Archives: Authors

Manu Dash (b. 1956) is a bilingual poet, editor, translator, publisher and director of the Odisha Art & Literature Festival. An author of almost thirty books, Dash joined the Anam Writers Movement—an anti-establishment movement in Odia literature—shortly before the imposition of Emergency in India in 1975. He is the founder of Dhauli Books, which won the prestigious Publishing Next Industry Award for the Best Printed Book of the Year (Indian Languages) in 2018. Currently, he is editing Anam, an international journal for literature.

Vishal Vasanthakumar was born in Chennai and studied mechanical engineering before switching paths to teaching, which he did for six years. He is currently enrolled for a PhD in Sociology at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. He also has a Masters in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has previously worked with the Department of School Education, Government of Tamil Nadu and as a political consultant for a political party. Between 2020 and 2023, Vishal ran a thriving pesto business from his home kitchen. He currently lives and works in Cambridge, UK.

Rajiv Sikri was a career diplomat for more than 36 years with the Indian Foreign Service. He retired in 2006 as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. In this capacity he had overall responsibility for India’s relations with East Asia, ASEAN, Pacific region, the Arab world, Israel, Iran and Central Asia. Earlier he was special secretary for economic relations supervising foreign economic relations, including India’s external technical and economic assistance programmes. He has served as India’s ambassador to Kazakhstan, and headed the departments dealing with West Europe as well as the Soviet Union and East Europe in the Ministry of External Affairs. His other diplomatic assignments abroad include deputy chief of mission in Paris, political counsellor in Moscow, deputy consul general and commercial consul in New York, and political first secretary in Kathmandu.

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Sunela Jayewardene is recognized as Sri Lanka’s leading environmental architect. She has designed several award-winning hotels, including Jetwing Vil Uyana, Colombo Courtyard and Rainforest Ecolodge.

Her first book, The Line of Lanka, was nominated for the 2017 Gratiaen Prize.

Edward T.G. Anderson is assistant professor in history at Northumbria University, Newcastle. He was previously the Smuts Research Fellow in Commonwealth Studies at the University of Cambridge, where he also studied for a PhD in history.

Dr. R. Balasubramaniam, widely known as Dr. Balu, is a development practitioner, leadership educator, and author whose work bridges grassroots realities and the highest levels of public policy. He currently serves as a full-time Member of NITI Aayog.
He is the founder of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) and the Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM), institutions that have shaped community-driven development and policy advocacy in India for over four decades. A former Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor at Cornell University, he has coached and mentored senior leaders across non-profit, corporate, government, and education sectors around the world.
A physician by training, Dr. Balu holds an MBBS from Mysore Medical College, a master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School (where he was a Mason Fellow), and a PhD in Leadership and Management. He is the author of nine books in Kannada and English, including Power Within: The Leadership Legacy of Narendra Modi, I, the Citizen, Voices from the Grassroots, and Leadership Lessons for Daily Living, works that have earned global acclaim for their insights into citizenship, grassroots realities, and values-based leadership.