Writers are a funny lot.

I remember the time when I used to go to school. I was always the last person to leave the classroom. No....I never liked school. It was just that I was the only person

who never completed writing what the teacher had written on the blackboard. So, when the rest of the class made their way to the waiting school buses, I could be seen furiously scribbling in my notebook. It was the same with the exams. I could never complete my answer sheets. Not that I wrote long answers. My IQ never permitted me to go beyond a maximum of 8 lines per answer. (I had written an 8-line answer just once in my whole schooling career, and our teacher Miss Iyer had announced it in the class as one of the wonders of the world. It’s a different thing that the answer was wrong.) I genuinely believed that the reason for the invention of ink was to colour your hands and the back of the boy sitting in front of you.

Oh...how I hated writing!

And then there are these people who love writing to such an extent that they make a living through it. They eat paper. Or in other words....paper is their bread and butter.

Indeed, writers are a funny lot!

However, I must admit, that these funny people do make for some really interesting reading. So here I am, listing my five most favourite authors.

PLEASE NOTE: The authors listed below are not necessarily English authors. They are picked from the English and the Marathi field.

JEFFREY ARCHER(English)

Without doubt, one of my most favourite story tellers. Though he has lost his touch in some of his recent publications like To cut a long story short and Sons of Fortune, still, Archer remains one of my all time favourites. I have read almost all of his novels and short story collections. The way this man weaves his plot is really remarkable. My favourites are Not a penny more, not a penny less, Kane and Abel and A Quiverful of arrows. What strikes me is the way this man holds the attention of his reader till the very end....and then...the final climax.

P G WODEHOUSE(English)

What can one say about this author? The absolute in comedy. His typically nineteenth century British humour is something that has always bowled me over(the world cup fever has hit me, too!). His characters like Bertram Wooster and Jeeves seem so real, that I wouldn’t be surprised if someday I see them at the grocery store. Any day you need a relaxing novel to tickle your funny bone(wonder where that is), just pick up one gem from the vast Wodehouse collections and laugh your worries away.

P L DESHPANDE(Marathi)

What an author! If there is anyone else besides Pancham that I am in awe of, it has got to be this fantastic writer from Maharashtra. A self-confessed fan of P G Wodehouse, Bhai, as he was affectionately called, is the epitome of humour and wit in Marathi. I honestly believe that if he had written in English, this man deserved the Noble prize. But amid his humorous stories and articles, what are generally overseen are his articles on more serious issues. For non Maharashtrians, you can read some of his works at http://therajs.tripod.com, translated in English by Ms.Rajni Ganesan(please note that she is a South Indian). Other than being a superb writer, Bhai had many different talents. He was an ace harmonium player, a dramatist, has given hit songs as a music director, has directed a highly acclaimed movie Gulacha Ganpati, and has acted in many dramas. Truly, a great man!

RATNAKAR MATKARI(Marathi)

If mystery is your taste, and you are a Maharashtrian, then you cannot miss this talented writer. A Sahitya Academy Award winner, it was my privilege to see this man from close quarters. Other than being musically involved in many of his TV serials and dramas, Shri Matkari happens to be my uncle. But being true to my Mouthshut spirit, and keeping blood relations separate, I still maintain that Matkari is one of the most effective mystery writers(so what if he is my uncle? This good-for-nothingness is self developed in me, and does not run in the family). His stories on the other world, or as we did call it, his spooky stories, are a treat for the reader.

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE(English)

Frankly, I have read just the Sherlock Holmes series. But there are so many stories of Sherlock Holmes(4 novels and 56 short stories), that this author easily makes it to my five most favourite authors list. The way Sir Conan Doyle has built up every character is really remarkable. You never feel that they are fictional characters. The fact that you have a 221, Baker Street in London where the government has built Holmes’ apartment as described in the book, speaks volumes about the talent of this exceptional writer.



IN CONCLUSION

On an ending note, I did like to mention authors like Sydney Sheldon, Alfred Hitchcock, Ayn Rand, Robert Ludlum and John Grisham in English, and authors like V P Kale, V S Khandekar, Suhas Shirvalkar and Shivaji Sawant in Marathi. I have always enjoyed their writings. I would also specially like to mention Linda Goodman, the lady of astrological books like Sun Signs and Love Signs. Though I am not an ardent sun sign follower, I do read her books for her sheer writing style. It’s amazing! Try it!

PLEASE NOTE: I have listed only five authors and not ten, as the category demanded, as I believe that I will need more than 8000 character limit to write about ten authors. Wow...Miss Iyer would have been proud of me!