India needs a leader of Indira Gandhi's calibre: Jeffrey Archer

He was speaking at the Mysuru Literature Festival (MLF)

Author and former politician Jeffrey Archer said Indians are the most entrepreneurial race on earth, in a mocking tone.

He was interacting with entrepreneur and author Aroon Raman, virtually from London, in the session ‘Not a Page More, Not a Page Less’, as part of the fifth edition of the Mysuru Literature Festival (MLF), on Wednesday.

“Many friends from India inform me that my stories have been made into Bollywood films, with different names. I like Bollywood movies and they are made very professionally. But, on the flip side, they are very unprofessional in plagiarism or piracy. However, I cannot do much about it,” Archer said.

He said, “Immediately after the release of my book in London, a person just lands in London, picks up a copy and leaves for India. Within a couple of days, counterfeit copies of the book are sold by the streets of the cities in India. But there is not much that I can do. People enjoy reading books.”

Archer spoke about his admiration for eminent writer late R K Narayan. “I am a storyteller, who has grown into a better craftsman over the years. But Narayan was both a storyteller and a writer. Narayan’s book Malgudi Days is one of the best books of all times,” he said.

Elaborating the work on his books, he said 180 days of a year are dedicated to writing and only the 13th or 14th draft of a book goes to the editor or publisher. “Rather than the plot, the characters motivate me and form the plot. I am a keen observer and have met many interesting people with interesting stories. I was also fortunate to have worked with the likes of The Queen and the late prime minister Margaret Thatcher,” he said.

Commenting on politics, his first profession, he said, “Politics has reduced to criticising each other. There is a lot of unpleasant stuff on social media. It is awful. I want them to say what they will do for the people and society.”

“While the whole world needs better leaders, nations, like India, need a leader of the calibre of the late prime minister Indira Gandhi. Able and young people shy away from politics. We need to somehow get the best of the youth in public life,” he remarked.

Scion of the erstwhile Mysore royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, chairperson of Mysuru Literary Forum and Charitable Trust Shubha Sanjay Urs and Aryaman M Urs of the technical team joined the session.