In 2004, he was named a member of the committee set up by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah to draft a ten years charter for Muslim nations at a special conference in Mecca. In March 2006 he joined The Brookings Institution, Washington, as a Visiting Fellow in the Brookings Project on U.S. Policy towards the Islamic world. He also serves as chairman of the trust for the Calcutta Muslim Orphanage.

Ranjan Pal is an adventurer in both his professional and personal life. Professionally he has had a rich and diverse record of accomplishments at the leadership level in a variety of fields ranging from investment banking to education. Personally, he now pursues his twin passions for the outdoors and for travel writing. Combining all these passions, he has been on various adventures and cultural journeys over the last several years, and his travel pieces appear frequently in a number of top global travel media including Condè Nast Traveller, Travel + Leisure, CNN Travel and National Geographic Traveller. More details about his profile and his writings can be found on www.ranjanpal.com

When it comes to travel writing, he is a great believer that in exploring other countries and cultures one gets to know oneself better, an idea best expressed by the iconic American writer Henry Miller who wrote: “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”