India, March 28 -- 1In an interview about your novel, Of Cattle and Men, you spoke about seducing readers to continue with a story. Given that the gore and violence in On Earth as It Is Beneath, tell us about getting readers to absorb the literary world even as they see a connection with the real one. Of Cattle and Men and On Earth as It Is Beneath are books that are similar in their approach. I had explored the theme of the confinement of animals in Of Cattle and Men, and moved on to the confinement of human beings in On Earth as It Is Beneath. There is a parallel to some extent between the two stories, and Bronco Gil features in both books. The world is degenerate and violent. We are still driven by basic instincts. Horror can never be sublimated in my stories, for it is their foundation. What seduces are the characters, and how they draw you into that world, that space. It is the character who guides the reader just as Virgil guides Dante through the circles of hell. 2Is the "electronic tag" a metaphor for societal conditioning? I saw parallels with the way individuals are made to feel their gender expression mustn't extend beyond limits decided by society - a false story well-accepted, much like misinformation in the age of social media. You've touched on a crucial aspect of this story: the electronic tag, or as I originally called it in the book, the electronic ankle bracelet. It is a figure of speech, a metaphorical element for the present day, and I believe it is also applicable to times gone by. Every narrative created, every manipulation of ideas aimed at steering a mass of people in the desired direction, is fundamentally a representation of this electronic element. Social media is, without a doubt, the electronic ankle bracelet of today's world. 3In the book, the land where the Penal Colony is constructed was earlier a place where enslaved people were held captive and executed. Are parts of the novel based on real-life events? The book is a work of fiction. The whole story is a work of fiction. But what's absurd about it all is that, despite being fiction, it feels so real. 4This is a feminist text that explores the cruelty men inflict upon each other. Is toxic masculinity denying men their potential too? It is a difficult issue to analyse. I look at the world around me and try to cast my gaze as far as possible. We face similar issues all over the world. Brotherly relationships are best for all of us. Even amidst savagery, in my books, there is this feeling that if we support one another regardless of gender or race, we can overcome the bad days....