Many congratulations to our esteemed author and colleague @narayanibasu on winning the Auther Award for Best Non-Fiction for her biography of K. M. Panikkar!
The longlist and shortlist were extremely competitive, which makes this all the more special.
A deeply researched and engaging book, A Man for All Seasons traces Panikkar’s life across diplomacy, scholarship, and public life, set against the broader sweep of modern Indian history.
I clearly love giving myself a TASK 😂 In this case - TWO. After KM Panikkar, I'll be working on the gigantic life and times of Girja Shankar Bajpai and KPS Menon.
It seemed right to follow this line of research to build portraits of the men who laid the foundation stones of India's foreign policy, from colonial times into the Cold War & beyond. But the next few years are going to be WILD.
Wish me ....sanity? Luck? Both? ✨🐣
HUGE thanks to @westland_books & @karthika.vk for trusting that I can do anything like this! ❣️
It will take me a LONG time to process this night.
But it took a village to get me here. For all the people I could get into this carousel, for all the MANY who aren't marked on here but have played a HUGE role with love, laughter and so much belief in me, I cannot thank you enough.
To the VERY formidable jury that read these incredible submissions over the last few months -- it's an honour and a real privilege to have been judged by you (hi @amritareach and @buffalo.intellectual ✨)
This is all very incoherent -- but it's the best I can do on a night I still find hard to believe ❤️❤️
"Essential reading." -- a new and excellent review in the Hindu Business Line today. Nearly a year after its release, A Man For All Seasons continues to find its way to new audiences and new conversations.
"The life of this book is clearly long and how 🥳" as @aatreyee2 puts it 🥹❤️ touch wood ❤️
It was a packed house at the Delhi launch of @tanul.thakur42 's Wild Wild East at IIC yesterday.
Tanul was in conversation with @narayanibasu
Here are a few snippets!
(Wild Wild East, H1B visa, immigration, USA, labour, law, India, true story, exposé, tech, software, geopolitical, political, readers, documentary, discrimination, bookstores, launch, Delhi)
An evening where journalism, literature, and lived experiences came together in conversation.
Frontlist had the opportunity to attend the launch event for Wild Wild East by @tanul.thakur42 at India International Center , New Delhi, presented by @westland_books . In conversation with writer and journalist @narayanibasu , the discussion explored the deeply human stories behind the H-1B visa programme and the institutional structures surrounding migration, labour, and identity.
From personal narratives to larger questions of power and exploitation, the evening was insightful, thought-provoking, and impossible to look away from.
Grateful to witness a conversation that used literature not just to inform, but to confront. 📚✨
Narayani Basu, historian and foreign policy analyst, is the bestselling author of V.P. Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India and Allegiance: Azaadi & the End of Empire. Her work brings to light the lesser-known figures who shaped India’s independence and political history, offering fresh perspectives on the making of modern India. Her latest book, A Man for All Seasons, a biography of K.M. Panikkar, has received critical acclaim.
Join us in conversation with her at the Shillong Literary Festival – New Delhi Prelude on 9th May at Bikaner House, New Delhi.
#shillongliteraryfestival #newdelhi #meghalaya
