A statue of India’s ancient Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar permanently resides near the entrance to the School of Oriental and African Studies – SOAS – at the University of London. Shown here (l-r) are: Padma Shri recipient John Marr, Wendy Marr, Ben Murtagh and Ramaswamy Balaji, First Secretary of the Indian High Commission. In July, SOAS secured a £5 million donation to create the SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies. (SOAS UK photo)