“My aim is to have a free & frank exchange of ideas”

Dr M R Venkatesh is one of India’s leading Advocates on economic-criminal laws and a much sought-after legal professional. HE has recently authored Retaining Balance – The Eternal Way, which is a fascinating approach to deal with the challenges faced by the discipline of economics. Here, the author shares more about his book and his experience as an author.

Inspiration behind the book …

“A book of this sort cannot have one or a single inspiration. It is a conspectus of inspirations including thoughts of various authors expressed in various books, articles, conversations with great men and of course real-life observations,” shares Dr. Venkatesh. “This is a book on civilizational economics. Unlike Physics or mathematics, economics is not a dried as a dust discipline, completely divorced from the impact of culture or civilization. In fact, the impact of culture and civilization on economics has been greatly understated. This has accelerated since the advent of mathematics into economics and the inevitable take over of economics by finance. My book questions all these developments.”

Target audience…

“Politicians, policy framers, economists, chartered accountants, judiciary, administrators, economists, media and of course students of humanities,” he replies.

Journey as an author…

“It is very difficult to describe my journey as an author. I started as a Chartered Accountant, never expected to do Law. But I did. Likewise, I was an introvert for long, and never thought of writing. But somewhere the dormant devil has woken up! And as long as the party lasts, so be it,” he shares on a lighter note.

Aim as a writer…

“ My aim is to have a free and frank exchange of ideas with the reader and to be clear and precise. The reader may or may not accept my views, but must never question my scholarly approach. More importantly, I want to tell a story in a manner that he never imagined much less thought about,” he shares.

Challenges as a writer…

“Every now and then, we hit a writer’s block. And to get over it takes time, especially in a book like this which is multi-dimensional. And to balance between profession (which is demanding like mine) and to write (which needs lots of time to think) is another challenge I face,” he says.

Writing/publishing advice to aspiring writers…

“Simply write! And leave the rest to the Lord.

On other books…

Dr. Venkatesh has also authored Global Imbalances and the Impending Dollar Crisis; Sense, Sensex and Sentiments – Failure of India’s Financial Sentinels and Dr. Manmohan Singh – A Decade of Decay.

“All were written with some inspirations spread over a period of time and simultaneously spur of the moment decisions. I enjoyed writing all of them. But writing Retaining Balance was the toughest as there was no much time as my profession has grown and I don’t have the luxury of time as I had with other books. But mercifully lockdown did provide an opportunity that I fully utilized,” he adds.

Experience with KW Publishers…

“Kalpana Shukla, MD, KW Publishers and her team were fantastic and had coped with a demanding author in a brilliant manner. More power to her and her team,” concludes Dr. Venkatesh.