Pavan Varma ignites introspection

 Celebrated author Pavan Varma addresses Chandigarh Literary Society

The author of 19 bestselling and highly regarded books, Mr Pavan Varma was in the city on the invitation of Chandigarh Literary Society who unveiled the agenda for every Indian to be the change agent for the betterment of the country.

Mr Varma who has been press secretary to the President of India, official spokesman of the Foreign Office, director general of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and India’s ambassador to Bhutan, took premature retirement on 1st January 2013, from the Indian Foreign Service, and got involved in active involved in public life.

Having written 19 best sellers, Pavan Varma is best known for The Great Indian Middle Class; Being Indian: The Truth about Why the 21st Century will be India’s and Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity.

His latest book “Chanakya’s New Manifesto: To Resolve the Crisis Within India” published by Aleph Book Company formed the backdrop of his interaction with local literati to initiate the debate on how everyone can contribute to change India for the better, informed Mrs.Sumita Misra, President of Chandigarh Literary Society. .

Modelled on Chanakya’s seminal fourth century treatise—the Arthashashtra—Mr Varma has worked out a practical and detailed plan to bring about reform and change in five key areas that require urgent attention—governance, democracy, corruption, security, and the building of an inclusive society.

Whether it is laying the foundation for an independent and effective Lokpal, or decriminalizing politics and successfully weeding out the corrupt, the solutions he proposes are substantive, well within the constitutional framework, and can make all the difference between intent and action.

As Mr Varma puts it in the introduction to the book, ‘As a civilization, India has shown a remarkable talent in reinventing itself. That is the secret of our survival through an incredible 5,000-year-long journey. We have been known as a civilization in which moulik soch or the power of original thought was cultivated. This is a legacy that we can, and must, revive.

“We are fortunate that our founding fathers bequeathed to us a framework of a functioning democratic order through a farsighted constitution. We do not need to throw this aside, or to transplant, borrow or mimic what others have done. But what we do need to do is to make the system that was bequeathed to us work. For, it is obvious to anyone except to those who deliberately choose to be blind, that the current manner of functioning of our nation is unacceptable. Our future is at stake. The future of our youth, and upcoming generations, is at stake. There is no time to be lost,” he says.

Both a call to action as well as a deeply insightful account of the challenges facing the country today, Chanakya’s New Manifesto is a book that should be attentively read by everybody with a stake in India’s future, added Mrs Sumita Misra.

What the reviewers are saying about Chanakya's New Manifesto

Mr. Pavan Varma's new book, Chanakya's New Manifesto: To Resolve the Crisis Within India, is a journey through the ideological terrain of modern India striving to streamline governance, hone the democratic apparatus to make it more inclusive, purge corruption and install foolproof security—key areas that continue to throw up fresh challenges 66 years after Independence.'—Hindustan Times

'Simple, lucid and easy for the young to relate to, [Pavan] Varma presents his prescription for change in the form of a political manifesto—a point-wise analysis of the problems and their solutions.'—Zee News

'A thoughtful analysis of India in its current state for the inquisitive youth who believe in redressal and redemption.'—The Times of India

'Chanakya famously strategized to overthrow the corrupt Dhana Nanda, ruler of Pataliputra, and replace him with Chandragupta who eliminated misgovernance and ruled what was the first pan-Indian empire. Unlike Chanakya, [Pavan] Varma does not suggest an overthrow of the system. Varma's New Manifesto (even if he modestly calls it Chanakya's) is full of ideas within the constitutional framework of India.'—India Today

Mr. Pavan Varma would be in Chandigarh on 29th March at UT Guest House, Sector 6, Chandigarh at 5pm. Will you be there? 

Chanakaya's New Manifesto

The celebrated author of 'Chanakya's New Manifesto' and former Ambassador of India to Bhutan, Mr. Pavan Varma, will be the guest speaker at Chandigarh Literary Society on Friday, 29th March 2013, at the CII Convention Centre, Sector 31 from 5pm - 7pm.

Chanakya’s New Manifesto published by Aleph, is both a call to action as well as a deeply insightful account of the challenges facing the country today. It is a book that should be attentively read by everybody with a stake in India’s future, and how anyone can effect positive change in the country.

