The 23rd floor of the Taj Lands End in Mumbai was guarded by a safari-suited cop. Tall, dark, and fierce-looking. A gun holstered at his waist. As I walked into Suite 2331, I pictured Lord Jeffrey Archer being protected. I was wrong. Outside Suite 2323, a cop was on duty. Sachin Tendulkar spent the entire day in a business meeting. Archer is mad about cricket. Especially Test cricket. Tendulkar hates the T20 tamasha. Almost as much as he hates Bollywood. But he admires our cricketers unconditionally. There was no mention of the former Indian master batsman living next door to the bestselling English author.
I needn’t have bothered. Archer had already met Tendulkar. “Our chant was very interesting and long,” he gloated triumphantly. Tendulkar invited him over. I didn’t want to interrupt him as he was in an important meeting,” Archer said modestly”But we’ve always been friends. Where’s the book?”’ he asked me when I came in. And he took a picture! I wouldn’t have dreamed of asking him. It would have spoiled our friendship.”
Tendulkar doesn’t read much, I said… He probably hasn’t read Jeffrey Archer.” he muttered, “So what?”. His wife and mother-in-law read! Whenever I sign books for them, I earn brownie points with Tendulkar.” Then, a twist in the tale. I left Tendulkar’s meeting with all the girls following me! They wanted selfies and autographs. We did it in the corridor. I was touched. But Tendulkar was giggling! He found it funny.”
The book is ‘This Was a Man’ by Pan Macmillan India, the seventh and last title in his gripping Clifton Chronicles, a saga across the continents on the trials and The Clifton and Barrington families’ friendships, betrayals, and intrigue test their lives and love. Archer promoted his book during a whistle-stop tour of four Indian cities this week; Gurgaon on Monday, Delhi on Tuesday, Bengaluru on Wednesday, Pune on Thursday, and Mumbai on Friday.
I’ve met him before. And I know Archer repeats himself. In all his interviews and public appearances, he says the same thing. Even so, there were long lines at every bookstore to get his autograph. There are almost as many people waiting outside banks as there are at banks. “I have been getting rid of my old 500s and 1,000 rupee notes,” he said nudging me in the ribs conspiratorially, “but I still have so many under the bed!”
In the past 30 years, he has visited India 20 times and enjoys Mumbai’s cosmopolitan atmosphere, Delhi’s beauty, Kolkata’s energy, and Hyderabad’s hospitality. “Bengaluru is a city of traffic jams,” he grumbled, “like Mumbai.” But he likes coming back because Indians are great lovers of storytellers. Especially women. “Every night, I go to bed with fifty thousand women. He commented deadpan. “I flip pages to find out what is going to happen to keep them aware of that.”.
As I recall, Archer was unable to cope with the heat and traffic of India, the demands of readers, the delays in local flights, and the pressure of time when I last saw him. he has to wait in the air for clearance to land/ He was cranky and looked like the musician Sting in one of his give-em-hell moods. “I frequently suffer from headaches for various reasons,” he said bitterly. It’s the heat and the air conditioning; getting out of one and getting back into the other all the time… a poor Englishman can’t stand it.”
This time, he was sunny and cheerful. His outfit consisted of a yellow striped tee shirt with baggy beige trousers, orange juice as bright as his shirt, and yellow socks. He courteously offered me coffee. At 76, he has a curious mind. But he’s also gone a little deaf. He said his forehead looks like a crossword puzzle now because it is so wrinkled. I tried not to stare. Archer had three answers for every question I asked. More than his book, which he was thankful for but also sad to come to the end of, he wanted to discuss cricket.
Strangely, Archer’s introduction to India was through his Oxford University classmate, the former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. We were close friends, a great gentleman, and a great cricketer,” he said with a touch of sadness… In his faux outrage, he pointed out that India had just won the second Test of the home series against England at Visakhapatnam.
The series is bad, and India has Kohli, one of the best batsmen in the world, he grumbled. But you also have the best No. 3, 4, and 5. When Rahul Dravid left, It was a pleasure to see his back. Even, Tendulkar’s departure made me happy to see him go. And when VVS Laxman left, I was glad to see the back of him. There are three more Indians who are every bit as talented!”
I wondered when he found time to follow cricket because Archer begins his day at 6 am and does four two-hour shifts of writing. People who work until 3 a.m. are owls. I am a type of a person who usually goes to bed early and wakes up early He pulled out his cell phone and opened a Sky Sports Cricket app, saying, “I follow cricket during my breaks.”. . However, it doesn’t work in India! I find it rude that they are holding a Test when I am working.”
And so, I was about to leave when he shouted in my ear, “England is going to beat India in the third Test at Mohali on Saturday, yeah!” I said, “Dream on!” And Lord Jeffrey Archer giggled. He found it funny.
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, as well as columnist.
With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, as well as Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
Further
His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, as well as Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him. In the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.
Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. In a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work, Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward.
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