Bertrand
Bertrand S. (Shambulinga) Gupta
Mother originally named him Shambulinga and changed it to Bertrand after seeing a philosophy book by Bertrand Russell in the library and a woman telling her that the philosopher was brilliant. Bertrand never uses his middle name, only the S.
Bertie
D.O.B. – November 17, 1957.
PLACE OF BIRTH – Putney, London, U.K.
HEIGHT – Six feet.
BUILD – Slender.
HAIR COLOR – Brown, short.
EYE COLOR – Brown.
DISTINGUISHING MARKS – None.
FAMILY – British father, Ramesh Amand, British mother, Navi Bahtia Amand. No siblings. Brought up by his mother after his father died when he was 5 years old.
Extended family in Rajasthan India, whom he has never met.
PERSONALITY – Skilled and brilliant puzzle solver. Perseveres until a mystery or puzzle is solved. Logical. He has a high success rate of analyzing CIA problem situations accurately. The puzzle becomes vivid in his mind, and he drives it to a logical finding that becomes clear and nearly absolute.
HOBBIES – Puzzles of all types from Rubik Cubes to word games. Loves bridge, scrabble, and crossword puzzles, however, rarely plays with his work requiring most of his time.
PETS – None.
EDUCATION – Bachelor of Science in Political Science, University of Oxford, Christchurch College, Oxford, England. Minored in history.
OCCUPATION – Director of Intelligence, CIA.
CAREER – Recruited at the University of Oxford by the CIA. Originally a junior analyst who rose through the ranks because of his abilities. Asked to be the Director of Central Intelligence and does not want the position. He is happy where he is in Intelligence.
MODUS OPERANDI – Dedicated to his work as an analyst. Never political or ambitious, his skills have propelled his career and ingratiated him with his superiors as they do not feel threatened by him.
BOOKS APPEARS IN – Over the Line, Out of Time, Ecuador, Nemesis, Remilious.
OTHER INFORMATION – Dislikes anyone calling him by his nickname Bertie. Drinks Earl Grey tea with milk, learned from his mother and has never lost a taste for it.
Favorite animal – On the few occasions when he has vacationed, he has gone to areas with birds including the Everglades, Florida, Kruger National Park and Cape Town, South Africa.
Favorite book – Voracious reader before he sleeps at night and when time permits. Voltaire is a favorite and admired his ability to use stories to counter the church. Reads a wide variety of novels from George Orwell, Iain Banks, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, A. S Byatt, Irish Murdoch, David Guterson (Snow Falling on Cedars and East of the Mountains), Gabriel García Márquez, to Annie Prouix, Daphne du Maurier, Isabel Allende. Mysteries by Wilkie Collins (favorites – Woman in White and the Moonstone), Umberto Ecco (especially the Name of the Rose), all Arthur Conan Doyle, and Tony Hillerman’s Navajo novels. Many philosophy books especially Plato and Socrates.
Favorite music – Partial to opera and classical music: Purcell’s 1689 opera Dido and Aeneas, Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings, Erik Satie, the Gymnopédies.
Favorite weapon Values the mind and the written word, he belonged to the archery club at Oxford University.