As a former public servant, diplomat and scholar, his contribution to thinking about South Asian and world history is a debt many owe him. Reflecting on a wide canvas, including India's culture, diversity and the richness of its literary and intellectual history, Gandhi has been a committed loyalist of the essay as a form of expression through decades of writing for news dailies and monthly magazines. These curated essays from his larger oeuvre have allowed him the precision of form to express the urgency and vitality of its varied subjects.