By Pradeep Paul

THERE is a certain confidence that emanates from the new Indian High Commissioner to Singapore.

Dr T.C.A. Raghavan - for the record, those initials expand to Tirumallai Cunnuvakum Anandanpillai - doesn't rush his sentences, mulls over his responses and freely admits that he can't figure out his new mobile phone.

Born in Nagpur - his father is from Tamil Nadu and his mother is from Allahabad - where his father was working with the district administration, the young Raghavan spent his childhood days in Bhopal, Jammu and Delhi.

He achieved all his academic milestones in Delhi: Graduated from St Stephen's College, did an MA in history from Jawaharlal Nehru University and then completed a PhD in history from the same university.

When asked how he decided on becoming a diplomat, Dr Raghavan, who turns 54 next month, said: "I didn't have an epiphany at a precise moment about becoming a diplomat, but around the time I was completing my master's degree, it seemed among the more interesting options. When I sat for the civil services examination, I was quite interested in joining the administrative service. But, since I qualified for the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), I opted for that and have really enjoyed my career since."

This career has seen him hold posts in Kuwait, in Thimphu (Bhutan), in London and in Islamabad, with long stints at the IFS headquarters in New Delhi in between.

"I have enjoyed all my posts. Bhutan, with its unique culture, was enormously engaging; London gave a wide overview of many multilateral issues, and the four years I spent in Islamabad were very interesting," he added.

In Delhi, he was the director in the foreign minister's office and, most recently, in charge of the Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran desk.

Now that he is in Singapore - he is accompanied by his wife Ranjana who is the editorial director at Penguin Books, India while their daughters Pallavi, 25, and Antara, 18, are pursuing their studies in Cambridge and Delhi respectively - he is looking forward to further boosting relations between this country and India.

"I come here at a time when bilateral relations between India and Singapore are booming. It is a broad spectrum relationship. The challenge now therefore is to add value to something which is doing very well as it is. The India-Asean FTA has opened up new areas and my focus is also therefore going to be on the trade and investment aspects, particularly in areas of infrastructure, new end technologies as also in education.

"In the contemporary world, a great deal of diplomacy is now in the hands of citizen diplomats. So my effort will be to engage them - whether businessmen, academics, journalists, artists and tourists."

He also hopes to improve the level of high commission services so that the Indians in Singapore and those who want to visit India are better served.

As a student of history, Dr Raghavan has always been interested the relations between states and the impact of the past on the present. Not surprisingly, his reading choices are influenced by this passion: "I read a lot... history, politics, international relations, biographies mainly. And, of course, some fiction and thrillers."

While he finds it hard to pick a favourite author, he is currently enjoying Forgotten Wars by Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper "which also has a fascinating section on Singapore and Malaysia during the second World War". And just to prove that he's not only into history, he adds that the latest Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, does not measure up to The Da Vinci Code.

When it comes to music, he enjoys Indian classical and Bollywood beats, both old and new. "Though my children have tried to educate me, the pop music I like stops in the Seventies," he confesses.

Dr Raghavan's love for history seeps through to his movie choices too. Historical dramas and war films are the ones that draw him into the theatres, but a good thriller will have him queuing up for tickets too.

But for now he's more keen to explore the sights, sounds and flavours of Singapore. And since he enjoys walking - his other fitness activity is golf, about which he says "I play golf, badly but with enthusiasm" - he's going to be doing so by foot when possible.

As for that mobile phone problem - he couldn't find the call log function - his wife told him to hand the phone to their daughters who would have it figured out in minutes.