Pavan K. Varma

Pavan K. Varma, a writer-diplomat, served in the Indian Foreign Service, holding positions such as Press Secretary to the President of India, Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, High Commissioner for India in Cyprus, Director of the Nehru Centre in London, Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi, and Ambassador of India to Bhutan. Varma was the National General Secretary of the JD(U) and subsequently, the National Vice-President of the  All-India Trinamool Congress till 2022. Varma has written over a dozen best-selling books, including Krishna: The Playful Divine; Ghalib: The Man, The Times; and The Havelis of Old Delhi. His first book on a contemporary subject was the groundbreaking The Great Indian Middle Class, followed by Being Indian: The Truth About Why the 21st Century Will Be India’s. His first work of fiction, When Loss is Gain, is being adapted into a Bollywood film. His latest book is The Great Hindu Civilisation: Achievement, Neglect, Bias and the Way Forward. Varma’s Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker received the Bengaluru Literature Festival prize for the Best Book of Non-Fiction in 2018, and he was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate for the same work by Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management. He is also the recipient of  the Kalinga International Literary Award 2019. He was awarded an Honorary Doctoral Degree by the University of Indianapolis in 2005 for his contributions to diplomacy, literature, culture, and aesthetics. He also received the Druk Thuksey Award, Bhutan's highest civilian honour, from His Majesty the King of Bhutan. He is the only serving Indian Ambassador in Bhutan to have received this prestigious award.