Menu
I’ve written three novels, Keep off the Grass (HarperCollins India: 2008), Johnny Gone Down (HarperCollins India: 2010), and The Yoga of Max’s Discontent (Penguin Random House: 2016) published in India as The Seeker (Penguin Random House: 2015). All of my novels were bestsellers at launch, some endured, others didn’t. I think of the novels as a bit of a man-on-a-quest trilogy. They’re deeply reflective of my interests in backpacking, hiking, and Eastern spirituality that had gripped my life for the decade or so I was writing.
"A racy and entertaining account of a romp through an ever-changing yet timeless India…Wild, Witty and Wicked!"
- Ruskin Bond.
Keep Off The Grass was a sleeper hit almost immediately on release in 2008. I was as surprised as my publishers. It was a very personal story about a young guy questioning the cycle of convention by experimenting with travel, drugs, and philosophy, all set in the IIM. The novel has had an enduring appeal amongst college goers and young seekers, trying to come into their own.
"An amazing journey. Wonderful characters who keep you hooked till the very end"
- Rajkumar Hirani, Director Munnabhai, 3 Idiots
I wrote Johnny Gone Down when I was broke, unemployed, and sleeping on my sister’s couch after a year spent backpacking. Not the outcome I expected at age 30, a decade after Business School. The novel helped me understand my choices. Life imitated art, in this case, and writing this book liberated me to live my life on my own terms forever. It’s a deeper, darker, Forrest-Gumpish kind of adventure through India, Cambodia, Brazil and the dark underbelly of the US, highly recommended for all backpackers and misfits!
“A beautifully rendered epic journey… Transcendent yet readable, spiritual yet wildly and deliberately accessible, the novel works on many levels and excels at them all.”
-New York Journal of Books
I spent much of 2013 first going from Europe to India by road, then becoming a yoga teacher in a forest ashram in South India. My mother’s slow, painful demise from cancer had pushed my meaning-of-life questions to the forefront. The Yoga of Max’s Discontent published in India as The Seeker, was born out of this period. I wanted to write a book that enveloped the deep, perennial truths of Buddhism and yoga which had given me much solace with an urgent, racy, page-turning narrative of a thriller. The novel didn’t do well commercially but received very positive reviews.
Sign Up Now to get my best tools on Writing, StartUps, and Meditation – delivered to you weekly free.
Why You Should Hike the 800-Kilometer Camino De Santiago
I was pulled to the Camino De Santiago,... read more
I was pulled to the Camino De Santiago, the 800-kilometer walking pilgrimage from the Pyrenees mountains in France to the town of Santiago De Compostela in Spain, the moment I’d ... read more
How to Raise StartUp Funding with No Product
My 3rd novel, The Seeker, was rejected sixty-one... read more
My 3rd novel, The Seeker, was rejected sixty-one times in the US. Eventually, Penguin Random House, published it worldwide after 42 months of nearly daily revisions. Four years of ... read more
How to Always Think Independently
I had a sinking feeling in my gut... read more
I had a sinking feeling in my gut when I told my boss at P&G that I was leaving to travel and write a novel more than a decade ago in 2008. The timing felt wrong. I was 29. M... read more
How to Determine Founder Salary in a StartUp: StartUp Salary Guide
How do you determine a founder’s salary at... read more
How do you determine a founder’s salary at a startup, especially if you’re a mid-career founder who’s likely at 10x typical early-stage startup market salary? I took a 90%... read more
How to meditate in 2022: A complete guide
Note: This is a long post, almost e-book... read more
Note: This is a long post, almost e-book length, but if you decide to read it through, you’ll get all tips on how to meditate properly you need to establish a long-term meditatio... read more
Sign Up Now to get my best tools on Writing, StartUps, and Meditation – delivered to you weekly free.
Karan Bajaj
Writer, Entrepreneur
Subscribe to my weekly musings on life, well being, meditation, startups
Karan Bajaj © 2021 All rights reserved.
