Of course, it did require a lot of hard work. Dr. Chatterjee says that on a typical day he rises about 5:30 AM to get in an hour or two of writing (he's at work on a second book now) before he escorts his two sons, ages 7 and 11, to their school bus stop and arrives at his hospital in Andover, Massachusetts, before 8 o'clock. From there he goes to his office, where he stays until 4 or 5 PM, when he goes back to the hospital. When he finally gets home, he spends some time with his boys, playing tennis or basketball or perhaps helping them with their homework. Then he and his wife, who is an artist, spend some time reading to the boys before their bedtime (he confesses he prefers reading to the older boy, because then he can read from the classics) before sharing a candlelight dinner sometime after 9 o'clock-after which he goes back to his writing.

His first book, "The Seven Steps," a novel set in India and the United States, contrasts the two countries and their cultures and their histories, he says (he insists it is not at all autobiographical), and is actually an allegory based a legend of the Hindu god Krishna. He has not yet found a publisher for it, but he remains hopeful that he will. In the meantime, he says, his second novel is about half finished and should be completed by the end of the year. The new book, he says, is even more deeply rooted in mythology, particularly European myths. It is satirical, he says, and deals with the death of values and the icons of civilization lost with the advent of Christianity. It is, he says, "funny and very sad."

The writing, he says, is therapeutic for him. "Cardiology is a very serious business." And although his practice is "one of the busiest in the area," and he spends so much time working on his book, he still managed to create a nonprofit association of Americans of Indian origin as a response to the events of last Sept. 11. It's called "Aaina," which he says means "mirror," and it grew out of concern that Americans who looked "foreign" were suddenly being viewed with suspicion by their countrymen. The idea behind it, he says, was "to educate people and bring them together at the grassroots level." Its success, he says, has exceeded all expectations.

But then, exceeding expectations is something that Dr. Chatterjee has been doing all of his life. Born in Calcutta, he studied medicine in northern India and then went on to a residency at Harvard University and further studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He started his practice in Boston before moving to the suburbs.

He says that he and his wife "both love life in general" and that he is aware that his dreams are being realized, one after another: the practice, the nice family, the home, getting his book published. But there is one dream he has, he says, that has not yet become reality. That dream, he says, is "to build a hospital for poor people in India." And there is no doubt in his mind that it too will come to be.