Nepali Times: How did the idea to write From Goddess to Mortal come about?
Scott Berry: It is a long story that goes back to the 1980s when I was living with my family in Makhan Tole, not far from where Rashmila was living as Kumari. My daughters Maya and Laxmi were fascinated that a young girl, not much younger than them, was living the life of a goddess, a life that was so different than theirs. They used to go around the Kumari Ghar hoping to see her. One day Rashmila asked my daughters if they wanted to play.

Gradually, they developed a rather unusual friendship. Then we moved away and did not return for 15 years. When we did we had no idea who Rashmila was because we only knew her as Kumari. But we had lots of pictures of her. We showed her picture to one of the jewellers who recognised her and arranged for a meeting. At that time Rashmila did not know who we were but when we showed her our daughters' pictures she immediately recognised them as her old friends.

We became friends with the family. Rashmila told us that she was hoping to write a book about her life, largely because there are so many mistakes made by everyone who writes about Kumari. Some writers have said things like she has no playmates, she can get no education and she has to walk on a white cloth inside the Kumari Ghar.

Rashmila also wanted to write the book to show that with proper understanding and a bit of help from the family there is no reason why a former Kumari cannot be a normal person. Personally, I wanted to emphasise the lack of enmity between religions. One of the things I love about Nepal and Kathmandu in particular is that people here share temples and deities. Rashmila is a Buddhist girl who became a Hindu goddess. I think that is an important message of tolerance for the world when there is constant fighting between religions.

What are some of the other lessons of the Kumari story?
What Rashmila wants most is to have the misconceptions about Kumaris corrected. She has survived her experience as a Kumari very well. Today, she is a successful college student and has a good future ahead of her. Rashmila received very basic education when she was a Kumari. The situation was a little better for the Kumari who came after Rashmila because her father petitioned to the government to let her be given normal lessons while she was Kumari.

But Rashmila does not feel like she was oppressed or that her human rights were violated. Perhaps it depends on the personality of the girl involved. She is a happy student now and one would hardly recognise her as a former Kumari if they ran into her on the street today.

What was the reaction of the Shakya family towards the book?
As I mentioned earlier, we haven't exposed any secrets that shouldn't be exposed. We haven't had any reactions from other Kumaris' families but we have had a good response from the Newari community and from the larger Nepali community. The guardian family of Kumari Ghar has reacted positively as well. We never wanted this book to be confrontational-we simply wanted to tell a girl's story.