Earth is But a Star

IAS officer Achala Moulik's 13th book 'Earth is But a Star' turns to familiar environs

The IAS officer's 13th book turns to familiar environs.

Her poise and composure are almost unnerving. Achala Moulik has a genteel manner, speaks precisely and makes conversation peppered with literary references.

Her office at Karnataka Bhavan in Delhi, where she works as the resident commissioner, is pleasing and orderly. Look for tell-tale signs - a writer's eccentric streak - and you'll find none.

Moulik wrote her first novel The Conquerors after her son left for medical school. "I was at an utter loss. So I started writing with demonic energy." Two hours every day after she returned from work and all weekend. "Writing requires a lot of discipline," she says. "Forty percent inspiration and 60 percent hard work."

Her discipline has obviously paid off. Her latest work, a romantic novel Earth is But a Star, a story of Count Manoel de Almeida's journey to India to recapture lost love, is her 12th book in a writing career which includes a critical assessment of Russian literature, books on Indian monuments, two novels (Camellias for Caroline and The Conquerors) and a study of the cultural history of Spain.

But, even now, writing still remains a hobby for her.

Moulik grew up in Europe and the US where her father was posted on diplomatic assignments. At 22, after graduating from London University, she returned to India to appear for the IAS interview. "I was completely lost," she says.

"It was like a new world. Therefore, I can visualise the Count's point of view when he was confronted by a new civilisation." In the more than three decades in the IAS, she has also been director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India and chairperson of the Bangalore Development Authority.

The idea for her novel emerged when she visited the ruins of Hampi in Karnataka and travelled to the west coast of India. "I was struck by their similarity to ancient Mediterranean cities."

With her knowledge of European civilisations, Moulik adeptly captures the medieval setting of Spain and India and historical events (Vasco da Gama and Leonardo da Vinci are characters) that form the backdrop to her plot.

But the author insists Earth is Not a Star is not a historical novel. "My novel is fundamentally about human behaviour. A sort of East-West encounter."

The IAS officer's next venture is a modern novel - different from her last three fictional works which were set in the past - about a subject she is familiar with: the bureaucracy and the price one has to pay for success.

Published By: AtMigration