Delhi Literature Festival 2017
Times Lit Fest Delhi 2017: Celebrating New India
Times Lit Fest-Delhi 2017 is a celebration of New India. Change is a constant in independent India and we celebrate the efflorescence of change in all its dimensions. Whether in the attitudes of the youth, the energy of civil society, fast-paced Show more..Newsmore »
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Speakers
Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan
Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan is one of the undisputed masters of the music world. For many, he takes on a celestial avatar when he is playing the Sarod. Born to Sarod icon Haafiz Ali khan, he gave his first performance at the age of six. Over the course of his career, he has delivered his music in a flexible instrument line that is vocal in its expressiveness. He has reinvented the technique of Sarod playing which today is distinct in its nomenclature. He has won numerous accolades including a Grammy nomination, the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum and has performed at venues world over like the Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.
Nayantara Sahgal
"Nayantara Sahgal is the author of three autobiographical works, eleven works of fiction, and wide-ranging political and literary commentary. She has received the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Sinclair Prize and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. She is a Member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She has been awarded the Diploma of Honour from the International Order of Volunteers of Peace (Italy), and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Leeds. She returned her Akademi Award in 2014 in protest against the murder by vigilantes of three writers, and the Akademi's silence at the time. She has been a Vice President of the PUCL and is engaged in an ongoing protest against the assaults on the freedom of expression and democratic rights."
Jayant Sinha
Jayant Sinha is Minister of State for Civil Aviation, a Member of Indian Parliament and formerly the Minister of State for Finance. He has also been an investment fund manager and management consultant.
In May 2014, he was elected to the Lok Sabha, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. Sinha's prior business experience includes twelve years with McKinsey & Company as a partner in the Boston and Delhi offices. Sinha holds an M.B.A. with Distinction from the Harvard Business School, an M.S. in Energy Management & Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Technology degree with Distinction from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
Baba Ramdev
Baba Ramdev is a yoga guru known for his work in Ayurveda, business and politics. He founded the Patanjali Group of Institutions which has taken on global FMCG companies, is the telegenic face of yoga in India and has shown interest in political issues.
Javed Akhtar
Javed Akhtar is a leading poet, lyricist, screenwriter and public intellectual. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri (1999), Padma Bhushan (2007), the Sahitya Akademi Award as well as five National Film Awards. He is a former member of the Rajya Sabha, to which he was nominated in 2009 in the eminent persons category.
Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi is a leading actor. She made her film debut in 1974 and soon became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema. Regarded as one of the finest actresses in India, Azmi's performances in films in a variety of genres have generally earned her praise and awards, which include a record of five wins of the National Film Award for Best Actress and several international honours.She has also received five Filmfare Awards. In 1988, the Government of India awarded her with Padma Shri. Azmi has appeared in over 120 Hindi and Bengali films in both mainstream and independent cinema. Azmi is also a social and women's rights activist and has been a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha.
Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie is among India's best-known commentators on current and political affairs. Born in Jalandhar, Punjab (1941), he studied at St. Stephen's College in Delhi and then obtained his doctorate in Economics from Syracuse University, USA.
Among other portfolios, he held the office of the Minister of Disinvestment, Communications and Information Technology in Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet. He was acclaimed as a “Star of Asia” by Business Week in 2002, as “The Business Leader of the Year” by The Economic Times jury for his pioneering and dogged work on privatization. In a poll of Indian CEOs, he was acclaimed as “The Most-outstanding Minister” of Mr. Vajpayee’s Government in early 2004.
He is the recipient of numerous national and international awards, including the Magsaysay Award and one of India’s highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan.
He has been an economist with the World Bank, and Editor of the Indian Express. He is widely regarded as the initiator of Investigative Journalism in India. The International Press Institute, Vienna, acclaimed him as one of 50 “World Press Freedom Heroes” whose work has sustained freedom of the press in the last half-century.
He has written 26 books on a variety of topics ranging from constitutional law, modern Indian history, religious fundamentalism, governance in India, to national security.
His book, Does He Know a Mother’s Heart? How suffering refutes religions, was published by HarperCollins in 2011. It examines explanations for suffering in the basic religious texts; shows how they do not stand scrutiny; and why his own experience in serving his spastic child for 35 years has led him to the Buddha’s teaching.
His 27th book—entitled, Two Saints: Speculations around and about Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharshi—has been published by HarperCollins. It examines the experiences of these saints in the light of neuroscience, psychology and sociology.
Bibek Debroy
Bibek Debroy is an economist and was educated at Ramakrishna Mission School, Narendrapur; Presidency College, Kolkata; Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge. Presently, he heads the Prime Minister of India's Economic Advisory Council. He has previously worked in Presidency College, Kolkata (1979-83), Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune (1983-87); Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi (1987-93); as the Director of a Ministry of Finance/UNDP project on legal reforms (1993-98); Department of Economic Affairs (1994-95); National Council of Applied Economic Research (1995-96); Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (1997-2005); PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2005-06); and Centre for Policy Research (2007-2015). He has authored/edited several books, papers and popular articles and has also been a Consulting/ Contributing Editor with several newspapers.
Dr. Hasmukh Adhia
Dr. Hasmukh Adhia is an officer of Indian Administrative Service, presently working as Revenue Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Has got a basic degree in Accountancy. He is a Gold medalist from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and he holds a Ph.D. in Yoga from Swami Vivekanand Yoga University, Bangalore.
As Secretary (Revenue), he is credited with bringing in many tax-friendly initiatives in the Income-Tax as well as Excise Duty and Service Tax. He also pursued the agenda of GST and is also known for his relentless drive against black money. He has a serious interest in spirituality, is a disciple of Swami Visharadanand Saraswati and writes columns in the Times of India's “The Speaking Tree” section.
Raghuram Rajan
Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth. He was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between September 2013 and September 2016. Between 2003 and 2006, Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund.Dr. Rajan’s research interests are in banking, corporate finance, and economic development, especially the role finance plays in it. He co-authored Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists with Luigi Zingales in 2003. He then wrote Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, for which he was awarded the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book in 2010.Dr. Rajan is a member of the Group of Thirty. He was the President of the American Finance Association in 2011 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Dr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize for the best finance researcher under the age of 40. The other awards he has received include the Infosys prize for the Economic Sciences in 2012, the Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics in 2013, Euromoney Central Banker Governor of the Year 2014, and Banker Magazine (FT Group) Central Bank Governor of the Year 2016.
