1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Today my guest is Narayani Basu, who is a historian and the author of the latest book,&amp;nbsp;A Man for All Seasons: The Life of K. M. Panikkar. Her last book was a biography of&amp;nbsp;V.P. Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India.&amp;nbsp; We talked about KM Panikkar, his comparison with VP Menon, the Indian nationalist movement in the interwar years, the origins of India’s diplomatic relationship with China, Pannikar’s Zionism and much more.&amp;nbsp; Recorded August 1st, 2025. Read a&amp;nbsp;full transcript&amp;nbsp;enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow&amp;nbsp;Shruti&amp;nbsp;on X Follow Narayani on X Click&amp;nbsp;here&amp;nbsp;for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:07) - The Elusive K. M. Panikkar (00:07:52) - Panikkar’s and the Indian National Movement (00:19:32) - Panikkar’s Intellectual Arc (00:26:45) - Unifying an Indian Identity (00:35:38) - India’s Princely States (00:40:19) - Panikkar and China (00:54:43) - Panikkar and the 1950s (00:59:43) - Panikkar’s Thought vs. His Government Work (01:08:35) - Panikkar’s Blind Spots (01:15:48) - Panikkar and Today’s India (01:18:27) - Outro Ideas of India https://ideasofindia.libsyn.com <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/37903935/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/192150910