India has thousands of political and celebrity biographies — but not one well-researched biography of a contemporary Indian military leader. Dr. Arjun Subramaniam set out to fix that.

Subramaniam’s biography of General Nanavati — known for his maxim “honest mistakes are always forgiven, deliberate wrongdoing never” — fills a void he identified after writing two books on India’s wars from 1947 to 2020. He explains the rigorous requirements of objective military biography: primary sources, secondary triangulation, and access to people willing to speak candidly. Vaibhav Purandare, whose subject is drawn from the heart of the freedom struggle, adds that India’s history writing tradition has produced books that function better as sleeping pills — and argues for history that is faithful to documents but readable by human beings.

About the Speakers:
Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam (Retd.) is a military historian, academic, and former IAF fighter pilot. Author of the acclaimed India’s Wars series and Shooting Straight, he has held fellowships at Harvard and Oxford and teaches at Kautilya School of Public Policy and war colleges across services.

Vaibhav Purandare is Associate Resident Editor at The Times of India and author of several notable works including Hitler and India, Savarkar, Sachin Tendulkar: A Definitive Biography, and Bal Thackeray and The Rise of The Shiv Sena. His career reflects a deep engagement with politics, history, and culture.

Sunita Wazir is a Mumbai-based HR and Leadership Development professional with 29 years of experience. At Unilever and previously with Delta Air Lines and Tata Sons, she has led major change initiatives. She is passionate about mental health, psychological safety, and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion, especially for women, LGBTQI+ communities, and persons with disabilities.