from a sensory point of view. Delhi wasn’t as modern then, and there was no internet or GPS, so I kept getting lost. And, of course, June was and is a very hot month in North India. But then I travelled to rural India just as monsoon started, and to the Himalayas, and it was much less stressful. In the end, when I flew back to Sweden, I went on missing everything about India—the food, the chaotic but laidback lifestyle, the hospitable owners of small lodges who treat a visitor more like a distant relative dropping in than a customer, and those old-style Indian bookshops. So, I returned. Again, and again. And then at some point, it started to seem pointless to leave India, so I made it my home.

You were a designer and a musician before you became a writer. Do you give India credit for bringing out the mystery writer in you?