Humanities and Languages

Sudeep Chakravarti is an author, independent researcher, and analyst of South Asian geopolitics and geo-economics, as well as a historian, a columnist, an essayist, and a media consultant. He was the Founder-Director of the Center for South Asian Studies (C-SAS) at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), coordinator of the South Asian Studies Minor programme at ULAB, and the initiator of various thought platforms and literary activities. He also taught journalism, South Asian literature, conflict studies, and ethics.

He is the author of several non-fiction works encompassing history, culture, politics, ethnography, Indian and South Asian security issues, regional geopolitics and geo-economics, conflict and conflict resolution, the intersection of democracy and development, and the intersection of business and human rights. He has extensively written on these subjects in the media, and participated in numerous local and global forums to address these matters.

He has nearly four decades of experience in media and worked with global and Indian organisations, including The Asian Wall Street Journal, where he began his career, and subsequently held leadership positions at Sunday magazine, India Today magazine, India Today Group, and HT Media, the publishers of Hindustan Times and Mint. He blueprinted two of India’s leading thought platforms, the India Today Conclave and the Hindustan Times Leadership Initiative.

As a media consultant, he has helped to blueprint and launch several publications, including Rolling Stone magazine’s India edition in 2008, where he was the Editor-at-Large. He also initiated the ‘Making of Modern India’ project for livehistoryindia.com over 2020-2021.

As one of India’s earliest media convergence and integrated newsroom specialists, Sudeep’s experience is multimedia across print (magazines and newspapers), digital, and television platforms. He was also the Editor of India Today Group Online and the Executive Editor of India’s first digital newspaper, newspapertoday.com, launched by India Today Group. In his various media roles and functions, he worked across the domains of reporting, writing, editing, blueprinting, and planning and management.

He co-founded Coastal Impact with other scuba diving enthusiasts in Goa, India. A not-for-profit, Coastal Impact evangelises marine conservation to school and university students, conducts regular underwater clean-up of trash and ghost nets, and participates in research related to marine biodiversity.

Maoist Insurgency, Business and Human Rights, Northeast India, Foreign Policy, Eastern South Asia, Medieval India, Colonial and Military History.

Books

• Fallen City: A Double Murder, Political Insanity, and Delhi’s Descent from Grace. Aleph Book Company, 2024. ISBN (Hardback): ISBN-10: ‎ 8119635175; ISBN-13: ‎ 978-8119635177
• The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East. Simon and Schuster, 2022. ISBN (Hardback): 978-93-92099-21-2; ISBN (e-Book): 978-93-92099-26-7 (Longlisted for the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2023)
• Plassey: The Battle that Changed the Course of Indian History. Aleph Book Company, 2020. ISBN (Hardback): 978-81-943657-2-3 (Recognition Award for Military History at Military Literature Festival, Lucknow, 2022)
• The Baptism of Tony Calangute – A novel. Aleph Book Company, 2018. ISBN: 978-93-86021-96-0
• The Bengalis: A Portrait of a Community. Aleph Book Company, 2017. ISBN (Hardback): 978-93-86021-04-5 (Finalist at Tata Literature Live Awards 2018, and Hindu Lit for Life Awards 2018)
• Clear.Hold.Build: Hard Lessons of Business and Human Rights in India. Collins Business, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2014. ISBN (Hardback): 978-93-5136-299-9 (Winner of the Award for Excellence at Asian Publishing Awards 2014)
• Highway 39: Journeys through a Fractured Land. 4th Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2012. ISBN: 978-5029-334-8
• The Avenue of Kings – Three connected novellas. HarperCollins, 2010. ISBN: 978-93-5029-020-0
• Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. Penguin-updated paperback, 2009: ISBN: 978-0-14-306653-8; Viking hardback, 2008: ISBN: 0-67-008133-7 (Finalist at Crossword awards in 2009)
• Tin Fish – A novel. Republished by HarperCollins, 2011: ISBN: 978-93-5029-176-4; first published by Penguin, 2008: ISBN: 0-14-400013-X
• The Other India (Ed.). Books Today, 2000. ISBN: 81-87478-05-5
• The India Today Book of Cartoons (Ed.). Books Today, 2000. ISBN: 0-670-88271-2

