"India has always mattered to me, and in my writing, I'd like to matter to India - or at least to my Indian readers,"says Tharoor.

It is impossible to sum up Shashi Tharoor. As under-secretary-general for communications and public information at the United Nations, Tharoor has proved himself as a diplomat par excellence. Simultaneously, with about eight books to his credit, his name figures in the A-list of Indian authors writing in English.

How does he balance the worlds of diplomacy and writing? ''Not very well. My UN work is priority, and has increasingly eclipsed my time for writing,"he says regretfully.

In fact, he once stated that he has far more book ideas than the time to write. "One day, there will be a post-UN life, and then I hope to find the time to explore these ideas on paper!"But is he veering more towards nonfiction now?

"The balance is even right now - four fiction, four non-fiction, not counting my coffeetable book on Kerala with MF Husain. I began work on a novel two years ago and have not been able to touch it since, because of my work.

To write fiction, you need both time and a space inside your head. Alas, my life has not permitted that."Fiction or non-fiction, the sense of Indianness is innate in his writings.

"India has always mattered to me, and in my writing, I'd like to matter to India - or at least to my Indian readers,"says Tharoor.