Archives: Authors

Manoj Tripathi is a sales and marketing professional. He is an avid reader, traveller and blogger. He writes articles on socioeconomic issues and business solutions for leading business magazines.

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.

Edit

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.

R. Balasubramaniam, also known as Balu, is a widely respected development activist, leadership trainer, thinker and author. The founder of Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement and Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement, Dr Balu embodies a rare blend of grassroots and macro perspectives along with policy, drawn from his multifaceted experience spanning nearly four decades.
A former Rhodes Professor at Cornell University, USA, he coaches and mentors senior leaders in the non-profit, corporate, government and educational sectors globally, and also conducts leadership workshops for them. He is currently serving as the member-HR at the Capacity Building Commission, Government of India. He has authored nine books in Kannada and English—three of them, i, the Citizen, Voices from the Grassroots and Leadership Lessons for Daily Living, are globally acclaimed. More information about him, his work and his books can be found at www.drrbalu.com.