Guwahati, Aug. 30 -- If I am asked who my favorite modern Indian writer in English is, I would unhesitatingly say that it is Amitav Ghosh. Ghosh's The Circle of Reason and The Shadow Lines made a deep impact on me during my undergraduate years.

A product of St. Stephen's College, Delhi, as I was, Ghosh's themes fascinated me. It didn't hurt that he was "almost always" at hand for his fans to go across and query him about his work. After all, the D-School lawns were just a ten-minute walk away from the residence where I lived for five idyllic years. Amitav Ghosh taught Sociology in D-School before he migrated to the United States.

Ghosh used to come to our college cafeteria as well. Those were the days of khadi kurta-pajamas, cheap cigar...