Swapan Dasgupta is a Member of Parliament and a columnist for major Indian newspapers. He is a PhD in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and a former Research Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. A journalist for 30 years, he occupied senior editorial positions in Times of India, Indian Express and India Today. He writes regular columns for Times of India, Telegraph and Pioneer, and is a commentator on TV networks. He is a member of the Executive Council of Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, a Director of India Foundation and a Visiting Professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University. In 2015, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India and nominated to the Rajya Sabha. In Parliament, he is a Member of the Standing Committee on External Affairs. His earlier books include Nirad C. Chaudhury: The First 100 Years.
Makarand R. Paranjape is currently Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. He was educated at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned a Masters and PhD in English. He has been Professor of English at Jawaharlal Nehru University for twenty years. A critic, poet, and novelist, he is the author of some twenty-five and editor of another two-dozen books, in addition to hundreds of academic papers and popular articles. His latest books include Swami Vivekananda: Hinduism and India’s Road to Modernity (forthcoming), Debating the 'Post' Condition in India (Routledge, 2018), and The Death and Afterlife of Mahatma Gandhi (Penguin Random House, 2015). Makarand is currently a columnist in Open, Mail Today and The Print.
This event will include speeches from both Swapan Dasgupta and Makarand Paranjape, followed by a Q & A session.