NEW DELHI: A Delhi traffic signal was the starting point of a love story in Jeffrey Archer’s ‘Caste-Off’. Jamwal and Nisha fall for each other while waiting for the light to turn green.Archer, the English novelist and politician who died Monday at 86, had connections with the Indian capital beyond the pages of his books. He met readers at a Delhi airport book-signing session in 2015 and addressed an audience ranging from children to senior citizens at Siri Fort Auditorium in 2019.The city also made an impression on him beyond its fictional possibilities.Asked what he liked about Delhi in a June 2010 interview with TOI, Archer praised the layout of its centre and its parliamentary precinct. “I was very impressed with that,” he said.His admiration was coupled with amusement at Delhi’s traffic scene. In the same interview, he expressed astonishment at the nature of Indian driving and joked about motorists’ treatment of lane markings.At the interactive session at Siri Fort, he discussed ‘Kane and Abel’, his debut novel ‘Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less’, and the origins of ‘The Clifton Chronicles’, before signing books for his Delhi fans.For some in that audience, the memories have proved as enduring as Archer’s books. Sonalika Paul, an avid reader and private-sector employee who has since moved to Canada, still remembers an anecdote he shared that evening.He recalled a boy approaching his car in Mumbai with a stack of books and asking whether he wanted the latest Jeffrey Archer. The author’s response: “I am the latest Jeffrey Archer.”Paul says, “That story stayed with me. In that one exchange, you could see both his humour and how far his books had travelled.”The evening at Siri Fort also offered readers a glimpse of the man behind his plot twists. Archer opened with cricket, speaking about Indian players and praising Virat Kohli, before describing a writing routine that still involved putting every word down by hand. For aspiring authors, there was also a reminder of the persistence behind his success: he recalled 16 publishers rejecting his first novel and spoke of the years of work, determination and luck that a writing career demanded.For Dr Jonathan Koshy Varghese, assistant professor of English at DU’s Lady Shri Ram College, Archer was among the authors who introduced him to a wider world of books as a teenager. His novels were discoveries made in school libraries, bridging changing reading tastes. “I read him when I was bored with Enid Blyton and when I needed something lighter than Mario Puzo,” he says.For Varghese, Archer’s death closes a chapter in a generation’s reading life, even as its readers continue to turn to other books. “Archer represented a kind of reading that was guilt-free,” the professor says — an inexpensive indulgence, enjoyed for the sheer pleasure of reading a good story.That connection with readers helped turn Archer’s releases into eagerly awaited events. Aninda Das, who has worked with leading publishing houses, recalls the anticipation whenever a new Archer title reached bookstores. “An Archer book hitting bookshelves was an occasion in itself, and that excitement has endured for decades,” he said, describing the lasting affection and loyalty that the author commanded among Indian readers.For avid reader Piyush Amola, Archer’s appeal began with the urge to turn another page. “With Archer, you always wanted to know what happened next. His language was easy, but his plots kept you guessing,” he says. The ambition, rivalries and family loyalties made the stories feel familiar, Amola adds, even when they unfolded in worlds far removed from his own. “You finished one book and looked forward to the next.”
