The absence of a writer can always be felt in his home city. In October, when novelist Amish Tripathi, announced that he was moving to London, to take charge as director of The Nehru Centre, he left his fans unsettled. After all, just four months earlier, he had released his new book, Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta (Westland), the third novel in the five-part Ram Chandra series. "I will keep coming back [to Mumbai], every two or three months. I have to...My son is there," Amish tells us over the phone, when we reach out to him, on a "cold and wet day" in London, which is going to be the author's home for the next three years.

A banker before he turned star author, Amish's new role as head of the cultural wing of the High Commission of India in the UK, which he calls his "first government job", is another curveball in an ever-evolving career. The Nehru Centre has a rich legacy. Founded by late scholar and freedom fighter Maulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed, also known as Abul Kalam Azad, the institution, with its head quarters on South Audley Street, has previously been led by eminent Indians, including diplomat and politician Gopalkrishna Gandhi, playwright Girish Karnad and writer-diplomat Pavan Varma. Amish is now part of this A-list.