Goodreads asked Smita Bhattacharya:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Smita Bhattacharya Fireflies are such enigma. In the dark night, on open fields, in dense woods, there they are ─ tiny flickers of light. They fill you with such hope and also some sadness. Their lives are short-lived and only in the night are they brightest.

'He Knew a Firefly' is just that. The central character Akshara is like a Firefly and there are those around her who love her, who know her (or think they do!) and consider her special. Their lives are irreversibly changed once they get to know her. She is a fantastic creature ─ this Akshara ─ and elusive too ─ and benevolent in the darkness of their lives ─ much like a Firefly.

But these creatures don't last long, do they? The good, the kind ones. The ones that appear like fireflies in our lives, and then just leave. But in the brief period that is their life, they glow really, really bright.

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