Commemorative/Collectors’ Volumes

• The Millennium Series – India Today (Ed.) 3 Volumes
• Vol. 1: 100 People Who Shaped India in the 20th Century
• Vol. 2: Past 1000 years: Come Home to History
• Vol. 3: India Tomorrow: The Millennium Agenda
• India Today Group, 2000

In Anthologies

• Art of War (reportage/essay) in A Thousand Cranes for India (Pallavi Iyer, Ed.). Seagull Books, 2020. ISBN: 978-0-8574-2-744-1
• Alien in Your Own Land: Journeys of Identity, Democracy and Development in India (reportage/essay) in Viagems de Longo Corso: Roteiros e Mapeações/ Long-distance Travels: Routes and Mappings (Anabela Mendes, Helena Romão, Eds). Universidade Católica Editora, Lisboa, 2016. ISBN-13: 9789725405192
• Some Socio-economic Aspects of the Maoist Insurgency in India (essay) in Non-State Armed Groups in South Asia (Arpita Anant, Ed.). Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses & Pentagon Press, 2012). ISBN: 978-81-8274-575-9
• The Maoist Rebellion: A Journey to Outland (essay) in More than Maoism: Politics, policies and insurgencies in South Asia (Robin Jeffrey, Ronojoy Sen and Pratima Singh, Eds.). Manohar; National University of Singapore-Institute of South Asian Studies, 2012. ISBN: 978-81-7304-933-0
• The Box (short story) in Vislumbres – Familias, Families, Famílias (Lola Mac Dougall, Ed.). India & Ibero-America, Vol. 3, 2010
• My House is Your House (short story) in Tehelka Special Issue of Short Stories (Jai Arjun Singh, Ed.). January 2009

Articles/ Columns

Several hundred articles, essays and columns in several publications, including Mint, The Asian Wall Street Journal, Die Zeit, Sunday, India Today, India Today Group Online, newspapertoday.com, Hindustan Times, Outlook, Outlook Traveller, Doinik Bonik Barta, Business Today, The Hindu, TheWire.in, Firstpost.in, Forbes, Fortune, Businessworld, OPEN, The Telegraph, India Quarterly, Seminar, Biblio, Welt-Sichten, DNA; The Gateway House, livehistoryindia.com and Rolling Stone-India. In addition, numerous interviews given to publications in India and overseas on subjects as diverse as literature, history, internal security, and South Asian and regional policy and strategic affairs. 

• Please click here for a partial list of several dozen ‘Subcontinental Drift’ columns published in Dhaka Tribune from 2022 onward.
• Please click here for a partial list of several hundred ‘Root Cause’ columns and other articles published in Mint from 2009 to 2020.
• Numerous articles published in India Today magazine from 1991 to 2002. (Paywalled archive. Please reach Professor Chakravarti for specific queries.)
• Numerous articles published in Sunday magazine from 1988 to 1991. (Some articles are available upon request. The bulk of the articles are in the archives of ABP Group.)
• Several articles published in The Asian Wall Street Journal from 1985 to 1988. (Some articles are available upon request. The remainder are in the archives of WSJ Asia/WSJ/Dow Jones & Co.)
• Please click here for several columns and articles published in OPEN magazine.
• Please click here for some columns published in firstpost.com

Miscellaneous articles (select list)

