IMTIAZ ALI | DHANANJAYA Y. CHANDRACHUD, BIBEK DEBROY | NAMITA GOKHALE, MEENAKSHI GOPINATH | ARNAB GOSWAMI, RAIAN KARANJAWALA | LAKSHMI PURI, KIREN RIJIJU | SANJEEV SANYAL, VIJAY SHEKHAR SHARMA | DINESH SINGH, SHASHI THAROOR
‘Without doubt, those who have been invited to contribute are eminently qualified in several respects: they have made a name for themselves in their chosen profession; by and large, they have made a positive contribution not only to their profession but also to the larger public cause; and, whilst one may or may not agree with the political views they espouse or the trajectory that they may have embarked upon, they do stand out.’
Many of India’s most consequential nation-builders and opinion-makers have emerged from the hallowed grounds of India’s most sought-after educational institution—the University of Delhi or DU, as it is popularly known. Institutions have waxed and waned over the years, but DU has always succeeded in reinventing itself to meet the demands of every decade. It is, therefore, not surprising that its alumni include highly respected government leaders, artists, entrepreneurs and littérateurs, who have been central to India’s remarkable journey.
Delhi University: Celebrating 100 Glorious Years is an eclectic collection of personal narratives and reflections of some of the University’s most distinguished alumni and faculty—Amitabh Bachchan, Kiren Rijiju, Dinesh Singh, Meenakshi Gopinath, Shashi Tharoor, Bibek Debroy, Imtiaz Ali, Raian Karanjawala, Sanjeev Sanyal, Arnab Goswami, Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Lakshmi Puri, Namita Gokhale and Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Together, with editor Hardeep S. Puri, they celebrate the inimitable essence of DU—from its rich history, ethos and vibrant student life to its remarkable contribution to society and culture, both in India and across the globe.
Hardeep S. Puri excelled in academics, student politics and debating at Delhi University as a student, and went on to spend a year as a lecturer at one of the university’s colleges. He then had a distinguished four-decade career in diplomacy, spanning the bilateral and multilateral arena, and held ambassadorial posts in London and Brasilia, and as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in both Geneva (2002–05) and New York (2009–13). He is one of the few Indians to have presided over the United Nations Security Council and the first to have chaired its Counter Terrorism Committee.
He served as senior vice president at the New York-based International Peace Institute; secretary general of the Independent Commission on Multilateralism in New York; and chairman, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). He has been a member of the Council of Ministers since September 2017 and a Cabinet member of the Government of India since July 2019.
He is the author of Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos (2016); Delusional Politics: Back to the Future (2019); and Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: Decoding Dominant Narratives (2019).
