Elsa Angel Rose
“I’m hoping to have a very open conversation about writing history, about why it’s important, about writing biographies, and why I feel human nature is important in creating history,” Shared Narayani Basu, the author of the best seller, ‘A Man for All Seasons: The Life of K.M. Panikkar.’ The historian and foreign policy analyst is in Goa for the “Writer’s Studio” Initiative at the International Centre Goa (ICG) today. She added on the conversations she hopes to have there, “I feel the narrative in nonfiction is something that is very difficult to create and needs some discussion. The Writer’s Studio will also be a great space to talk about issues that are of relevance now.” She has authored books, namely, ‘The Unsung Architect of Modern India’, ‘Allegiance: Azaadi and the End of Empire’, and ‘A Man for All Seasons: The Life of K.M. Panikkar.’ The author is vested in the unsung heroes of the Indian independence movement and the seasons of creating modern India. On her motivation to write about people who give voices to the prominent leaders who are popular and are always considered pioneers of revolutions, Narayani Shared, “When we’re writing about something like the independence movement, or something like a prominent revolution, one tends to forget the fact that there are people behind the scenes who are doing incredibly instrumental work. One tends to forget that a revolution is not just politicians and political voices and slogans, but there are also people behind the scenes to do the paperwork, to do the diplomacy, to have the conversations that are required to legitimise the revolution or a freedom movement.” She added, “So that is something that really interests me, because I think, you know, a movement like the independence movement has so many popular faces and household names. But we tend to forget the people who maintain those household names and the work that they do off stage. So that’s my motivation, to give more recognition to those people.” Her upcoming project is ‘Renegade: The Life of T. N. Seshan’, a biography of an Indian Election Commissioner, which is slated for publication by HarperCollins India in October 2026. Since the special intensive revision is going on, a book that dives deep into the life and perspective of a once-in-power election commissioner is going to be insightful. Narayani shared, “The book on T. N. Seshan is co-authored with a journalist friend of mine, Abhishek Mehrotra. And both of us really felt that it was the right time to write about this man. He was the man who really made the Election Commission what it was always meant to be. And I think, I mean, both of us felt that there could not be a better moment to sort of remind ourselves that this was a man who was unafraid to speak truth to power.” Narayani Basu is speaking at the International Centre Goa (ICG) today at 6 pm. The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of ICG’s “Writers Studio” initiative and will have more engaging and insightful discussions on the craft of writing, the importance of discussing relevant issues and more.
