A writer with a vision for India

In our lives, we meet many people who impact society positively and make it a better place to live.
And then we meet some who change the way we think and affect the perspective one has of life and help bring the world closer.
 
Ajit Menon – Engineer, Hotelier, Author, and Philanthrope, is such a change maker.

Having contributed at CXO levels in the last three decades in various Industries ranging from Services to Manufacturing, he left his cushy, high-paying corporate job and decided to follow his passion – ‘Storytelling’
 
They say you tend to excel when you follow your passion. And it holds true for Ajit Menon, too. Within a short period of a year, Ajit became a well-known author. He is now rated in the ‘Top 12 inspiring writers of 2023’ and his book, ‘The Panther’s Ghost - The Beginning,’ published by Bloomsbury India, is a best seller in the Indian Spy genre.
 
This book, which has been rated as one of the ‘Top -15 must-read books’ for 2023, is inspired by real-life incidences of Indian covert operatives who proactively execute false flag missions in enemy states following India’s new Defensive Offence doctrine.
 
Ajit, a true nationalist, chose not only to write but is also trying to bring about a change in the younger generation of India. With a vision to make India the Literary Hub of the world, Ajit is encouraging young Indians to take up writing in a big way.
 
He recently partnered with ‘The Stories People’, an entity that believes in making meaningful conversations, and launched the first-of-its-kind story-writing contest called the ‘Write Street Project.’
 
This contest invited short ‘Spy thriller’ stories from budding writers at a pan-India level. The stories were then reviewed by an eminent jury of Writers and celebrities, and the top ten best writers were selected for a cash reward of Rs 25000 each.
 
This is not all. Ajit and ‘The Stories People’ are now helping these top ten writers with editing and publishing as well. “We will have this year ten published authors in the Spy verse’ genre.” Says Ajit who plans to do this every year in different genres.
 
When it comes to storytelling, Ajit Menon has a huge vision for India. “In the next two decades, we aim to change the way youngsters think about writing and reading. Our ambition is to have at least 2% of our population take up writing. With three crore writers, India should become the literary hub of the world and generate the largest amount of content for storytelling in the world. Imaging the amount of jobs, it would create for India. This is another stream to take India into the top three nations in the world.” Says Ajit
 
Ajit Menon is also a Philanthrope who believes that life is incomplete if you do not give back to the society that gave you so much. Along with, his wife Geetha, daughter Anushka, and Rahul Lal, a close friend, he runs an NGO called Anugraha Foundation, which funds other NGOs for abandoned and destitute senior citizens. He dedicates all the earnings from his books to this foundation too. “It is my way of giving back to the society.” Says Ajit who lives with his family in Gurgaon.

Ajit grew up listening to stories from his father, who is a retired intelligence officer about unsung heroes of India. Inspired by the stories he had heard while growing up, he now writes about them. He classifies his books under the ‘Real Reel Book’ category as the stories he writes are inspired by ‘real’ life incidents, and his book’s narration feels like watching a ‘film reel.’
 
The Panthers Ghosts, which is a six–part spy series, is dedicated to the unsung heroes of India who follow India’s new doctrine of ‘Defensive Offence’ and work tirelessly behind the curtain to protect our nation from terror. In fact, they operate as Ghosts, hence the title.
 
Being covert operatives, they never get recognized or even heard of by the citizens of India. Hence, Ajit has chosen to bring these people to life by giving them fictitious names.
 
The second book in the series, The Panthers Ghosts – The Puppeteer, which he has co-authored with author, Lyricist, and Screenplay writer Anil Verma will be out for pre-ordering in mid November.
 
Ajit’s thrillers take you on an absolute roller coaster ride through different countries, situations, and scenes even as they unveil one mystery after another but never let you know the end unless you reach the end.
 
Though his stories are well-researched, the beauty of his books are that they are dramatized & fictionalized to ensure the unsung heroes get the larger-than-life status they deserve.

Not to forget the adrenalin pumping action and the speed at which the story races through various plots and nations keeps the reader engrossed through out the reading.
 
The Governor of West Bengal, Dr. CV Ananda Bose, launched Ajit’s first book in the series and was so impressed with the plot, pace, and narration that he decided to write the Foreword for “The Puppeteer”.
 
Ajit’s books take the spy verse genre to another level where realism is blended with fiction with ease. His books have all the ingredients of a potboiler: suspense, drama, action, and an underlying feeling of patriotism, which the readers have much appreciated. Even mainstream media took notice of his unique style of writing and almost all prominent  newspapers and online media houses have featured him as an author who churns out spy thrillers with a ‘real–-reel’ punch.
 
 After the success of his first book, the next five in the series are being published by the renowned “West Land Publishing” House. The contract he has signed is such that we can expect a new racy spy thriller from Ajit every year until 2030.
 
All his books are available on Amazon.