Kiran Nagarkar
Kiran Nagarkar is a leading bilingual novelist, playwright, film, drama and social critic, and screenplay writer. His new novel Jasoda, is scheduled to be released in October. One of contemporary Indian literature's leading figures, he wrote his first book Saat Sakkam Trechalis (1974; Eng. Seven Sixes are Forty Three, 1980) in his mother tongue, Marathi. His bitter and burlesque description of the young Bombayite Kunshank - achieved by means of a fragmented form and rendered in innovative language - is considered to be a milestone in Marathi literature. In his first play Bedtime Story (1978), Nagarkar takes on the subject of modern responsibility by broaching the topic of political crises of the day (for instance the Cuban Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the State of Emergency called for by Indira Gandhi). Due to problems with state censorship as well as religiously motivated restrictions that prevailed over the cultural scene, the play was not staged until 1995. His second book Ravan and Eddie (1994) also met with a hostile response. The story of the childhood of two young boys, one Hindu, the other Christian, from families who live next door to each other yet live in completely different worlds, was criticized both as anti-Hindu and anti-Christian. The fact that Nagarakar chose to write this book and other subsequent writings in English, the language of his education, also encountered objections from his fellow countrymen. In his subsequent novels, Nagarkar contrasts bigotry and extremism with a tolerance that feeds on doubt and is open to diversity. In Cuckold (1997), this mentality is embodied in a character who looms in Indian historiography. This is the unknown spouse of the famous princess Meera from the 16th century, whose love songs to the God Krishna have passed into popular Indian culture. In God's Little Soldier (2006), the protagonist, who switches faiths without ever abandoning extremism, stands opposed to his questioning brother. Nagarkar was distinguished with the H.N. Apte Award for the best first novel, the renowned Sahitya Award and the Dalmia Award for the furtherance of communicative harmony through literature. He received a Rockefeller grant and was awarded a scholarship by the city of Munich. He lives in Bombay.
Amish Tripathi
Described as ‘India’s first literary popstar’ by world-renowned film director Shekhar Kapur, Amish’s unique combination of crackling story-telling, religious symbolism and profound philosophies has made him an overnight publishing phenomenon, with spiritual guru Deepak Chopra hailing Amish’s books as ‘archetypal and stirring’.
Amish’s 5 books till now — The Immortals of Meluha (2010), The Secret of the Nagas (2011) and The Oath of the Vayuputras (2013), which collectively comprise the Shiva Trilogy and Scion of Ikshvaku (Book 1 of the Ram Chandra Series) (2015), Sita – Warrior of Mithila (Book 2 of the Ram Chandra Series) (2017) — have 4 million copies in print with gross retail sales of Rs. 120 cr.
His books have been translated into 19 Indian and International languages.
The Shiva Trilogy is the fastest selling book series in Indian publishing history. Scion of Ikshvaku, the first book of the Ram Chandra Series, was the highest selling book of 2015. Sita – Warrior of Mithila, the 2nd book of the Ram Chandra Series, has been the highest selling book since its launch in May 2017. The Indian language translations of Amish's books have sold 5 lakh copies, breaking records in this space.
Amish's notable accolades include: Raymond Crossword Book Award, Dainik Bhaskar Literature Award, Society Young Achievers Award for literature, Man of the Year by Radio City, Communicator of the Year by PR Council of India, Pride of India Award (Literature). Forbes magazine has listed Amish amongst the 100 most influential celebrities in India, GQ as among 50 Most Influential Young Indians and he was selected as an Eisenhower Fellow, a prestigious American programme for outstanding leaders from around the world.
Amish is a graduate of IIM-Calcutta and worked for 14 years in the financial services industry before turning to full-time writing. He lives in Mumbai with his wife Preeti and son Neel.
Devdutt Pattanaik
Devdutt Pattanaik writes, illustrates and lectures on mythology and its relevance in modern times. Through over 40 books, 100 videos and 700 columns he helps people understand how stories, symbols and rituals communicate both religions and secular worldviews. His recent books are My Hanuman Chalisa, Leader - 50 insights from mythology, Culture - 50 insights from mythology, and The Boys who Fought: Mahabharata for Children.
Anuja Chauhan
Anuja Chauhan was an army brat, born in Meerut Cantonment and educated in Meerut, Delhi and Melbourne. She has worked in advertising for over seventeen years and is credited with many popular campaigns including PepsiCo’s Yeh Dil Maange More, Mera Number Kab Aayega, Oye Bubbly and Darr ke Aage Jeet Hai. She is the author of four bestselling novels (The Zoya Factor, Battle for Bittora, Those Pricey Thakur Girls and The House That BJ Built), two of which have been optioned by major Bollywood studios and one of which has been made into a prime-time daily Hindi serial on &TV. She lives outside Bangalore with her husband, television producer Niret Alva, their three children and a varying number of dogs and cats.
Vinod Rai
Vinod Rai is Chairman, Bank Boards Bureau and the head of the Supreme-Court-appointed experts panel to oversee the work of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. He served as the 11th Comptroller and Auditor General of India from 2008-2013. He holds a master's degree in Economics from the University of Delhi, and Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University.
Rai is the author of 'Not Just and Accountant: The Diary of the Nation's Conscience Keeper.
Shobhaa De
Shobhaa De is a prolific writer - author, blogger, columnist – who has monitored and written extensively on India's socio-cultural-political contours for over four decades. As a prominent opinion shaper across social media, she is seen as a fearless commentator and an independent media voice. Her eighteen books include the bestsellers Socialite Evenings, Starry Nights, Spouse and Superstar India.
Dr. Shashi Tharoor
Dr. Shashi Tharoor is an award-winning author of 16 books of fiction and non-fiction, including The Great Indian Novel, Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century and the latest An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India. He has won numerous literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. A second-term Member of Parliament representing Thiruvananthapuram, and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he has served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan’s leadership.
