Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel Haksar was born in Gwalior and educated at the Doon School and the universities of Allahabad and Oxford. A well-known translator of Sanskrit classics, he has also had a distinguished career as a diplomat, serving as Indian high commissioner to Kenya and the Seychelles, minister to the United States, and ambassador to Portugal and Yugoslavia. Haksar’s translations from the Sanskrit include Hitopadesa, Simhasana Dvatrimsik, Tales of the Ten Princes and Subhashitavali, all published as Penguin Classics. He has also compiled A Treasury of Sanskrit Poetry.