Reimagining the Future: Asian Futurism and Its Resonance in India with Special Reference to Samit Basu and Manjula Padmanabhan

Asian Futurism is an emergent intellectual and creative movement that reconfigures the futuristic imagination through the lens of Asian histories, mythologies, and contemporary realities. As a critical response to the Western-dominated visions of the future, Asian Futurism provides a platform for alternative narratives rooted in decolonial, techno-spiritual, and socio-political paradigms. This article explores the contours of Asian Futurism with a specific focus on India, examining the works of Indian authors like Samit Basu and Manjula Padmanabhan’s works, like- Turbulence, Resistance, The City Inside, Harvest and Escape, respectively. All works embody Asian futurism by critiquing societal inequalities in dystopian futures rooted in Indian culture. Their speculative fictions critically engage with the themes of identity, technology, power, and resistance completely resonate with the theme. Indian authors reinterpret local traditions and futuristic technologies to narrate a uniquely Indian future, offering resistance to Western hegemony in global science. Asian futurism is a cultural movement envisioning futures through Asian lenses, often challenging Western narratives, with Indian literature contributing through speculative fiction.