Gurcharan Das is an author, commentator and thought leader. He was CEO, Procter & Gamble India and later Managing Director, Procter & Gamble Worldwide (Strategic Planning). He graduated with honors from Harvard University and later attended Harvard Business School (AMP) where he is featured in three case studies. He is on a number of boards and is a regular speaker to the managements of the world’s largest corporations.
After a 30-year career, he took early retirement to become an author. His latest book, Kama: The Riddle of Desire, examines how to cherish desire in order to live a rich, flourishing life, arguing that if dharma is a duty to another, kama is a duty to oneself. He has written two international bestsellers. India Unbound was called 'a quiet earthquake' by the Guardian and has been published in 17 languages and filmed by BBC. The Difficulty of Being Good: On the subtle art of dharma (Penguin 2009) is a riveting examination of moral failure and corruption in our modern world. His last book, India Grows at Night: a liberal case for a strong state was on FT's list of the best books in 2013.
He writes a regular column in the Times of India and six Indian language newspapers, and periodically contributes to the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal Foreign Affairs, and New York Times. His other literary works include a novel, A Fine Family, a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm, and an anthology, Three Plays. He is presently editing for Penguin The Story of Indian Business in 15 volumes, of which eleven have already appeared He lives in New Delhi with his wife.