Former diplomat Rajiv Dogra, who has penned two books on Indo-Pak relations and the Durand Line, is equally at ease with fiction and has just come out with his third novel.
Dogra, who was India's Ambassador to Italy and Romania, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations Agencies in Rome and Consul General in Karachi, says fiction comes naturally to him though non-fiction fulfils him.
His latest novel "Second Night" is a story of friendship, love and loss; and, in his words, a "Thousand and One Nights" compressed into one night.
"Second Night", published by Rupa, is about a woman determined to escape and a man who has vowed to find her. An unforgettable tale of friendship unfolds as three friends come together in Mussoorie to spend the most amazing night of their lives.
"Sometimes we restrict love to a narrow space of man, woman relationship. But human emotions can be rich in a variety of other ways. There is the bond between siblings. And that between friends too," he says.
"That apart, the question which is being asked in India and outside for sometime is this: is the 'novel' dead? I remember a conversation some years ago with British journalist and writer Ian Jack. We were in a reflective mood talking of this and that when he unexpectedly sprang this question at me, is novel dead?
What prompted him to write a romantic novel?
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