Nandita Das
Nandita Das has acted in more than 40 films in 10 different languages. Her directorial debut film Firaaq, premiered in 2008, winning many awards and critical acclaim. She was twice on the jury of Cannes Film Festival among others and was conferred the ‘Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters’ by the French Government. Nandita is a strong advocate of social issues, was a columnist with The Week for 8 years and a former Chairperson of Children’s Film Society. She is currently working on her next directorial film, Manto, based on the life and works of Saadat Hasan Manto.
Christophe Jaffrelot
Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot is Senior research fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at the King’s India Institute (London) and Non Resident Schola rat he Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Among his publications are The Hindu nationalist movement and Indian politics, 1925 to 1990s, New Delhi, Penguin, 1999, India’s Silent Revolution, New Delhi, Permanent Black, 2003 and The Pakistan Paradox. Instability and Resilience, New Delhi, Random House, 2015. He has recently co-authored Revolutionary Passions: Latin America, Middle east and India (New Delhi, Social Science Press) and (co-)edited Pan-Islamic Connections. Transnational Networks Between South Asia and the Gulf (New Delhi, Random House/Penguin India).
Rajdeep Sardesai
Rajdeep Sardesai, 52, is senior journalist, author, tv news presenter. His book 2014:the election that changed India is a national best seller that has been translated into half a dozen languages and his new book, ‘Democracy’s Eleven’, will be published later this year. Currently the consulting editor and lead news anchor of the India Today group, he has 28 years of journalistic experience in print and television. He was the founder editor of the IBN 18 network which included CNN IBN, IBN 7 and IBN Lokmat. Prior to that, he was Managing Editor of both NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India and was responsible for overseeing the news policy for both the channels. He has also worked with The Times of India for 6 years and was city editor of its Mumbai edition at the age of 26.
During the last 28 years, he has covered major national and international stories, specialising in national politics. He has won more than 50 awards for journalistic excellence, including the prestigious Padma Shri for Journalism in 2008, the International Broadcasters award for coverage of the 2002 Gujarat riots and the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism award for 2007. The only Indian to win the Asian Television award for talk show and news presentation, he has been News Anchor of the year at the Indian Television Academy eight times . He has been the President of the Editors Guild of India and was also chosen as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the world economic forum. Sardesai writes a fortnightly column across several newspapers, including The Hindustan Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He has his own blogsite and is the third most followed journalist in the world on social media site, Twitter. A graduate of St Xaviers college, he has completed his Masters and LLB from Oxford University and played first class cricket at Oxford and captained Mumbai schools.
Nitu Bhattacharya
Nitu Bhattacharya is DIG CRPF in Jammu. A 1991 batch officer of the CRPF, she has served in various conflict theatres, gaining a rare insight into the lives of women on both sides of the conflict. She is recipient of the Police Medal for Meritorious Service, Antrik Suraksha Padak and Kathin Seva Padak.
She has authored an anthology on English poetry, ‘Resurrection, a woman reborn’ which deals with issues of women empowerment and self realisation. The book has been translated into Chinese and was also prominently displayed at the Beijing International Book Fair 2016 and 2017. Her book of short stories based on conflict situations in Punjab and Kashmir, ‘Half Life’, was released in 2017 and has been displayed at the London International Book Fair, Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and the Tehran International Book Fair. She has chronicled the work and life of eight women working in the hinterlands of the country in her book ‘My Life My Horizon’ which has been published by the National Book Trust, New Delhi.
Abhinav Bindra
Abhinav Bindra is India’s first and only individual Olympic gold medalist and also the first Indian to win a World Championship gold. Born in Dehradun, the thirty-four year old shooter has won over hundred international medals in the last twenty years. His last Olympic was in Rio in 2016, where he finished fourth.
He has been conferred with the Arjuna Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Indian Sport.
Swara Bhaskar
An outsider to the Hindi Film Industry, Swara Bhaskar has in a short period acquired an impressive, award winning and diverse body of work, which includes commercial hits and content driven independent projects; making her among the most credible and acclaimed young actresses of contemporary Bollywood.
As an actor her filmography includes Bollywood blockbusters like Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo, and Tanu weds Manu Series, and Raanjhanaa for which films she has won the Screen and Zee Cine Awards twice over.
Continuously taking up challenges and breaking stereotypes of what actresses should and should not do onscreen Swara's film Nil Battey Sannata (April 2016) had her essaying the role of a mother to a 15 year old child!!! Her performance has won Swara the best actress award in Fuzhou, China at the Silk Road International Film Festival as well as the Screen Jury Award for Best Actress.
Her latest release is titled Anaarkali of Aaraah ( march 2017) where she portrays the role of a fiesty and fiery orchestra party singer from the volatile town of Aaraah in Bihar received rave reviews and Swara's performance was hailed as giving Bollywood a new fierce and fiery, raw and real heroine.
Swara has anchored SAMVIDHAAN: The Making of the Indian Constitution (2014), directed by the legendary director Shyam Benegal.
Swara has travelled to the Gaza Strip in 2010 as a member to the Asian.
People's Solidarity March for Palestine carrying medical aid for the war struck people of Gaza. Her much anticipated film with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Sonam Kapoor titled 'Veerey Di Wedding' will have Swara don a never-seen-before avatar.
Gurmehar Kaur
Gurmehar Kaur is a 21 year old student activist pursuing BA (Hons) in English literature from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. Her work revolves around peace and non-violence. In a world where words are considered more powerful than anything else, this young one is weaving her words into a book. Her book 'Small Acts of Freedom' will be published in January 2018 with Penguin Random house. She, along with three Ivy league students, have been working on a fellowship aimed at teaching leadership and policy making.
