Pavan K. Varma is a former diplomat, parliamentarian and politician. He is a respected public intellectual and columnist and the author of several seminal books, including ‘Ghalib: The Man, The Times’; ‘The Great Indian Middle Class’; Chanakya’s New Manifesto’; ‘Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker’; ‘The Great Hindu Civilisation: Achievement, Neglect, Bias and the Way Forward’. His latest book is ‘The Lady Who Carried the Old Monk Across the River’.