K.M. Panikkar was a young student at Oxford when the First World War changed his life and his mind forever. Known today as India’s most controversial ambassador to both Nationalist China and the People’s Republic of China, Panikkar was many other things: an anarchist, a novelist, a poet, a lawyer, a historian, a foreign policy mandarin and an academic. Yet through the entire arc of his career – against a backdrop of revolution and war, princes and politicians – Panikkar never stopped thinking about India: its past, its present and its future. At our Online Talk #AnIdeaOfIndia, historian and author Narayani Basu expounds his view on India, which called into question such deeply ingrained categories as that of “nation,” “empire” and “identity.”

About the speaker

Narayani Basu is the bestselling author of V.P. Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India (Simon & Schuster India, 2020) and Allegiance: Azaadi & the End of Empire (Fifty Two Publications, 2022). A historian and foreign policy analyst, her current area of interest focuses on highlighting the less-known but key players behind the story of Indian independence. She lives in New Delhi.