Vikram Singh Mehta
Vikram Singh Mehta is Chairman, Brookings India. He started his career with the IAS, then moved to the private sector and has been Chairman of Shell India. Mehta was a recipient of Asia House's "Businessmen of the Year" award in 2010. ??He is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and the Board of Governors of the Pandit Deen Dayal University of Petroleum. He was formerly Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Duke of Edinburgh's award for India, a member of the Board of Governors of Doon School, and member of the General Council of Mayo College. He has regular columns in the Indian Express and the Financial Express. Mehta holds a BA Mathematics honours degree from St Stephens’ college, Delhi University, a BA/MA Economics honours degree from Magdalen College, Oxford University, and a post graduate degree in Energy Economics from the Fletcher School Of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Vikram Singh Mehta currently serves as the Executive Chairman of Brookings India and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Jaya Bhattacharji Rose
Jaya is an international publishing consultant who is at the B2C of publishing and been associated with the industry since the early 1990s. Her columns have been published in BusinessWorld online ( "PubSpeak") and in The Hindu Literary Supplement ("Literati"). Some of her responsibilities have included writing the first comprehensive report on the Indian Book Market for the Publisher’s Association, UK and guest editing the special Children’s and YA Literature of The Book Review. She has extensive editorial experience including stints with Zubaan, Routledge, and Puffin. Her articles, interviews, comments and book reviews have also appeared in Frontline, The Book Review, DNA, Outlook, The Hoot, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Brunch, Scroll, Bookwitty.com, LOGOS, BusinessWorld, Housecalls, The Muse, Kitaabnama ( Doordarshan), The Guardian, BBC Radio, Radio France and The Independent.
She offers professional expertise on publishing to individuals, firms and startups as well as engages with books by writing articles and doing author interviews. Her blog has crossed 5 million visitors.
Avirook Sen
Avirook Sen is the author of 'Aarushi', a book on the 2008 double murders of 13-year-old Aarushi Talwar and the family's domestic help Hemraj Banjade. The book was an instant bestseller, and has been described as "pathbreaking", "masterly" and "explosive" for the unsparing light it shines on India's criminal justice system, its investigative agencies, and media.
The Allahabad High Court recently reversed the wrongful conviction of Aarushi's parents, Dr Nupur and Rajesh Talwar for the murders, prompting a prominent columnist to write: "Mr Sen’s book, prophetic in hindsight, raised the bar in investigative journalism".
Avirook has been a reporter and editor for more than 25 years. He grew up in Calcutta and was educated at La Martiniere school and Presidency College. He lives in Gurgaon.
Aakash Singh Rathore
Aakash Singh Rathore is a professor, author and an Ironman triathlete. He is currently Chief Editor, B.R. Ambedkar: The Quest for Justice (5-volume box set), Director of the International Research Network for Religion and Democracy (www.irnrd.org), and International Fellow of the Center for Ethics and Global Politics in Rome, Italy. He has taught at JNU, University of Delhi, University of Toronto, University of Berlin, Rutgers, and U Penn.
His most recent books include: Hegel's India (Oxford, 2017, nominated for Book of the Year 2017) Plato's Labyrinth: Sophistries, Lies and Conspiracies in Socratic Dialogues (Routledge, 2017), and Indian Political Theory: Laying the Groundwork for Svaraj (Routledge, 2017). He is the Series Editor of Ethics, Human Rights and Global Political Thought (Routledge) as well as of Religion and Democracy: Reconceptualizing Religion, Culture, and Politics in Global Context (Oxford University Press). His Rethinking Indian Jurisprudence and BODY: Toward a Philosophy of Autobiography are forthcoming in 2018. Rathore has also finished three grueling Ironman Triathlons, known as the world’s most difficult one-day sporting event.
Lalita Iyer
Lalita Iyer is a senior journalist and columnist. She has worked as Deputy Editor at Hindustan Times and Managing Editor at Filmfare and has written columns for Indian Express, Times of India and National Geographic Traveller. She is the author of The Whole Shebang (Bloomsbury), I'm pregnant, not terminally ill, you idiot! (Amaryllis), The Boy who swallowed a nail (Scholastic).
Wajahat Habibullah
"Wajahat Habibullah, a former civil servant, has spent much of his career in Kashmir. He has served with Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi as Director and Joint Secretary. He was administrator of the union territory of Lakshadweep and minister in the Embassy of India, Washington DC retiring as secretary to the government of India.
On retirement from service, Habibullah was India’s first chief information commissioner under India’s Right to Information Act. A former Randolph Jennings fellow at the USIP (United States Institute of Peace) (2003-04), he is the author of ‘My Kashmir: The Dying of the Light’.
Aanchal Malhotra
Aanchal Malhotra is an artist and oral historian working with memory and material culture. She received a BFA in Traditional Printmaking and Art History from the Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto and an MFA in Studio Art from Concordia University, Montréal. She is the author of 'Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory' (HarperCollins, 2017)
Aanchal is also the co-founder of the ‘Museum of Material Memory’, a digital repository of material culture from the Indian subcontinent, tracing family histories and social ethnography through heirlooms, collectibles and objects of antiquity. She lives in New Delhi.
Amaan Ali Bangash
Amaan Ali Bangash represents the 7th generation of a musical lineage, as son and disciple (with his brother Ayaan Ali Bangash) of the sarod icon, Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan. With him they have performed across the globe, including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Smithsonian, and WOMAD festivals on many continents. They have also collaborated with guitarist Derek Trucks, of the Allman Brothers Band, among others, and established themselves as a duo, carrying forward their musical legacy in sync with both tradition and contemporary times. The Khans recently performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2014 in Oslo. They present traditional Indian Classical Ragas and Indian Folk Music that will be interpreted on their Sarods.
Amrita Narayanan
Amrita Narayanan is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and writer based in Goa. She is the author of A Pleasant Kind of Heavy and Other Erotic Stories (Aleph Books, 2013), and the editor of the anthology The Parrots of Desire: 3000 years of Indian Erotica (Aleph Books, 2017).
Amrita Tripathi
Amrita Tripathi is the founder-editor of The Health Collective, a site dedicated to raising awareness on mental health. Tripathi also writes contemporary fiction. Both of her novels — Broken News and The Sibius Knot — deal with life, relationships, and urban realities. She has been a journalist for close to 15 years, spanning print, broadcast and social media.
