Pavan K Varma

Pavan K. Varma is a writer and former diplomat who most recently served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. He earlier worked as Advisor to the Chief Minister of Bihar with the rank of Cabinet Minister. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976 and has served as India’s Ambassador in several countries, Director of the Nehru Centre in London, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, and Press Secretary to the President of India. Varma is the author of more than a dozen acclaimed and bestselling books, including Becoming Indian, Echoes of Eternity, The Great Indian Middle Class, and Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Indianapolis in 2005 and the Druk Thuksey, Bhutan’s highest civilian award, in 2012.