Pranay Gupte is a veteran international journalist, editor, author, and media consultant. He has had 14 books published. One of his previous works, Global Emirates: An Anthology of Tolerance and Enterprise, was published by Motivate in Dubai, and Rupa & Co. in India.
Mr. Gupte writes for The National, Khaleej Times, Gulf News, Portfolio, Institutional Investor, and other publications such as YaleGlobal - the online magazine of the Yale University Center for the Study of Globalization - and PostGlobal, the Web site of The Washington Post.
He is one of the most prolific writers and journalists I know. He gave me advice when I wrote a political biography five years ago. He will always make time for people and for mentoring. His contact book is extensive and it seems there are few people he cannot reach; from Hillary Clinton to top Indian politicians.
He cites alpha males he knows as “Prathap Chandra Reddy, founder of Apollo Hospitals (I've written his biography for Penguin,) Capt C P Krishnan Nair, founder of The Leela Group, Shashi Tharoor, Kamal Nath, David Davidar, Siddharth Varadarajan, Udayan Mitra, and N Ram.”
He co-authors books with major world figures and CEOs, like “Power and Influence: The Rules Have Changed," written with Robert L. Dilenschneider, published by McGraw-Hill.
Trying to interview Pranay or even to speak to him is a tall order as he travels between India, the Middle East and the rest of the world. He is kept busy as Director of Special Media Projects for Brand Dubai.
Mr. Gupte's daily column "Lunch at The Four Seasons," was a popular feature of The New York Sun for two years. It profiled leaders from all fields. Mr. Gupte continues writing opinion articles on the Middle East, India, trade and business, and multilateral diplomacy.
An economics and political-science graduate of Brandeis University in the United States, he also attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Mr. Gupte was a staff reporter and a foreign correspondent at The New York Times for 15 years, covering Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He was subsequently a global-affairs columnist at Newsweek International for 18 years, and a contributing editor at Forbes and Asian Finance magazines.
Pranay said that due to his many years as a foreign correspondent working in different time zones, he has the ability to fall asleep anywhere at any time.
He founded and edited The Earth Times, a newspaper focusing on economic development and environmental security, and published the paper from 1991 to 2003.
He was Business Editor of The New York Sun, Business Editor of The Daily Star in Beirut, and Global-Affairs Columnist at The Straits Times, Singapore. He has produced 50 documentaries for public television. Mr. Gupte also founded and led a publishing company, Earth Times Books. He has designed and run web sites for publications such as The Earth Times, Present Tense Magazine, and for the Festival of Thinkers.
Mr. Gupte served as a media consultant the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Brundtland Commission on Environment and Sustainable Development. He was the force behind the establishment of a private foundation in support of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. He has moderated and appeared in panels at the World Economic Forum's Davos, Columbia University and the Asia Society. Mr. Gupte has written for many widely known magazines, including The Atlantic, Forbes, People, Reader's Digest, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, and the Harvard International Review.
One of Mr. Gupte's earlier books, "Mother India: A Political Biography of Indira Gandhi," was the basis of a major television documentary on Lifetime Network, and received front-page reviews in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
Another book, "The Crowded Earth: People and the Politics of Population," was the source for a 13-part TV series on public television, "Profiles in Progress."
Mr. Gupte is an elected life member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York; and a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House, London), and The Asia Society (New York). He is also a member of Gulf2000, the by-invitation-only specialist community of diplomats, scholars and writers established by Columbia University.
He said that he was “Flattered and honoured to be profiled by The Asian Voice.” Mr Gupte’s favourite motto?
"Be kind, be gracious, be generous. And live in the present."