• Ground Report: As the fire was lit in Bangladesh in India Today (issue dated 19 August 2024; published online on 9 August 2024). Read it here
• There Goes the Neighbourhood in The New Indian Express magazine (in print, 18 August 2024; online on 17 August 2024). Read it here
• The (thrilling) Art of a Serious Literary Pursuit in The Daily Star (10 September 2022). Read it here
• The Long Pursuit of Lasting Peace in Nagaland in Outlook (29 August 2022). Read it here
• Plassey: Myths and Reality in The Daily Star (27 June 2022). Read it here
• Let there be greed for peace and prosperity. Interview with Morung Express (21 May 2022). Read it here
• Gandhi in Noakhali: The Bloody Battle for East Bengal in LiveHistoryIndia/Peepultree (29 January 2021). Read it here
• Into the nuances of history: Sudeep Chakravarti unpacks the Battle of Plassey. Interview with The Daily Star (25 June 2020). Read it here
• Robert Clive was an 18th century noveau-riche dream come true. Interview with The Times of India (24 June 2020, all editions). Read it here
• Manipur’s Conflict Economy in DNA - Daily News & Analysis (20 December 2016). Read it here
• Naga framework remains an inside job between the signatories in Hindustan Times (4 July 2016) Read it here
• Colombo, Sri Lanka: The thrill of wrecks in Mint Lounge (28 March 2015). Read it here
• The Scam Economy in India Today Special Issue - IT @ 40 (Issue dated 21 December 2015). Read it here
• A New Benchmark for Human Rights on the London School of Economics Blog (7 November 2015). Read it here
• India's Demographic Tsunami in OPEN magazine (8 July 2010). Read it here

Miscellaneous interviews conducted, miscellaneous videos (select list)

• Gandhi’s Return to India. Research, Script and V/O for the Milestone series, The Making of Modern India project (31 March 2021). On YouTube
• Jallianwala Bagh: British Empire's Dark Day. Research, Script and V/O for the Milestone series, The Making of Modern India project (26 March 2021). On YouTube
• India and the First World War. Research, Script and V/O for the Milestone series, The Making of Modern India project (14 March 2021). On YouTube
• Understanding Modern India. Interview of Professor Rudrangshu Mukherjee for The Making of Modern India project (13 March 2021). On YouTube
• Rabindranath Tagore: Asia’s First Nobel Winner. Research, Script and V/O for the Milestone series, The Making of Modern India project (10 March 2021). On YouTube
• India’s Foreign Policy Journey. Interview of Ambassador TCA Raghavan for The Making of Modern India project (7 March 2021). On YouTube
• The Imperial Delhi Durbar of 1911. Research, Script and V/O for the Milestone series, The Making of Modern India project (5 March 2021). On YouTube
• Grandfather Gandhi: The Man and his Agenda. Interview of Professor Rajmohan Gandhi for The Making of Modern India project (13 February 2021). On YouTube
• Understanding Gandhi. Interview of Ramachandra Guha for The Making of Modern India project (7 February 2021). On YouTube

Conferences/ Seminars/Keynotes/Panels (select list)

