Bhavan has been a journalist for more than a decade and was previously Asia editor for the South China Morning Post. During his 2016-2023 tenure at the Hong Kong daily, he rose through the ranks from correspondent to editor and played a defining role in building up its pace-setting news coverage of South-east Asia. His journalism career began when he joined news agency Agence France-Presse in Singapore as a correspondent. He has degrees from Nanyang Technological University and the London School of Economics and Political Science.