Abhijit Basu, one-time research scientist and former adminis­trator of government finances, is presently engaged as part-time independent director in the corporate sector. An avowed ad­mirer of the ideal of the Renaissance man, Basu has also been a life-long follower of the liberal arts, especially Sanskrit, English and Bengali literature, and history, apart from his keen interest in the sciences. Of late, Basu has been busy as an author and polymath editor, covering a broad spectrum of topics and ideas. His first book, ‘a collection of critical, scholarly and absorbing essays,’ titled Prophets, Poets and Philosopher-Kings: Sketches on India’s Spiritual & Literary Heritage (Celestial Books 2012), was well received: Versatile scholar Abhijit Basu’s analytical and interdisciplinary research into the eternal and transnational relevance of the overwhelming ancient India, enriched with lucid prose and current bibliography, is invaluable for aspiring researchers and students of literature and cultural studies. (The Tribune, 20 May 2012.) Basu hails from an old Kolkata-based house of civil servants, professionals and academics. He considers himself blessed in having had gentle exemplars as parents, and now an attached family to shower affections upon.