A journalist for 28 years, Samar’s last job was Managing Editor of the Hindustan Times. Samar holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and has been a visiting lecturer at the University of California-Berkeley and a fellow at the Nieman Foundation, Harvard University. Samar is the author of two books: Nirvana Under the Rain Tree, an early chronicle of India's Internet revolution; and The Married Man's Guide To Creative Cooking And Other Dubious Adventures. He writes a column on cooking for Mint and another on national affairs for Scroll.in. He has written columns for the New York Times, the Globe and Mail (Canada) and Hindustan Times. He has been a reporter and editor at the Times of India, India Today, Business Today and Indian Express. Samar received the Polestar National Award for Technology Reporting in 2001 and the Asian College of Journalism Investigative Reporting Award in 2018.