Archives: Authors

T.V. Sairam, a senior member of the civil services, holds a master’s degree in botany and a doctorate in alternative medicine. For the past three decades he has been gathering and documenting data relating to the household use of medicinal plants.

Priyanka Mookerjee grew up in India and was educated at Loreto House and the Ohio State University, where she studied Narrative Theory, Film, International Relations, and Popular Culture. She currently lives in Kolkata. This is her first novel.

Rajesh Chakrabarti teaches finance at the Indian School of
Business, Hyderabad. He has published several scholarly papers
in international journals, has authored or edited three books and
writes a fortnightly column at the Financial Express. He is regularly
quoted in the media, both in India and abroad.

Saurav Mohapatra is a writer of comics who has authored Mumbai Confidential, Devi, Sadhu, India Authentic and Moon Mountain.

Priya Alika Elias is a lawyer and a writer. Elias has written for New Republic, VICE, Gawker, Buzzfeed, Teen Vogue, Outline, Toast, McSweeney’s, Vox, Ask Men, Firstpost and Outlook. Her writings cover a range of subjects, from feminism, race and mental illness to dating and music videos, while her essays explore universal questions through the lens of pop culture.

A popular Twitter celebrity, Elias was named one of the ‘Amazing Women to Follow on the Internet’ by Paper magazine in 2016.

Besharam is directly inspired by Elias’ stint as an advice columnist for Burnt Roti, her experience navigating two different cultures, and from the fact that she has never heard a man being described as ‘shameless’.

Bhaichand Patel is an Indian writer, columnist and novelist, who is best known for his witty and acerbic pieces in various reputed newspapers and magazines. Not only is he a columnist but also prides himself on being a major foodie. He devotes his time to seeing out as many restaurants, pubs and bars as he can find, so as to review them. He is similarly passionate about travel and is well-known for his engaging and humorous takes on his journeys to New York, Caracas, Cairo, Manila, Jerusalem, Fiji, New Delhi and Bombay: all of which he maintains are his home.

He also prides himself on his extensive knowledge of wine and spirits, partly because he spent as much time at bars as he did behind them in his stint as bartender, and also because he took the bar and is a celebrated lawyer with a degree from the London School of Economics.

Roshen Dalal was born in Mussoorie, and lived in various places in India, including Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, before settling in Dehradun, where she now resides along with several rescued cats and a dog. She has an MA and a PhD in ancient Indian history from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has taught both at school and university level, and has been involved in research in the fields of history, religion, philosophy and education. She is the author of the bestselling two-volume Puffin History of India; The Puffin History of the World, also in two volumes; India at 70: Snapshots since Independence; The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths; Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide; The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism’s Sacred Texts and The Compact Timeline History of the World. Apart from books, she has written numerous articles and book reviews. Having been an editor for many years, she is now a full-time writer and is currently working on a book on the Upanishads.

Kamala das was born in Kerala on 31 March 1934, into a family that had made its mark in the world of letters. Greatly influnced by her Great- uncle she started writing after she got married. Widely read for her poetry, prose and columns, she has been immensely admired for the sensivity with which she has portrayed human emotions. She received the Asian World Prize for Literature as well as the sathiya Akademi Award in 1985. Panna is her first children’s book in English. She passed away, at the age of seventy- five, after a long illness on 31 May 2009.