Anand Neelakantan
Anand Neelakantan is the author of Bahubali trilogy, the official prequel to S S Rajamouli's prequel. The first book in the series Rise of Sivagami was released on March 15 2017 and continues to be best seller number 1 across charts.
He is also the best selling author of 'Asura Tale of the Vanquished, which told the Ramayan from Ravan's point of view. Anand followed it up with hugely successful Ajaya series which told Duryodhana's Mahabharata. Both Asura and Ajaya were shortlisted for Crossword award in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Anand's books have been translated to more than 9 languages, including Indonesian.
S S Rajamouli has announced a Mimi series on Anand's books in the lines with Game of Thrones on an international channel. Anand has also written scripts /screenplays for hugely popular TV series like Siya Ke Ram, Ashoka, Mahabali Hanuman etc. He has written columns in Hindu,Indian express, Pioneer, Washington Post etc. Anand is also a prolific writer in Malayalam and regularly publishes his stories in prestigious literary Malayalam magazines. Anand is a cartoonist too who has had many of his works published.
He lives in Mumbai with his wife Aparna, daughter Ananya, son Abhinav and pet dog Jackie the Blackie.
Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra is a Film Critic, television anchor, book author and Director of the Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the Founder and Editor of the digital platform Film Companion which offers a curated look at cinema. She has been writing about Bollywood since 1993.
Her work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Hindustan Times, The Los Angeles Times and Vogue (India).
Arun Kumar
Arun Kumar retired from Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2015. He is currently the Malcolm Adisheshiah Chair Professor at Institute of Social Sciences. He has an M.A. (Physics) from Princeton University, USA and Delhi University and a Ph.D. (Economics) from JNU.He has written `The Black Economy in India', by Penguin, “Understanding Black Economy and Black Money”, by Aleph Book, “Indian Economy Since Independence: Persisting Colonial Disruption”, by Vision Books. He authored the Alternative Budgets for 1993-94 and 1994-95. He has written extensively in journals and in the popular press.
Aruna Roy
Aruna Roy is a socio-political activist and Founder-Member MKSS and NCPRI, and the School for Democracy. She was with the IAS from 1968-1975. In 1975 she came to Ajmer District, Rajasthan to work with the rural poor. In 1987 she moved to live with the poor in a village in Devdungri, Rajsamand District in Rajasthan. In 1990 she was part of the group that set up the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). She has worked for accessing constitutional rights for the poor - Right to Information, Employment, Food Security etc. She was a member of the National Advisory Council from 2004-06, 2010-13. 2014. She was a member of the steering committee of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) till 2014. She is President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW).She was the 2016 Professor of Practice at McGill University ISID, Montreal, Canada, and the 2016 George Soros Visiting Practitioner Chair in CEU, Budapest. Awards include the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2000, the Nani Palkiwala Award and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award. She was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by the TIME Magazine for 2011.
Ashok Vajpeyi
Ashok Vajpeyi is a Hindi poet-critic and art lover. Apart from poetry and criticism he has also written in English on visual arts and classical music. Winner of many national awards for poetry, he has been decorated by the Government of France and Poland. A public figure in culture he set up many institutions such as Bharat Bhavan and Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University. Currently Managing Trustee of the Raza Foundation.
Ashwin Sanghi
Ashwin Sanghi ranks among India’s highest-selling authors of English fiction. He has written several bestsellers (The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key, The Sialkot Saga) and a New York Times bestselling crime thriller called Private India (followed by Private Delhi) together with James Patterson. Sanghi has also co-authored several non-fiction titles in the 13 Steps series. Ashwin was included by Forbes India in their Celebrity 100 and is a winner of the Crossword Popular Choice award. He was educated at Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai, and St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He holds an MBA from Yale University.
Ayaan Ali Bangash
Ayaan Ali Bangash represents the 7th generation of a musical lineage, as son and disciple (with his brother Amaan Ali Bangash) of the sarod icon, Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan. With him they have performed across the globe, including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Smithsonian, and WOMAD festivals on many continents. They have also collaborated with guitarist Derek Trucks, of the Allman Brothers Band, among others, and established themselves as a duo, carrying forward their musical legacy in sync with both tradition and contemporary times. The Khans recently performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2014 in Oslo. They present traditional Indian Classical Ragas and Indian Folk Music that will be interpreted on their Sarods.
Bachi Karkaria
Bachi Karkaria is among India's seniormost journalists and was the first Indian board member of the World Editors Forum. Her specialisations are urbanisation, gender and public health
She writes two widely followed columns: the satirical `Erratica’ in the Times of India, and Giving Gyan, playing 'Agony Aunt' in the Mumbai Mirror. She appears regularly on television news channels and is a media trainer in India and abroad. She curates the highly regarded Times of India Litfest, Mumbai, now in its 7th edition.
Ms Karkaria's books include the critically acclaimed In Hot Blood: The Nanavati Case That Shook India, Dare to Dream, a best-selling biography of MS Oberoi; Mills, Molls And Moolah, Behind The Times, Mumbai Masti, and The Cake That Walked.
Bee Rowlatt
Bee Rowlatt, writer and BBC journalist, is VOGUE India’s “latest girl crush and undeniable star of the show.” Her latest book In Search of Mary, inspired by the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, won UK “Real Life Reads” 2016 and made the Independent’s Best Biographies list. It was described by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen as “terrific – quite unlike anything I’ve read before.”
Bee co-wrote the best-selling Talking about Jane Austen in Baghdad and contributed to Virago’s Fifty Shades of Feminism. Events include Jaipur Litfest, 5x15, the Southbank Women of the World festival, Hay Festival, and British Council literary events in Iraq, Norway, Mexico, Russia and Palestine.
Bhawna Somaaya
Bhawana Somaaya has been writing about Hindi cinema for over 35 years. She is a film critic, columnist and author of 13 books which includes biographies of Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini.
Once Upon A Time In India profiling 100 years of Indian cinema published by Penguine is her last release.
Her books are a point of reference for students studying cinema at Whistling Woods, Manipal University and now JNU, Delhi.
