VARMA Pavan K. (Mr)
Director General
Indian Council for Cultural Relations (New Delhi)

Born in November 1953, Pavan K. Varma is a graduate from St. Stephen’s College in New Delhi where he did History (Honours) with the first position in College. Subsequently he acquired a degree in Law. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976. His career as a diplomat has seen him serve in several countries, including New York and Moscow. His assignments in India include that of Press Secretary to the President of India, the Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs and Joint Secretary for Africa. He was High Commissioner for India in Cyprus, Director of the Nehru Centre in London and is currently Director General Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Parallel to his diplomatic career, Mr. Varma has made a name for himself as a writer of depth and insight. He has written over a dozen books including a highly successful and critically applauded biography of the Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib entitled: “Ghalib: The Man, The Times” ( Viking/Penguin 1089), a book on India’s most popular deity, Lord Krishna entitled: “ Krishna: The Playful Divine” (Viking/Penguin 1993), a much discussed book on the Havelis of Old Delhi and an epic poem on two of the central characters of the Mahabhrata, Yuddhistar and Draupadi (Viking/Pengion 1996).

Mr. Varma’s first book on a contemporary subject was the path-breaking “The Great Indian Middle Class” (Viking/Penguin 1998). Translated into several Indian languages, the book was an instant best-seller and remains the focus of discussion and debate even today.

Mr. Varma’s much-discussed book “Being Indian: The Truth About Why the 21st Century will be India’s” (Viking/Penguin 2004) is a best seller in India and has been published by William Heineman (“Being Indian: Inside the Real India”) in the United Kingdom in March 2005. The Economist has described it as “one of the most subtle recent attempts to analyse the continent-sized mosaic of India and simplify it for the general reader”. A French and a Spanish edition are due in November, 2005.
A public speaker widely in demand Pavan K Varma was the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the prestigious Commonwealth Writer’s Prize held in New Delhi for the first time in April 2000.