Blogging about it

Although born in Chandigarh,Varma spent eight years in Pune,from 1986 to 1994. “I have a strong Pune connection,since I studied at the Fergusson College. Also,my wife belongs to Pune and I keep visiting the city frequently,” says the former managing editor of Cricinfo India. Expressing concern over the fact that newspapers across the world are witnessing a very difficult period currently,Varma says the key to survival in such testing times is through constant thought evolution. “Breaking news isn’t happening anymore. Newspapers need to figure out what their strengths are and focus more closely on in-depth analysis,the Op-Ed Page and Features articles. Plus,a strong web presence is a must for broadsheet publications,” adds Varma,who was awarded the Bastiat Prize for Journalism for 2007,which aims to honour writers ‘whose work cleverly and wittily promotes the institutions of the free society’.

At 35,this former sports journalist has already garnered a lot of awards and recognition,including the Best Indiblog Award at the Indibloggies in 2005,with a repeat nomination in 2006. Then again,in April this year,he was named by BusinessWeek magazine as one of India’s 50 Most Powerful People 2009,something which he dismisses with a smile as,”A common mistake repeated by foreign magazines.”

Varma reveals that My Friend Sancho is the story of a crime reporter Abir Ganguly and his unlikely friendship with Muneeza,a.k.a. Sancho,the teenage daughter of a murder victim. It narrates the relationship between the glib,wisecracking ‘armchair cynic’ and the simple girl who ‘travels on buses’ and explores whether their fragile relationship can survive the circumstances that brought them together. “This novel is in no way autobiographical,and that’s a question I keep getting asked very often,” says this former columnist,who wrote the popular column Thinking It Through for the business newspaper Mint. “Through my stories,I hope to tell stories of great depth in very little time and would never allow substance to be the slave of the narrative style,” says Varma,whose first novel was nominated to the longlist for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2008. With writers such as Alice Munrow and Georges Simenon being his favourites,this is one author,who is sure to leave his distinctive imprint on the Indian literary firmament.