She has served on Advisory Panel of Film Certificate in India, is Chair Person of Tigerland India Film Festival, Madhya Pradesh and on Advisory Panel for Dhai Akshar, Educational Centre for underprivileged children.
Somaaya is currently the Entertainment Editor at 92.7 BigFM Radio channel.
C. Raja Mohan
C. Raja Mohan is founding director of Carnegie India, the sixth global centre of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is also a visiting research professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. Earlier, Prof Mohan taught at the Jawaharlal Nehru University and worked at a number of think tanks in Delhi, including the Observer Research Foundation, Centre for Policy Research and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. His most recent book is "Modi's World: Expanding India's Sphere of Influence (2015). He also coedited the Oxford Handbook on Indian Foreign Policy (2015) and Indian Naval Strategy and Asian Security (2016). Prof Mohan also served on India's National Security Advisory Board.
David Devadas
David Devadas is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Social Sciences, and Contributing Editor at Firstpost. He has been a Visiting Professor at Jamia Millia Islamia, Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, and Political Editor of Business Standard. He has edited Kashmir’s largest English language daily and participated in establishing the Islamic University of Science and Technology at Awantipora.
David is an authority on Kashmir. His predictions on the situation there have proved consistently true since 1988. He lives there and his books, documentaries, columns and articles on Kashmir’s history, and contemporary situation have been path-breaking. His new book, The Generation of Rage in Kashmir (Oxford University Press), is eagerly awaited.
As a journalist, David covered the first Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Geneva in 1985, the Conference on Disarmament which drafted the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in Geneva in 1996, the UN General Assembly in 1997, and Prime Minister Vajpayee’s historic visit to Lahore in 1999.
He has attended conferences and presented papers/lectures at the universities of Heidelberg, Berlin and Zurich, at JNU, Jamia Millia, and the College of Europe’s Natolin campus in Warsaw.
DIG Roopa
Roopa D Moudgil is a senior police officer who, as deputy inspector general (DIG) of police in Karnataka, went public with her account of special treatment in jail to AIADMK leader Sasikala. She is a recipient of the President’s Medal for Meritorious Service.
Dr Ambarish Satwik
Ambarish Satwik is a Delhi based vascular surgeon and writer. His debut work of fiction Perineum: Nether Parts of the Empire, a rogue and deviant sexual history of the British Raj, was published by Penguin in 2007. He's currently collaborating with various artists to produce a collection of short, burlesque, illustrated essays. His polemical commentary on various matters appears most often in the Hindu BLine.
Gurcharan Das
Gurcharan Das is the author of India Grows at Night: A Liberal Case for a Strong State, as well as two other non-fiction works, The Difficulty of Being Good and India Unbound. He has also written a novel, A Fine Family, and an anthology, Three Plays. He studied philosophy at Harvard and was CEO of Procter & Gamble India before he became a full-time writer. He writes a regular column for Times of India and six Indian-language papers, and periodically for the Financial Times, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He is general editor for Penguin’s 11 volume Story of Indian Business and lives in Delhi.
Haji Syed Salman Chishty
Haji Syed Salman Chishty is among the “Syed o Saddat” and Chishty Sufi family of Ajmer Sharif” whose lineage goes back all the way to The Holy Prophet of Islam. He is the 26th generation Gaddi-Nashin (Hereditary Custodians/Key Holders) through His Chishty family which has been engaged in serving at the globally famed, acknowledged and renowned Dargah Ajmer Sharif Sufi shrine of the 11th Century Sufi Grand Master Hz.Khwaja Moinudeen Hasan Chishty (R.A.). He has been heading the Chishty Foundation– Ajmer Sharif as the Managing Trustee and Chairman for the last 8 years.
He has a Bachelors Degree in Economic and Commerce from Wilson College, University of Mumbai and has been regularly invited to speak and participate in international Sufi and inter Social Conferences on Spirituality, Interfaith Dialogues as well as at the world’s top universities such as Harvard University and Johns Hopkins.
He has developed a special artistic line of Sufi Musafir Photography in his Sufi journeys across global destinations and this work is now being regularly featured and exhibited across various galleries, studios, photography events and exhibitions.
Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar
Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar is the author of two books: a novel, 'The Mysterious Ailment Of Rupi Baskey', which won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2015, jointly won the Muse India Young Writer Award 2015, was shortlisted for The Hindu Prize 2014 and a Crossword Book Award 2014, and longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award 2016; and a collection of short stories, 'The Adivasi Will Not Dance', which was shortlisted for The Hindu Prize 2016, is a supplementary reading at the IIM Ahmedabad, and has been translated into three Indian languages.
Ira Mukhoty
Ira Mukhoty was educated in Delhi and Cambridge, where she studied Natural Sciences. After a peripatetic youth, she returned to Delhi to raise her two daughters. Living in one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, she developed an interest in the evolution of mythology and history and its relevance to the status of women in India. Heroines is her first book. It traces the idea of heroism in the Indian woman’s context, and the manner in which memory is transformed. She is currently working on a book on the disappeared women of the Great Mughals, due for release in 2018.
Jai Arjun Singh
Jai Arjun Singh is a Delhi-based freelance writer and journalist. His book about the film Jaane bhi do Yaarowas published by Harper Collins India in 2010, and he has edited an anthology of film writing, The Popcorn Essayists: What Movies do to Writers, for Tranquebar.
Jairam Ramesh
Jairam Ramesh, a member of Parliament, has held key ministerial portfolios between 2006 and 2014—rural development, drinking water and sanitation, environment and forests, power and commerce. He has authored a number of best-selling books including Old History, New Geography: Bifurcating Andhra Pradesh (2016); To the Brink and Back: India's 1991 Story (2015); Legislating for Justice: The 2013 Land Acquisition Law (2015); Green Signals: Ecology, Growth and Democracy in India (2015); Making Sense of Chindia: Reflections on China and India (2005); and Kautilya Today: Jairam Ramesh on a Globalising India (2002).
