Ramachandra Guha is a great scholar writer based in Bangalore, India. He was born in Dehradun on 29 April 1958. He did his schooling from The Doon School, where he was editor of The Doon School Weekly. He went on to do graduation in Economics from St. Stephen’s, post-graduation from Delhi School of Economics and then a fellowship program equivalent to PhD from IIM-C.
Ramachandra Guha has taught at various universities in India, Europe and North America and held a full-fledged chair at the London School of Economics. He has written on a wide range of topics including but not limited to environment, Indian history, cricket and biographies.
He is also a columnist for The Telegraph and Hindustan Times. Some of his books are The Uniquet Woods, An Indian Cricket Omnibus, India After Gandhi, etc. He has received numerous awards like the Leopold-Hidy prize for environmental history, R.K. Narayan prize at the Chennai Book Fair in 2003, Padma Bhushan in 2009 and Sahitya Akademi award for India after Gandhi.
Ramachandra Guha is a prolific and versatile writer. He has led a rich life till now. There are lessons to be learnt from both his writings and his life for any writer.
1. Good Education
A sound educational background strengthens your basics, not only academically but also socially. Your exposure to some of the best intellectual brains in the world in terms of teachers and fellow students broadens your own horizons. It is never too late for taking up studies. If there is an online or part-time course you always wanted to enroll in, find time to do it now. It need not be related to writing. Knowledge never goes to waste and you should never shy away from acquiring it.
2. Be a Good Reader
Ramachandra Guha is a discerning reader by his own admission. But he reads classics as well as latest works by new authors. He is a fan of Arundhati Roy. As a writer you should also try to read as many new books and authors as possible. It keeps you in tune with readers’ demands of the times and enriches your intellectual standing.
3. Write on Topics that Interest You
If you choose topics that are after your heart, you are bound to create your best pieces, whether you write an essay, a novella, a book or just a blog article. Keep yourself connected with current social happenings around you as well as globally. Such events make you feel at a personal level, which is ample fodder for great writing.
4. Foster a Healthy Writing Environment
A good writing environment is necessary for a writer. Ramachandra Guha enforces this belief even more. His quiet and idyllic home that he has made with his wife and two children make his creative juices flow even more.
5. Be Social
Solitude is often called a writer’s muse. But solitude only while writing. You should meet as many people as possible because interaction with people feed you with ideas that you will never get otherwise. Ramchandra Guha attends dinner parties, picnics with friends and is part of many groups and associations, which gives him the innovative ideas to write on such varied issues and topics.
Ramachandra Guha is a literature in himself and he will keep giving us literary lessons through each of his writings.
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