Archives: Authors

Raghu S. Jaitley is a public policy and political economy enthusiast. He co-writes Anticipating the Unintended, a popular newsletter on Indian public policy.

Greenstone Lobo worked as a human resource professional before turning into a full-time astrologer in 2019. He has tested and practised the principles of astrology in the corporate environment for over twenty-five years. He has a regular column ‘Octozone’ on sports astrology, in
the Indian daily, DNA, since 2008.

Greenstone was honoured with the WOW Award for his extraordinary contribution to the field of astrology in 2019. He has clients all across the globe and is a regular visiting astrologer at
Illuminations, Dubai.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL KANWAL JEET SINGH DHILLON, PVSM, UYSM, YSM, VSM (RETD), an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, is a 1983-commissioned Infantry Officer (Rajputana Rifles). Popularly known as ‘Tiny’ Dhillon, he served extensively in counter-insurgency and counterterrorism operational areas of Kashmir and the North-east. During the most challenging environment of the Pulwama IED blast and the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, he commanded the Srinagar-based 15 Corps in Kashmir. He superannuated as Director General, Defence Intelligence Agency, under the Chief of Defence Staff in January 2022. His debut book, Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye (Penguin Veer, 2023), a national bestseller, was the winner of the popular choice award in the non-fiction category of the Crossword Book Awards 2024. His second book, Wafadari Imaandari Zimmedari, released in May 2025, is already a national bestseller.

The author can be reached at X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn at @tinydhillon and email: kjsdhillon15@gmail.com.

Lieutenant General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, PVSM, UYSM, YSM, VSM (Retd.) an alumnus of National Defence Academy, is a 1983 commissioned Infantry Officer (Rajputana Rifles). Popularly known as ‘Tiny’ Dhillon, he served extensively in Counter Insurgency/Counter Terrorism Operational areas of Kashmir and the north-east of India. During the most challenging environment of Pulwama IED blast and Abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, he commanded the Srinagar based XV Corps in Kashmir. He superannuated as Director General Defence Intelligence Agency under the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in January 2022.

Dr. Arupa Patangia Kalita is regarded as one of the most prominent feminist writers from the North-East. A powerful storyteller of topics, such as insurgency, poverty and women’s issues, Dr Kalita’s novels speak about the ordinary lives of the common Assamese people. She has been awarded the Assam Valley Literary Award, Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award, Katha Prize among other prestigious recognitions. For her acclaimed novel Mariam Austin Othoba Hira Barua, she received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014.

In 2016, Dr Kalita retired as Head of the English Department of Tangla College, Darrang, Assam. She has as many as twenty published books to her credit, mostly novels and short-story collections. Many of her books are also prescribed texbooks in academic institutions in Assam. While her stories have been widely translated into English, Hindi and Bengali, as a translator herself, Dr Kalita has worked on Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, besides collections of Russian and Chinese folk tales into Assamese.

A mathematician-turned-anthropologist by profession, Meenaxi Barkotoki, has her roots in Assam but has spent most of the last two decades in Germany. A keen chronicler of the written word, she has been a translator of Assamese literature since the last thirty years. Her translations have appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines and periodicals, including The Oxford Anthology of Writings from North-East India and in Asomiya Handpicked Fictions.

As the Managing Trustee of the Munin Barkotoki Memorial Trust, which supports and encourages young writers writing in Assamese, Barkotoki also translates and publishes selected writings of the winners of the Munin Barkotoki Literary Award. She is also a Founding Member of North East Writers’ Forum, a society dedicated to supporting writers writing in English from Northeast India and to supporting translations into English from the other languages of Northeast India.

Indian businessman Ashneer Grover is the former co-founder and managing director of the Indian fintech company BharatPe. Grover also appears as an investor on the reality TV show Shark Tank India.

Find Ashneer online:

Twitter: @Ashneer_Grover
LinkedIN: @in/Ashneer
Instagram: @ashneer.grover

Jahnavi Barua is a writer based in Bengaluru. Her first book, Next Door, a collection of short fiction, was published by Penguin India in 2008 to wide critical acclaim. The second, a novel, Rebirth, was published in 2010 and shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize and the Commonwealth Book Prize. Undertow, published in 2020, is her third book. She was awarded the Charles Wallace Trust Fellowship for Creative Writing in 2006. Her books are on the syllabi of many universities and her short fiction has been widely anthologized.

Illustrator Bio:
Rajiv Eipe lives in Bangalore and works on animation and illustration projects. He likes to doodle in his sketchbook, drink more coffee than is good for him, maintain an untidy workspace and gaze into vacant spaces at regular intervals.

Dr Tanaya Narendra is an internationally trained medical doctor, embryologist, and scientist, who is passionate about medical
education.
After studying for a masters at the University of Oxford, she subsequently registered as a doctor in England, and committed to making public medical education her life’s goal. She is an elected Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society for Public Health.
For her groundbreaking work in medical education, Tanaya has been awarded Sexual Health Influencer of the Year 2020 by SH24-
the online sexual health partner of the NHS; she was also named among the Top 25 Disruptors of India 2021 by Cosmopolitan, and was selected the Health Influencer of the Year by the IHW Council, supported by the NITI Aayog and Ayushman Bharat.
She is now the most popular medical professional on social media in India. Tanaya runs @Dr_Cuterus, which has garnered over
one million followers on Instagram and over 50 million views on YouTube. She uses fairy tales, mannequins, fun GIFs, and hilariously relatable examples to talk in a jargon-free and scientific manner about complex medical and sexual education topics, all wrapped up with an inclusive and gender-neutral bow. In two years, Tanaya has built a thriving community that provides a safe place where no topic is too
taboo to talk about!
In whatever free time she has left, Tanaya likes to hang out with her rescue dog Samosa, pretends she can read Latin, and scuba dives
and eats her way around the world.