[1] In 1968, Varma had also "received a ‘distinction of honor’ from the State of California and a fellowship for ‘outstanding ability and signal evidence of scholarship and proficiency in research" from a subsidiary of the degree mill Sequoia University.
[4] Varma joined the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles regiment and fought for the British Indian Army during World War II.
Varma was wounded during an airborne and amphibious attack on Rangoon by British, American and Indian forces during the Burma Campaign (April–May, 1945).
Varma taught in India, Nepal, Syria and Egypt before moving to Canada where he became a lecturer at Dalhousie University in 1963 and then full professor in 1969.
[9] He wrote the introduction to the reprint of Varney the Vampire and, in 1973, he travelled to Castle Dracula to research Bram Stoker's novel.