Pavan Varma

Pavan K. Varma (born 5 November 1953) is a former Indian diplomat and a politician who is presently a member of the All India Trinamool Congress.

Pavan Varma
Varma speaking at a book launch in Nehru Centre, London, in 2005, when he was its director
Indian High Commissioner to Cyprus
In office 8 August 2001 – 23 January 2004
Vice President	Vice President of All India Trinamool Congress
Preceded by	Shyamala Balasubramanian Cowsik
Succeeded by	Neelam D. Sabharwal
Indian Ambassador to Bhutan
In office 2009–2013
Preceded by	Sudhir Vyas
Succeeded by	Virupakshan Pranatharthi Haran
MP of Rajya Sabha for Bihar
In office 23 June 2014 – 7 July 2016
General Secretary of Janata Dal (United)
In office 10 November 2016 – 29 January 2020
Personal details
Born	(1953-11-05) 5 November 1953 Nagpur[1]
Political party	All India Trinamool Congress (2021-Present) Janata Dal (United) (2016-2020)

Writer-diplomat Pavan K. Varma is a graduate in History from St. Stephen's College (securing the first position in the College), after which he took a degree in Law from the University of Delhi. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976. He has been Press Secretary to the President of India, the Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Joint Secretary for Africa, High Commissioner for India in Cyprus, Director of the Nehru Centre in London, Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi, and Ambassador of India to Bhutan.

With effect from June 2014, he was a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) until July 2016. He was the National General Secretary and National Spokesman of the Janata Dal (United).

Mr. Varma was the National General Secretary of the JD(U) till 29th January 2020. He joined the All India Trinamool Congress on 23rd November 2021 and was appointed the National Vice-President[2] of the party on 19th December 2021.

He has written over a dozen best selling, books including the highly successful Krishna: The Playful Divine (Penguin) on India's most popular deity, the critically applauded biography of the Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib, Ghalib: The Man, The Times (Penguin), and the Havelis of Old Delhi. His first book on a contemporary subject was the path-breaking The Great Indian Middle Class (Penguin) (published also in French), followed by the astoundingly successful Being Indian: The Truth About Why the 21st Century Will Be India's (Viking/Penguin 2004). Being Indian was described by The Economist as "one of the most subtle recent attempts to analyze the continent-sized mosaic of India and simplify it for the general reader." It was published by Random House, in the United Kingdom, as Being Indian: Inside the Real India in March 2005. The Japanese, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian translations of this book were very well received. Another work is a witty adaptation of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra, which was published early in 2007 by Roli Books and has been translated into French and German.

Mr. Varma has also translated the poetry of Kaifi Azmi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Gulzar (four volumes), all published by Penguin.

His book titled: Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity (Penguin-Allen Lane) was launched in February 2010 and deals with the pivotal issues of culture and identity for postcolonial societies. A Hindi and a French edition has been published.

Mr. Varma's first work of fiction When Loss is Gain was launched in January 2012 by Aleph to much critical acclaim. It is now to be made into a Bollywood film.

Gulzar's translation of Mr. Varma's epic poem Yudhister & Draupadi (along with the published original in English) was released in October-November 2013 by Penguin. Yudhister and Draupadi have now been adapted into a Play –'Paansa'- written by Gulzar, with extensive performances both in India and abroad.

Mr. Varma's book Chanakya's New Manifesto: To Resolve the Crisis within India was launched by Aleph in January 2013. His book, The New Indian Middle Class: The Challenge of 2014 and Beyond, was published by Harper-Collins in 2014. His book Chanakya's View: Understanding India in Transition (Westland-Amazon) was published in 2019. His book The Greatest Ode to LORD RAM: Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas (Westland-Amazon) was launched in 2020.

Mr. Varma's book, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker (Westland-Amazon), was launched in April 2018, with the presentation of the first copy to the Hon'ble President of India. The book has also been published in Hindi, and Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, and Gujarati translations will be out shortly. The book has just won the Bengaluru Literature Festival prize for the Best Book of Non-Fiction for the year 2018. In 2018 he has also been conferred an Honorary Doctorate by the Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management for his book Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker (Westland-Amazon).

Mr. Varma has received the Kalinga International Literary Award 2019.

Mr. Varma's latest book is 'The Great Hindu Civilisation: Achievement, Neglect, Bias and the Way Forward' (Westland-Amazon).

Mr. Varma was conferred an Honorary Doctoral Degree for his contribution to the fields of diplomacy, literature, culture, and aesthetics by the University of Indianapolis in 2005. Mr. Varma was also awarded by His Majesty the King of Bhutan, the Druk Thuksey Award, Bhutan's highest civilian award. He is the only serving Indian Ambassador in Bhutan to have received this award. Mr. Varma has also received the Lifetime Achievement Award by his school, St Xavier's Delhi, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award by St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi. In February 2019, he was conferred the First 'Wordsmith Award' by the Words Count Festival in Pune. He has also been awarded the Kalinga International Literary Award for 2019.

A widely admired public speaker and television commentator, Pavan K. Varma's columns appear regularly in The Times of India, The Asian Age and several other leading publications. Mr. Varma was till 1st January 2013 the Indian Ambassador to Bhutan, after which he took premature retirement from service. In the same month, Mr Varma joined as Adviser (Culture) to the Chief Minister of Bihar, with the rank of

Cabinet Minister. With effect from June 2014, he was a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) until July 2016. He was a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, Committee on Government Assurances, and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He was also been nominated to the Samsad (Court) of the Visva Bharati University, West Bengal, and the Court of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Mr. Varma lives in Delhi.

Pavan Varma speaking at Ghalib anniversary function