Niranjan Mudholkar has a professional experience spanning 23 years. He began his career as a Lecturer in English Literature with the Elphinstone College in Mumbai. He then shifted, first to the advertising industry as a copywriter and then to the publishing industry in an editorial role. He then worked in business journalism from 2005 to 2021, with three different organisations. Starting off as a content writer, he went on to build and head the editorial initiative for the B2B division at Worldwide Media (WWM), a subsidiary of The Times of India Group. He has recently come out with his debut book, The Kingdom of God, which is a historical fiction.

I chat with him about his book The Kingdom of God, how the book came to be, book recommendations, and much more.

Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself!

I have been an adventurer in the world of words for more than 23 years! My explorations have taken me to different lands, where I have donned various hats including that of a lecturer, a copywriter, a content manager, an editor, and now, that of an author. Of course, my quests have been quite fruitful and that has been possible only because of a strong support from my family.

If you could only describe your book The Kingdom of God in one sentence, what would it be?

A thrilling and action-packed adventure through cities, centuries and coincidences!

Now tell us a little more about the book! What can readers expect?

Written in the historical fiction genre, the book is about an ancient box that contains objects of immense significance and starts its journey from Ayodhya. An archaeologist discovers this ancient box in Pune, but he goes missing. Immediately, the box is also lost and the archaeologist is declared a traitor. Thirty three years later, with the backing of a politician, the archaeologist’s daughter Durga goes on a mission to find out what happened to her father and to his great discovery. However, she is unaware that a 2,500 year old evil organisation called Madakhanja is also after the box. The Kingdom of God depicts the box’s trip as well as the fight of the archaeologist’s daughter in an intriguing manner.

What inspired you to write this book?

The city of Pune!

What type of research went into writing this historical fiction?

I would say the research has been multipronged. It included travelling, reading, studying people around me, studying certain publicly known figures, interviewing people, questioning certain known facts and ideologies, putting forth brave new ideas, revisiting historical events with a different approach, and of course, Google search!

Is there a scene, element, or character you really enjoyed creating and writing?

While I loved writing the entire book, the first chapter is really close to my heart as it sets the tone for the story to evolve. And although the book is based in the historical genre, I also wanted it to be a book about human dynamics. That is why the novel is about friendship and also about the father-daughter relationship.

How have you been coping with the current pandemic and what will be the new normal for you post it?

During the third week of May 2021 when the novel was almost half done, I was hit very badly by Covid-19. I, my wife and our daughter, all of us tested positive. In fact, I had to be hospitalised and even needed to be admitted in the ICU for almost 11 days. But I survived, recovered and came back. Importantly, I completed and published the novel successfully!

In terms of the new normal, I am all set for it with what I call ‘Niranjan 2.0’!

Lastly, are you currently reading anything and do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

When it comes to reading, I have a fairly comprehensive choice. From historical fiction to espionage, and from the classics to travel and history books, I read quite a lot. At present, I have been fairly tied up with my own novel. But I am planning to revisit Jack Higgins (Henry Patterson) very soon, particularly The Eagle Has Landed. Please read it if you haven’t already!

The book ‘The Kingdom of God’ is available online and at your nearest bookstore.