Revealed – Prof Dipankar Gupta’s Secret Double Life

You know Dipankar Gupta as arguably India’s foremost sociologist and the author of highly acclaimed academic books with titles such as ‘Nativism in a Metropolis’, ‘The Context of Ethnicity’, ‘Rivalry and Brotherhood’ and ‘Mistaken Modernity’. Some of you may also know of him as an accomplished columnist for the Times of India where he raises aspects of topical developments that otherwise you may not have noticed or remarked upon.



This is, of course, the recognized, public and well-known side of him. It’s the foundation on which his richly deserved academic reputation has been built. It’s been his established adult persona for most of the 75 years of his life.



Today in a 25-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, we reveal an altogether different side of Dipankar Gupta. The truth is he’s been leading a secret double life but in broad daylight. He’s even gone so far as to create another name for himself. And it follows he has a second hidden career.



Dipankar Gupta has been writing crime fiction and murder mysteries. Three have already been published with titles like ‘Lead Tin Yellow’, ‘Let’s Pray for Timmy’ and ‘What the Witness Did Not See’. A fourth and fifth book are on the anvil.



These books have been published under a nom de plume. The one he’s chosen is D. G. Rae. It sounds beguilingly western. But is it?



In this interview I introduce you to the other Dipankar Gupta. The man who calls himself D. G. Rae. The man who’s second career could perhaps surpass his first. The novelist. The writer of crime fiction.


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