Keynote SpeakerWilliam Mark Tully

Sir Mark Tully is a leading British broadcaster and writer whose integrity and wide vision has been recognized by the major British award for journalism, the Bafta Dimbleby Award. He is accepted as being ‘incomparable’ among foreign correspondents. He has also been awarded the OBE and was knighted recently for his long and exceptionally distinguished career. He has also, quite exceptionally, been recognized by the Indian government for his work in writing and reporting on India for a world audience for over 25 years with the award of the high honour of the Padma Shri Award from the President of India.

In addition to his political journalism and empathetic portraits of Indian culture in articles and books, notably from the point of view of the poor, he has been presenting a spiritually rooted BBC programme, Something Understood, which has been broadcast every Sunday for almost twelve years in the UK and attracts a regular audience of close to a million listeners and has established a wide and loyal following and a high-profile reputation.

Something Understood always reflects the spiritual dimension of life, although some subjects are more overtly spiritual or theological than others. The programme also reflects Mark’s own wide ranging sympathy, intelligent curiosity and imaginative response to the challenges of living a fully realized ethical life, personal and social. The inclusion of music, poetry, prose, and conversation is part of how he creatively approaches his subjects and allows truths to emerge with the complexity that reflects human experience.

Mark Tully is now working on a book about his own spiritual growth exploring the themes that he has looked at in Something Understood.

Some popular books authored by Mark Tully
• Amritsar: Mrs Gandhi’s Last Battle
• No Full Stops in India
• India in Slow Motion
• Non-Stop India
• The Lives of Jesus