Rudrangshu Mukherjee | Shobita Punja | Toby Sinclair

Rudrangshu Mukherjee is Chancellor and Professor of History at Ashoka University of which he was the founding Vice Chancellor. He was educated at Calcutta Boys’ School, Presidency College, Calcutta, JNU, and St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was awarded a DPhil in Modern History by the University of Oxford. He has taught in the department of history, Calcutta University, and held visiting appointments at Princeton University, Manchester University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. From 1993 to 2014 he was the Editor, Editorial Pages, The Telegraph. He is the author of many books—these include Nehru & Bose: Parallel LivesAwadh in Revolt 1857–58A Study of Popular ResistanceSpectre of Violence: The Massacres in Kanpur in 1857The Year of Blood: Essays on 1857Dateline 1857: Revolt against the Raj. His recent books include A Begum and a Rani: Hazrat Mahal and Lakshmibai in 1857Tagore and Gandhi: Walking Alone, Walking Together, which won the Valley of Words Award, 2022, non-fiction; and Twilight Falls on Liberalism. He is the editor of Great Speeches of Modern India and The Penguin Gandhi Reader and the co-author of New Delhi: The Making of a Capital and India: Then and Now. 

Shobita Punja was the author of over fifteen books including Museums of India; Divine Ecstasy: The Story of Khajuraho; and Daughters of the Ocean: Discovering the Goddess Within. She was invited to lecture on Indian art at various institutions and universities in India and abroad and worked with several cultural organizations such as CCRT and INTACH, and served as CEO of the National Culture Fund, Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

Toby Sinclair is a London-born Scot who has been working in India for the last forty-five years. He has been involved in the production of wildlife, history, and cultural documentaries since 1995 and is a director at & Beyond Asia. He is a member of Ranthambhore Foundation’s executive committee and is a founder and past vice president of The Responsible Tourism Society of India. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, London, and received the Carl Zeiss Wildlife Conservation Award in 2007. He continues to be involved in conservation issues.