(11 July 1956) was born in Calcutta and brought up in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. Delhi and Oxford University have been prime institutions for his academic study. He is widely travelled man and even now he managed his time between Kolkata, Goa and Brooklyn. He has authored seven volumes of fiction and five volumes of nonfiction. Most of the novels authored by him remained best selling and he is crowned with a number of coveted awards: The Prix Medicis Etrangere (199); The Ananda Puraskar (1990); Sahitya Akademi (1990); Best American Essays(1995); Nomination for American Society of Magazine Editors Award (1999); The Arthur C. Clark Award (1996); The Pushcart Prize (1999); Grand Prize for Fiction; Frankfurt eBook Award (2001); Crossword Book Award(2005); Finalist, Kiriyama Prize (2006); Padma Shri Award (2007); Grinzane Cavour Prize (2007); Asian-American Literary Award (2007); Shortlisted, Man Booker Prize (2008); Crossword Book Award (2009); Indiaplaza Golden Quill Award(2009); Dan David Prize (2010) and Blue Metropolis International Literary Grand Prix (2011).