Rao The Novelist

Sample a line from the novel, which was deleted when it was finally published: "Niranjan turned Sumitra’s face towards himself and planted a long urgent uncontrolled kiss...on her lips...the very first of its kind in his life of thirty-six years."

Sagarika Ghose, who had profiled "India’s only paperback PM", said: "If you’re a writer at heart, liberalising the national economy must be a bit of a bore. How tedious must seem those long hours explaining things to the Opposition, when one would much rather create love on a laptop."