Writer–diplomat Pavan K. Varma has held several crucial posts in the Government of India and currently, he is Ambassador of India to Bhutan. Apart from his diplomatic career, he is the author of over a dozen of books including The Great Indian Middle Class, Maximize Your Life, The Book of Krishna, Being Indian: The Truth About Why the 21st Century Will Be India’s. The latest to join the list is Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity . Many of his books including Being Indian: The Truth About Why the 21st Century Will Be India’s and Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity have been widely translated in European and Indian languages and continue to remain on the best seller list. His first work of fiction, When Loss is Gain is to be published shortly.
When Loss is Gain by Pavan K. Varma
Last modified on 2012-01-06 04:41:06 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Category: Fiction
Publisher: Rupa Publications
Rights Available: World
When Loss Is Gain, is a powerful story dealing with life and death, loss and gain, happiness and fulfilment, the physical and the spiritual, the rational and the inexplicable, and the perennial dialogue between dukkha or sorrow, the key word in Buddhism, and ananda or joy, which animates most of Hindu philosophy. It is set in contemporary India and in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.
Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity by Pavan K. Varma
Last modified on 2011-11-29 10:53:25 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Category: Non-fiction
Publisher (English): Penguin Books India
Publisher (Marathi translation): Ameya Prakashan
Publisher (Tamil translation): New Horizon Media
Publisher (Punjabi translation): Unistar Books
Rights available: Indian languages (excluding Marathi, Tamil and Punjabi)
In this book, Pavan Varma looks at the consequence of Empire on the Indian psyche. Drawing upon modern Indian history, contemporary events and personal experience, he examines how and why the legacies of colonialism persist in our everyday life, affecting our language, politics,
creative expression and self-image. Over six decades after Independence, English remains the most powerful language in India. Our classical arts and literature continue to be neglected, and our popular culture is mindlessly imitative of western trends. Our cities are dotted with incongruous buildings that owe nothing to indigenous traditions of architecture. For all our bravado as an emerging superpower, we remain unnaturally sensitive to both criticism and praise from the Anglo-Saxon world and hunger for its approval. With passion, insight and impeccable logic, Pavan Varma shows why India, and other formerly subject nations, can never truly be free – and certainly not in any position to assume global leadership – unless they reclaim their cultural identity.
