Dolphin Gems and Jewels on Moledina Road will get a special customer on Monday-author Jeffrey Archer. On his second visit to the city, he plans to shop at the store. “I am impressed with their work. The guys there are very proud, very Indian. Though Christmas is still some way off, I intend to do all my shopping, get the gifts well in advance. I gifted a silver pendant designed by them to my wife, who wears it thrice a week,” he told Newsline.

Puneet Paras Solanki, one of the proprietors of Dolphin Gems and Jewels, said, “He was here in May last and purchased items worth around Rs 80,000 in just 15 minutes.”

Archer had some good news for his Indian fans. “One of the stories in And Thereby Hangs A Tale , my upcoming short story collection slated for release in June or July 2010, is set in Mumbai. “Titled Caste Off, it is an incredible love story of a prince and a girl who is, well, not a princess,” he revealed. “I have had separate as well as individual meetings with the man and his wife,” said Archer, who has tentatively named the female protagonist Sunita. “I am on the lookout for a beautiful Indian name that will look good on paper. It shouldn’t be too complex and should register in the minds of my readers across the globe.”

Archer, who has completed the opening paragraph of Caste Off, is certain it will evoke comparisons with his first brush with the romantic genre, Old Love, a short story about academic rivals who fall in love . “Comparisons with Old Love, also a true story, are inevitable; it has a massive fan following. But I think Caste Off, too, is an amazing story.” He has another agenda these days. To rope in a producer who has $40 million to spare. “My latest novel, Paths of Glory , will soon be adapted on the big screen. Director Chris Beresford has expressed interest, as have a couple of big Hollywood names, including Christian Bale,” he said.

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