How to handle diplomacy, literacy?

JAKARTA: Can diplomacy and writing go hand in hand? T.S. Tirumurti, the new counselor at the Indian Embassy in Jakarta, said confidently that there would not be any problem in dealing with diplomacy and writing.

"By profession, I am a diplomat. But my hobby is writing. I will pursue my hobby during my leisure time," Tirumurti, who wrote the famous novel Civil Avenue (Penguin India, 2002) and the travelogue Kissing the Heavens (The Anand Publications, 1999), told The Jakarta Post.

Prior to his posting in Jakarta, the 43-year-old diplomat who has a degree in law from Delhi University served in Indian missions in Cairo, Geneva, Gaza and Washington.

Though there is no relation to his literary skills, in fact Tirumurti is a nephew of famous Indian literary figure R.K. Narayanan as well as cartoonist R.K. Laxman.

Tirumurti is not the only person at Indian embassy in Jakarta with multi-faceted talents. Indian Ambassador H.K. Singh's wife Mrinalini Singh is a well-known painter. The present director of Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Center in Jakarta, Arup Kumar Dutta, is an internationally acclaimed writer who has written more than two dozen books. -- JP