Jaya Jaitly
Jaya Jaitly was educated in the UK, Burma, Japan and India and the USA.She has worked closely with India’s crafts persons to sustain traditional craft livelihoods and preserve India’s cultural heritage, since 1965.She founded the Dastkari Haat Samiti, a body of craftspeople, in 1986 and created Dilli Haat, a permanent crafts marketplace in Delhi in 1994. Her published works include the Crafts of Gujarat, Crafts of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh, Crafting Nature, Craft Traditions of India, Crafts Atlas of India, Textiles of Varanasi, A Podium on the Pavement and Viswakarma’s Children.She brings to her work important experiences and perceptions acquired from three decades in active politics.
Jean Drèze
Jean Drèze development economist, has taught at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics and is currently Visiting Professor at Ranchi University. He has made wide-ranging contributions to development economics and public policy, with special reference to India. He is co-author (with Amartya Sen) of Hunger and Public Action (1989) and an Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (2013). His latest book, Sense and Solidarity: Jholawala Economics for Everyone, has just been published by Permanent Black.
Joëlle Jolivet
Joëlle Jolivet was born in 1965, and as far as she can remember, has always been drawing, painting or engraving. After graphic arts’ and lithography’s studies, Joëlle found her favorite tool of expression in linocut. She illustrated numerous children’s picture books, book covers and novels, and also works regularly for the press. Her books are published throughout the world. She published in India “The Honey Hunter” (Zubaan Books) and “An Indian Beach: By Day and Night” (Tara Books).
K Vijay Kumar
K Vijay Kumar is Senior Security Advisor on Left Wing Extremism in the Union Home Ministry. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1975. During 1985-1990, he was a part of Special Protection group that was raised to protect Shri Rajiv Gandhi. With that experience, he raised Special Security Group in TN to protect CM - then facing LTTE threat. His other postings include IG BSF Kashmir (1998-2001) in the days of Kargil and fidayeen attacks, Commissioner of Police Chennai and Addl DG Law & Order TN. He was Director, National Police Academy, Hyderabad (2008-10), where the IPS officers are trained. He was Director General of the CRPF (2010-12).
During 2001-04, he headed the Special Task Force and completed “Operation Cocoon” on the long-elusive brigand Veerappan.
His decorations include Counter Insurgency Medal and Jammu & Kashmir Medal, Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1993, President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 1999. For Veerappan operations, he was awarded the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry on the eve of Independence Day-2005.
His book “Veerappan –Chasing the Brigand” published by Rupa Publications was released by Home Minister of India on 8th Feb.2017.
Kalpana Swaminathan
Kalpana Swaminathan is a doctor practicing in Mumbai. She writes fiction under her own name, besides being published in collaboration with Ishrat as Kalpish Ratna. Her children's fiction books include: The True Adventures of Prince Teentang (HarperCollins; 1993), Dattatray’s Dinosaur (HarperCollins; 1994), Ordinary Mr Pai (Tulika; 1999), The Weekday Sisters (Rupa & Co; 2002), Gavial Avial (Rupa & Co; 2002), Jaldi’s Friends (Puffin; 2003). Her fiction books are: Ambrosia for Afters (Penguin; 2003), Bougainvillea House (Penguin; 2005), Venus Crossing (Penguin, 2009. Crossword Award for Fiction 2010). Her detective fiction includes books like Cryptic Death and other stories (Orient Longman; 1997), The Page 3 Murders (Roli; 2006), Greenlight (Bloomsbury 2017) and the forthcoming Murder in Seven Acts (Speaking Tiger 2018). She is also the author of several non-fiction books including The Secret Life of Zika Virus (Speaking Tiger, July 2017)
Karthika Nair
French-Indian, poet-dance producer/curator, Karthika Naïr calls herself a portmanteau person, “like sofa-beds and motels”, and is the author of several books, including The Honey Hunter (Editions Hélium – Actes Sud/Zubaan Books, 2013), illustrated by Joëlle Jolivet and published in English, French, German and Bangla. The Honey Hunter made its way into several year-end lists of must-read books for children, including those of French national radio station France Info, and the Indian literary journal, Biblio.
Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata (HarperCollins India/Arc Publications UK, 2015), her reimagining of the Mahabharata in multiple voices, won the 2015 Tata Literature Live! Award for fiction and was shortlisted for the 2016 Atta Galatta Prize for Fiction. Actress Françoise Gillard did a dramatized reading of French translations of the book at the Comédie-Française in October 2016 as part of the “Grenier des poètes” series, and the Opéra National du Rhin will be commissioning an opera based on the book in 2020.
Naïr’s poetry has been widely published in anthologies and journals across the world, including Granta, Prairie Schooner, Poetry Review (UK), The Literary Review (USA), Poetry International, Indian Literature, The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets and the Forward Book of Poetry 2017.
In Karthika Naïr’s résumé as a dance enabler, one finds mention of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet, Käfig/Mourad Merzouki, two Olivier award-winning productions (Babel(Words) and Puz/zle), Auditorium Musica per Roma, the Louvre, the Villette, the Shaolin Temple in Henan, misadventures with ninja swords and pachyderms, among others, many of which materialise in her poetry (though, hopefully, not in the retelling of the Mahabharata). She was also the principal scriptwriter of the multiple-award-winning DESH (2011), choreographer Akram Khan’s dance production and its adaptation for young adult audiences, Chotto Desh (2015).
Kiran Karnik
Kiran Karnik describes himself as a ‘public un-intellectual’, a non-academic with a strong interest in public policy and strategy. Columnist and author, his books include “Crooked Minds: Creating an Innovative Society” and “Coalition of Competitors: The Story of Nasscom and the Indian IT Industry”. He is widely recognized for his work in the IT sector, as President NASSCOM from 2001 to 2008, and for helping to put Satyam Computers back on track – as Chairman of its government-appointed Board – after it suffered the biggest corporate fraud in India’s history. He has been on many key government committees, including the Scientific Advisory Council to Prime Minister, and the National Innovation Council.
As CEO of Discovery India (1995-2001), he launched Discovery Channel and Animal Planet in India and South Asia. As Founder-Director of Consortium for Educational Communication (1991-95), he oversaw production and transmission of UGC’s Countrywide Classroom TV programmes. Earlier, he spent over two decades in ISRO and was deeply involved in the use of space technology, especially for education and development, including the path-breaking Indo-US Satellite Instructional TV Experiment (SITE) and the Kheda TV project.
