Tejpal's desire failed his mighty pen

New Delhi, Nov 29:

's tainted former editor-in-chief

was not just an eminent journalist, he was a star novelist too.

Founding partner of the publishing company India Ink, which published Arundhati Roy's 'God of small things' in 1998, Tejpal has published 3 novels.

His first novel 'The Alchemy of desire' was lauded by VS Naipaul as 'a brilliantly original novel from India'.

Not just Naipaul, almost everyone loved the book which was about a young couple, penniless but gloriously in love.

Times supplement said Tejpal is 'one of the most attractive Indian writers in English of his generation'.

In an interview, shortly after the book was released, he said, "Personally, I just think women are far, far more interesting than men. It has to do with their immense layering, an emotional 'nuancing' that is the creation of millennia of facing up to difficult odds. In comparison, men are almost two dimensional, emotionally and sexually lesser beings".

And little did he know then that 7 years later his life would be changed forever by a young woman.

His second book "The story of my assassins' published in 2010, is about a journalist's life.

In the book Tejpal wrote, "God is a goli,a multi-flavoured pill,invented by those who have power,money and sex... Love is another great goli.Some days we too swallow these golis..But they are not the reality.The reality is power,money,sex!"

The Valley of Masks, his third book was published in 2011. It was longlisted for Man Asian literary prize in the same year.

Critic and social commentator Ashis Nandy said, 'This brilliant, superbly imaginative but terribly disturbing novel transcends borders, cultures, reading habits and literary fashions. As a story of the inhumanity of any human search for absolute perfection, it probably has no parallel in our literature. As a fable, it has a moral that will return to haunt you.'

Two years later, Tejpal stands exposed - his mask pulled off. Now as he is facing sexual harassment charges, the politicians, corporates and officials he exposed through Tehelka's sting operations and investigative reports, join the bandwagon of protesters.

They call him a journalist sans ethics, who used call girls to trap officers. Tejpal's clandestine financial affairs are also being discussed.

In future, Tejpal might pen another book. About how the fiction he wrote in past haunted him and altered the course of his life.

Oneindia News