Mr. Pavan Varma, had been the former press secretary to President of India, official spokesman of the Foreign Office, director general of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and India’s ambassador to Bhutan. Having taken premature retirement from the Indian Foreign Service, he now seeks to be actively involved in public life.

Pavan K. Varma has authored several acclaimed and bestselling books, among them, Ghalib: The Man, The Times; Krishna: The Playful Divine; The Great Indian Middle Class; Being Indian: The Truth About Why the 21st Century Will be India’s; Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity and When Loss is Gain.

He has also translated into English the poetry of Gulzar, Kaifi Azmi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

This will be an interesting session and we look forward to everyone's participation.  

Write to Express...Not Impress.

Getting down to writing is the most challenging part.  To look for the right idea, the right inspiration, the right supportive system, and lot more that pushes one to pick up pen and paper and write the first sentence. And we are sure that today's boot camp for the aspiring authors was full of quaint energy one could feel around in the room as 50 odd young and not-so-young sat glued to their seats for two hours to interact with a publisher, and an author.

RJ turned publisher, Hardeep Chandpuri, did an apt reality check on the business of writing and then getting it published.  It is tough to write, he said, and the tougher to find the publisher and get your work published. But the toughest is to distribute your book and reach out to the diverse reader, he added. 

Sharing his disturbing brush with some of the publishers and even a literary agent, made him wonder at his writing but more than anything else, helped him start a new publishing venture, 'Ferntree' and 'Writeway Literary Facilitators' to help and mentor the budding authors. 

Though ebook is already challenging the brick and mortar publishers, India would continue to be haven for the traditional publishing as large number of readers with no access to digital domain would love to hold, feel and rejoice at the smell printer's ink emanating from the 'real' book, explained Hardeep.

Books continue to however excite and there is no match to the experience of finding  copies of one's book adorning the book shops...as the author of debut best-seller, 'Move on Bunny', Vivek Atray, shared the elation he experienced in  finding 'Bunny' staring at him on a book stall on Haridwar railway station, or in the book store of a remote city. 

Preeti Singh, whose crime thriller 'Flirting with Fate' has caught readers' attention and has won her two awards too, shared the journey of five years she undertook in writing it and getting it published, involving writing and rewriting, numerous revisions, and of course, the pleasure of adding a few real-life characters that infact, generated quite a curiosity amongst them to get hold of the book once it is published.

"My aim as a debut writer had been just to reach out to the maximum number of people", and having sold a sizable number of the book with her own marketing pitches to the book sellers, she said, she feels contented in having done so.

Her advice to the budding authors had been not to use verbose language and instead make it simple and straightforward which a common man can understand.

"Do not write to impress...but to express," she said.

There had been interesting interaction with the participating wanting to know about the real travails of getting published, dealing with the publishers, and reaching out to the readers. 

CLS President Sumita Misra affirmed that one should get published on the book's merit and not by finding any short-cuts. Numerous publishers would use different ploys to undervalue the author and their work, but one should be firm and continue to look around for more options.

Aspiring Authors' Boot Camp

Chandigarh Literary Society invites you to an exclusive boot camp for the budding authors who aspire to get published.  Learn the techniques and tips from the Experts on 23rd February from 3:30pm till 5:00pm.

Click here to confirm your seat.  Please be seated by 3:15pm. 

Get Published

There is a good news for all those who are submitting their entries for the Poetry Writing Competition (PWC2013).  Chandigarh Literary Society has decided to publish some of the best submissions in the form of an anthology after the competition.

The jury shall be selecting the best poems that we receive for the competition and convert them into an eBook. It is quite a possibility that we shall have the printed version also, which of course, would be priced one.  Those of you whose poem finds an entry into the anthology would of course get one free copy of the printed version (if it happens), and opportunity to order more copies at a special author price.  However, the details would be shared once we finalise it with the publisher.

So hurry. Don't miss the opportunity.

Last Date for PWC2013 is 28th

Wake up the poet in you and send in your entry for our poetry writing competition (PWC2013) before 28th February. Yes, the date stands extended.

We have already received an amazingly overwhelming response, and are grateful to all the coordinators.


And don't forget to go through the Terms & Conditions of participation. You can click here to read or download the same.

Those who have already submitted their entries may also send in their brief profile with a photograph.  The entries received so far would be acknowledged individually by email after the last date.