Mr Das's three plays, which have already been performed Off-Broadway, at the Edinburgh Festival and in India, would now be shortly published as a collection. Mr Das spoke to Prachi Raturi about the success of his books and his growth as a writer.

What is it about India Unbound that has made it such a huge success?
The book came as a result of the cover story `Million Reforms' that I had done for Businessworld. It was then that I had travelled extensively for five months in India and saw how the country had changed over the years. The book came as the result of these observations I made.

As for the success, I can say what is special about the book is that it has a very strong voice, a narrative voice, which makes the book read like a novel. The book is all about how a rich nation became poor and will become rich again.

Another important aspect I noticed was that the youth today has a new confidence, he has a can-do-attitude, this I think is a very positive sign.What do you think is the main problem that is affecting this once rich nation?

There are a host of factors that are affecting our growth but what is foremost is our bureaucracy. No department has saddened us more than this one and our bureaucrats will do absolutely anything to sabotage growth.

Another reason is, of course, the fact that we have (unlike other countries) never had a prime minister who has really been a reformist.

Coming back to your work, you have written both fiction and non-fiction. What is it that you prefer more?
Now, after writing for years, I feel I have a better hand at non-fiction. I'm somehow more comfortable there. I feel I have a stronger voice there.

How autobiographical is your novel AFine Family?
I would say it is superfluously autobiographical. It's basically about three generation of a Punjabi family. Together, the voices of various generations tell the story of a fine family and a great country as both struggle to build a new future in the present circumstances. It's traced since Partition through emergency to the present times. It's autobiographical in the sense that it has a solid grounding.

You have been in the industry and now are a writer, which of your roles do you like the best?
I think a person always has more than one aspect to him and it is important to explore most of your aspects. Well now when I can almost look back on my life, I'd say I have been happy to be in the industry but now it's being a writer that I prefer. In fact, even when I have to fill in my profession on any form I write author. Moreover writing is such a time consuming thing that there is hardly anytime for anything else.

Because of your background in the industry, would do you think of Indian industrialists. Do you think they have a spine?
One thing I know is that industrialist should never ask for favours. But another thing that needs to be kept in mind is that Indian industrialists are babies, they are infants. India got only half its Independence in 1947, it was only in 1991 when the economy opened that we were fully independent.

So till now our industrialist were hardly growing. It's only now that they have competition that they are growing. So the industrialists in India are only 10-year-old and they are behaving exactly how 10-year-olds would. You can't really blame them.

Coming back to you, what has writing taught you and how do you map your growth as a writer?
Writing has personally taught me a lot. I wrote three plays when I was in my 20s. And something like plays I could only do in my 20s. It's surely going to me more difficult now. But one lesson it has taught me is that you should write as you speak. And writing should be simple, bold and brief. A writer can't wait for inspiration, he has to write everyday.