Jigs Ashar

Jigs Ashar is an award-winning writer and banker-turned-consultant. His first short story, a thriller by the name of The Wait is Killing was adjudged a winner by none other than Jeffrey Archer in the Times of India - WriteIndia Season 2 contest. Encouraged by this, Jigs wrote his second short story in a completely different genre. Make(up) in India, a humorous take on today’s families, was adjudged a winner in the same season by Shobha De. His third short story, again a thriller titled Duel, was shortlisted for the Juggernaut Short Story Prize for the year 2018.

Jigs' latest novel - The Cabinet Conspiracy - is an international political thriller inspired by his favourite authors – Jeffrey Archer and Frederick Forsyth. The novel releases on 11th December 2023.

For his debut novels - Insomnia and A Brutal Hand - Jigs collaborated with Westland publications. Presented by Ravi Subramanian, the crime thrillers were released in 2020. Both have been re-released in 2023 by Harper Collins, and are currently being evaluated for a screen adaptation.

Jigs’ upcoming books are:

1. A true crime murder mystery set in Madras of 1940s, The Headless Victim shook the nation’s core. It is also India’s first case where Forensics was used to solve a murder investigation.

2. Inspired by true events, Jigs’ novel The Boardroom Mafia explores the dark underbelly of Banking. Covering the biggest corporate scam in India, Jigs exposes the nexus between banking, financial crimes and terrorism.

3. Based on shockingly true incidents, The Assassination of Akku Yadav tells the story of one of India’s most cold-blooded and dreaded gangsters, and two women’s fight to end his reign of terror.

Jigs’ work has been widely covered in the media to much acclaim. The coverage included newspapers and journals such as The Daily Guardian, Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Malayalam Manorama, Mid-day, Mint, Outlook India, The Hindu, The Telegraph, The Week, The Times of India and The Tribune.

Jigs is a gold medalist in Hindi Poetry Writing and a consistent winner in creativity competitions through his graduation years. He passed his engineering from Mumbai university and worked with the Tata Group for four years prior to an MBA degree from the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

After completing his masters in 1999, Jigs worked with MNC banks for nineteen years, before joining the World Bank Group in 2018. With the WBG, Jigs’ assignments took him to various parts of Asia such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines and Pakistan. When the writing bug bit him, Jigs honed his skills with a course in creative writing from the renowned Xavier Institute of Communications.

Other than writing, Jigs also pursues his other two passions, one of which is running. An avid marathoner, Jigs has run several marathons around the world, and continues to do so. A dream to play the guitar to the tune of his favourite song, Hotel California, got him hooked to learning the instrument. He is some years away from fulfilling his musical dream, though.

Jigs lives in Mumbai with his wife Vidya, and daughter Esha.

You can follow him on: Twitter (@JigneshAshar1) and Instagram (@jigsashar).