In Conversation with Mukul Deva

It's tough describing Mukul Deva. You could call him a former army officer turned author whose writings span such different genres as short stories, business leadership, women in Indian cinema, corporate warfare and crime fiction. But then, he's also an entrepreneur who runs a security firm in New Delhi. In addition, Deva is also a corporate trainer on disaster management and business continuity. So, who exactly is Mukul Deva? 

"At heart I am a writer. But in India writers starve so I have to run a business to sustain my passion hence I am a businessman. Deep down, I am still an army man because you can take a guy out of the army but not the army out of the guy." Finding time to write amidst managing all the roles is a tough task, but not for Deva. "I have a two-hour window where I only write. I need six hours to run my business and four hours to be with my kids and family. I sleep, watch movies and read during the remaining 12 hours!"

Born in Lucknow in 1961, Deva is an alumnus of the La Martiniere College, Lucknow, the National Defence Academy, Pune and the Indian Military academy in Dehradun. He was an army officer until 1981, after which he took premature retirement and started his security business in New Delhi. 

Although Deva's writings span a various genres, his most widely acclaimed book has beenLashkar, an action thriller based on the 2005 blasts in Sarojini Nagar in New Delhi. And his latest offering is its sequel Salim Must Die with terrorism as its central theme. 

About his books Deva says "I wrote Lashkar because I was angry at the way these terrorists were striking at us. Also, given my army background I had a potent story to tell which gave me another reason to write it. While writing Lashkar, the principal characters — Anbu and Iqbal — were literally crying to be taken forward which is why I am doing a four-book series of which Salim Must Die is the second." 

Despite his anger, Deva prefers to confine to writing and not be in the fore to assist investigations given his army credentials. "You know, the Indian government, over the last 30 years has proven its inability to think strategically," he says. "They think in tactical, short-term methods. They are trying to cure the symptom and not tackle the disease. So, I thought writing a book which would actually tell the public about other alternatives to the government's actions" reasons Deva. 

On his books, Deva says that both his works are completely different from each other. "I found to my horror that, a lot of what I wrote in Salim.. a year-and-a-half back, is coming true already." He sounds like a soothsayer when he says he "wishes he would have also been able to foresee the sensex falling"! On a serious note, Deva attributes his predictions to logic and history. He says "History has a habit of repeating itself and whatever I have written is firmly grounded in reality and in history. And although these are fictional books, even they require bedrock somewhere.

For instance, Deva says he wrote about the newly-formed National Intelligence Agency a year-and-half ago. "So when you read it you will realise how uncannily it's coming together now." Research, he adds, plays a very important role in writing such potboilers. "For the last four years, I spend a few hours reading and understanding the smallest terror incident in the world. Else you cannot write military action thrillers. So, I have been breathing and living terror in all its forms!" 

Deva is part of a new breed of Indian writers whose works stem from incidents in everyday life. More often than not, they are criticised for not being too 'literary' (a la Chetan Bhagat and Vikas Swarup). Simple storytelling and interesting plotlines — sans highbrow language — is the key. As a result, these novels are often labelled as 'pop-literature'. 

This Delhi-based author, however, refuses to accept to be classified under these media-induced jargons. "Terms like pop-lit, chick-lit really don't matter," says Deva. "Not every story has to be Shakespearean or an Arundhati Roy," he explains. "People like Chetan Bhagat and Vikas Swarup have great stories to tell. These are stories which happen all around us and people from different backgrounds narrate them." 

And what about the highbrow language? "Dude, when you quit school in class 10, how many big words do you really know?" laughs Deva. The author deliberately chooses the potboiler narrative tool over a scholarly one as it would ensure more readers. "It's like making a movie: do you want to make it for the masses or do you want to make it for the Cannes film festival?"

Deva's reading tastes are as eclectic as his writings and he ranks Chetan Bhagat and Advaita Kala amongst his favourite authors. But his all-time favourite book is J.D. Salinger's Raise High The Roof Beam. And Deva's works are not just restricted to literature. 

About his future plans, Deva is writing a crime thriller The Shades of Black "which explores the dark side of the human mind. You know who the killer is and you know how he did it but you have to understand why he did it." Despite a prolific 'literary' journey, Deva is still unsure of any other genre he plans to explore. "I am growing as a human being and evolving in my own head. I don't know which way I will go."

This was an assignment for BusinessWorld Online. You can also read it here