• Role and Influence of Emerging Middle Powers. Participant in a select survey of multinational experts by Gateway House, Mumbai, Körber Foundation, Berlin, BRICS Policy Centre, Brazil, and South Africa Institute of International Affairs (30 October - 18 November 2024).
• India & Bangladesh: The meltdown, the fallout, and the recalibration. Divisional Seminar -- Social Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Ahemdabad University (23 October 2024).
• India-Bangladesh fallout: Need for recalibration and mutual respect. Keynote and interaction at Goa Institute of Management (5 September 2024). On YouTube
• Great Game to Great Goal: On Fast-tracking Trade and Connectivity in Eastern South Asia. Keynote/ Public Lecture at International Centre, Goa, India, under the aegis of Goa Institute of Management (21 May 2024). On YouTube
• Differences in Dialect: Diversity & Dignity. Speaker at event organized by ULAB Kaleidoscope Club, an initiative of the Center for Enterprise and Society, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (5 March 2024).
• Is Myanmar Unraveling? Implications for Bangladesh and the Region. Speaker alongside Ambassador Md Touhid Hossain, former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh and, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Interim Government of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, Dhaka (22 February 2024).
• Navigating Geopolitical Realities: The Role of Language and Literature. Lecture for the Curriculum Integration Program of the Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (12 February 2024).
• Plassey: Myth, Reality and Memory – A Brief Study of the Battle that Changed the Course of South Asian History. Lecture for the Monday Morning Lecture of Friends of the Museums, Singapore (29 January 2024).
• Hydro-Diplomacy in South Asia: An Urgent Imperative. Speech at the 9th International Water Conference, ActionAid Bangladesh, Dhaka (25 January 2024).
• Great Game to Great Goal: On Fast-tracking Trade and Connectivity in Eastern South Asia. Keynote at the Rethinking Economics Festival, Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan (26 October 2023).
• A Home for No One: Manipur and Belonging in the Idea of India. Speaker at student seminar organized by Voyages into the Past, Presidency University, Kolkata and Jadavpur University, Kolkata (4 September 2023).
• Role of Media in National Security. Speaker at roundtable organized by Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, Dhaka (22 August 2023).
• Ethno-Political Crisis in Manipur and Implications for Regional Security. Address at The Takshashila Institute, Bengaluru, for 90 serving officials of the Government of India, including several from the armed forces (27 July 2023).
• Reclaiming Memory, Reclaiming Honour. Paper and Presentation in the session, ‘Ethnicity and Indigenous people of South and Southeast Asia’ at the 9th South and Southeast Asian Association for the Study of Culture and Religion (SSEAR) Conference on ‘Sacredness, Symbolism and Society: Practices in South and Southeast Asia’, Kathmandu, Nepal (2-4 April 2023).
• The Great Supply Chain Shift from China to South Asia? Participation as Director, Center for South Asian Studies, ULAB, at a by-invitation round table hosted by Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, Mumbai, and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Japan (22 March 2023).
• English/Ingréji: Navigating Bilinguality. Lecture at the Discourse Series Seminar, Department of English & Modern Languages, North South University, Dhaka (12 March 2023).
• Bangladesh: Singularly Plural – The Perceptions and Reality of a Rainbow Nation. Lecture and Discussion at Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (24 February 2023).
• 75 Years of Partition. Keynote address at Seminar organized by Shiv Nadar University at India International Centre, New Delhi (20 January 2023).
• Plassey: The Battle that Changed the Course of Indian History. Talk and interaction hosted by the Department of English & Modern European Languages, Lucknow University (6 December 2022).
• War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East. Presentation of my book and work at Surya (Central) Command, Indian Army, Lucknow (5 December 2022).
• North-east Won’t Wait. A discussion on my book, The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East with Lt Gen. (retd) Konsam Himalay Singh, Military Literature Festival, Lucknow (6 November 2022). On YouTube
• The Media-Ethics Cauldron: Myths, Realities and Futures. Dhaka Media Summit Masterclass (10 March 2022).

Professor Chakravarti delivered numerous keynotes, talks, lectures, seminars, panels and masterclasses in institutions worldwide, such as the Indian Institutes of Management at Ahmedabad and Indore, India; Army War College, Mhow, India; The Naval Academy, Panaji, India; CRPF Academy, Mt Abu, India; the Bundestag, Berlin; the University of Bonn; Simon Fraser University, Vancouver; University of Braga, Portugal; Catholic University, Lisbon; Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Goa; Brac University, Dhaka; Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi; Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Manipal Institute of Communications, Manipal, India; St Xavier’s College, Kolkata; Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi; Deutsche Bank’s global investors’ meets in Mumbai and Singapore; several Economist Intelligence Unit CEO Forums in India; The Gateway House, Mumbai; Royal Thimphu College, Thimphu, Bhutan; Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida, India; Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal; North South University, Dhaka; Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Siem Reap, Cambodia; Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, Dhaka; and The Royal Academy, Pangbisa, Paro, Bhutan among many others.

In addition, he has spoken as solo speaker or panelist at numerous literary festivals, book launches and literary gatherings in India and abroad and attended numerous major seminars/conferences in India, Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, and South America, besides those listed.