Two Saints (HB)

Arun Shourie

Arun Shourie (born 2 November 1941) is an Indian economist, journalist, author and politician. He has worked as an economist with the World Bank, a consultant to the Planning Commission of India, editor of the Indian Express and The Times of India and a Minister of Communications and Information Technology in the Vajpayee Ministry (1998–2004). He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1982 and the Padma Bhushan in 1990. Popularly perceived as one of the main Hindu nationalist intellectuals during the 90s and early 2000s, for instance writing controversial works on Islam and Christianity apart from attacks on left-wing ideologues, he now considers himself skeptical of religions in general while having affinities for Buddhism that he considers "closest to reason." This skepticism was born out of the contemplation of bringing up his disabled son and taking care of his ailing wife, experiences he shared in the 2011-book Does He Know a Mother's Heart: How Suffering Refutes Religion, suggesting that "for dealing with life and what it sends us, the Buddha's position is the most helpful