Pulp fiction in India has always existed independently of mainstream writing and publishing. Their readers too have somewhat occupied a space of their own. However, in the forties, Urdu writer Ibne Safi’s crime fiction series, Jasoosi Duniya and Imran series captured the imagination of one and all. In fact, even after Safi left for Pakistan in 1952, he continued to be published in India. Aspiring writers from the generation that followed him were greatly influenced by his work. One of them was adolescent Surender Mohan Pathak who would flit about before, after and between school hours, the alleys behind Jama Masjid in Delhi, with Safi’s novels in his pocket. No one would have thought, then, that he would go on to become India’s most prolific crime novelist.

He has been writing for 58 years now, and in this long and successful innings, the number of fans and the kind of popularity he’s won are a testament that Pathak is a fantastic storyteller. And this is why he is often referred to as the ‘badshah’ of crime fiction. SMP, as we know him, is rare in that he discusses the feedback he receives from his fans in the preface to his new novels, promising to write better next time – and he keeps his word.

So now we present the much awaited story of Pathak’s own life, his 298th book, in his own words. In the first of his three-volume autobiography, Na Bairi Na Koi Begana, as you walk through his childhood, boyhood and youth holding his hand, you will find that it does both, entertain you and warm your heart.