Seducing tradition,

After making an impressive start in literary writing with his first book – As Boys Become Men – bureaucrat-turned-author Mukul Kumar is ready with his new book which explores the institution of marriage and questions its statute as the singular solution to human desire. Kumar in his new book – Seduction by Truth – has tried to explain 'desire' which is often hidden in the doldrum of marriages.

While talking to Millennium Post about his journey in literary writing, Kumar said, “Writing is very pleasurable, but the post-writing process is often much more tedious. The present market scenario has undergone immense change and, under the given circumstances, attracting readers to read good material is an extremely challenging task.”

Replying to a question on how travelling shapes and influences writing, Kumar emphasised, “Travelling makes the contents of a book more realistic. In Seduction by Truth, there is a scene around the Sistine Chapel of Vatican Museum, Italy. Since I had not been to the place, I wrote about the incidents of the Museum with the help of reference books and materials abundantly available on the internet.”

“I was fortunate enough that I got an opportunity to visit Israel and Germany for my departmental training. I took out some time and visited the Vatican Museum; and, after experiencing the museum in reality, I changed the whole virtual narrative and spent a lot of time rewriting those scenes again – this, certainly, came out much better,” said Kumar, a 1997-batch Indian Railway Traffic Service officer (IRTS).

“Travelling is extremely important while writing a book. Real experiences are always better than virtual tours,” Kumar said.

“Seduction by Truth is a very radical novel. In this novel, I have explored marriage in the context of changing times. I have tried to explore whether marriage is at all the end of all need for human beings. All needs include mental, emotional, physical, social,” the author said.

“I personally believe that there is no point at which one can say that this level of perfection or satisfaction can be achieved through marriage. There is a defined protocol for the treatment of an ailment, but there is no such defined protocol for marriage,” he said.

“Each school of thought contradicts the other's views. One says marriage has a solution to emotional, social, mental, physical needs; while the other schools contradict the same theory by saying that if this is so then why do