He is currently involved with a number of not-for-profit organizations in the fields of education and development. He is the honorary President of India Habitat Centre, and Chairperson of Oxfam India and Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi.
Karnik has been conferred many awards, including the Padma Shri.
Mahesh Rangarajan
Mahesh Rangarajan is Dean of Academic Affairs at Ashoka University. He has a BA in History from the University of Delhi and an MA and PhD from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
He has been Professor in Modern Indian History at the University of Delhi and also taught at the universities of Cornell and Jadavpur and at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru. He has also served as Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.
His first book, Fencing the Forest was published in 1996. His most recent work is Nature and Nation (2015). He also authored India's Wildlife History (2001) and co-authored, Towards Coexistence: People, Parks and Wildlife (2000). Two recent co-edited works are Nature Without Borders (2014) and Shifting Ground ( 2014).
Manu Joseph
Manu Joseph is the author of 'Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous', which was released in September, and the widely acclaimed and bestselling novels, 'Serious Men' and 'The Illicit Happiness of Other People', which have been translated into many languages, and have been nominated for several prizes. Among other honours, he is the winner of The Hindu Literature Prize, and The American Pen Open Book Award whose jury described him "...that rare bird who can wildly entertain the reader as forcefully as he moves them." Illicit… was among the top five national bestsellers in Holland for several weeks, bettered only by the ’50 Shades of Grey’ series. Among India’s most popular commentators, he is a former columnist for The International New York Times. During his stint as editor of the newsweekly, ‘Open’, he broke the ‘Radia Tapes’ story, which revealed the telephone conversations between a corporate lobbyist and some of India’s most influential public figures. He is also the co-writer of the film, 'Love Khichdi'.
Myra MacDonald
Myra MacDonald is a journalist and author specialising in South Asian politics and security. Her latest book, Defeat is an Orphan; How Pakistan Lost the Great South Asian War, was published earlier this year and covers the relationship between India and Pakistan since the nuclear tests in 1998. A former Bureau Chief for Reuters in India, she was a correspondent for nearly thirty years, working in London, Paris, Cairo and New Delhi. She now lives in Scotland.
Naina Lal Kidwai
Naina Lal Kidwai is Chairman, Max Financial Services and Advent Private Equity; a Non-Executive Director on the global board of Nestle, CIPLA Ltd and Larsen and Toubro and Past President of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry). She retired in December 2015 as Executive Director on the board of HSBC Asia Pacific and Chairman HSBC India.
An MBA from Harvard Business School, she makes regular appearances on listings by Fortune and others of international women in business and is the recipient of awards and honours in India including the Padma Shri for her contribution to Trade and Industry, from Government of India.
Her interests in Water and the environment are reflected in her engagements with The Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, International Advisory Council of the Inquiry of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Global Commission on Economy & Climate, Chair of FICCI Sustainability Energy and Water Council and Chair of the India Sanitation Coalition.
Namita Gokhale
Writer, publisher and festival director Namita Gokhale has authored sixteen works of fiction and non-fiction. Her debut novel, Paro: Dreams of Passion, published 1984, and its sequel Priya will be republished as a double bill edition soon. The recent Things to Leave Behind, a part of her Himalayan Trilogy, has been described as her most ambitious novel yet. A new novel for young readers, Lost in Time - Ghatotkacha and the Game of Illusions, will be out this November.
Gokhale is founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival and of Mountain Echoes, the Bhutan Literature Festival, and director of Yatra Books; a publishing house specialised in translation.
Nandana Dev Sen
An award-winning actor, writer and child-rights activist, Nandana has also worked as a book editor, a screenwriter, a poetry translator, a script doctor and as Princess Jasmine in Disneyland. She grew up in England, India and America, and has starred in over 20 feature films from four continents. As an Ambassador and advocate, Nandana works with children and grown-ups in UNICEF, Operation Smile and RAHI, to fight against child abuse. Nandana is the author of four children's books, which have been translated into 13 languages across the world.
Narasimhan Ram
N. Ram, chairman of Kasturi and Sons Limited and former editor-in-chief of The Hindu and Frontline magazine, is a political journalist with literary interests. He has written on a range of socio-political subjects and specialized in investigative journalism. Along with Susan Ram, he is the biographer of the great Indian writer,
R. K. Narayan, whom he knew well. He has also contributed a chapter titled, “More than ‘A Little Pot-boiling’: The Personal Journalism of R.K. Narayan,” to Volume 2 of Global Literary Journalism: Exploring the Journalistic Imagination, ed. Richard Lance Keeble & John Tulloch (Peter Lang, New York, 2014). Ram was elected president of the Contemporary India Section of the 72nd Session of the Indian History Congress (2011). He was awarded the Padma Bhushan for Journalism (1990). He also received the Asian Investigative Journalist of the Year Award from the Press Foundation of Asia (1990); the B. D. Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism (1989); and a Columbia J-School Alumni Award (2003). He is the author of Riding the Nuclear Tiger (LeftWord Books, New Delhi, 1999). Why Scams are Here to Stay: Understanding Political Corruption in India is his latest book.
Narayani Ganesh
Narayani Ganesh is Associate Editor, The Times of India and writes on environment, science, philosophy and heritage. She edits two popular columns on philosophy, spirituality, sustainable living and wellness, The Speaking Tree and Sacred Space, in TOI and ET. She is Editor, The Speaking Tree, a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published from eight cities across India. Narayani joined the TOI group in 1987. She has a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Madras. She has authored 'Eternal Romantic', an informal, anecdotal, illustrated biography of Tamil actor, Gemini Ganesan, published By Roli Books as part of their Family Pride series.
Natasha Badhwar
Natasha Badhwar was born in Ranchi, grew up in Kolkata and refused to accept Delhi as home for the next 3 decades.
She is the author of "My Daughters' Mum" which has been adapted from her popular column in Mint Lounge, where she interweaves the personal and the political in a candid, resonant style.
Natasha began her career in broadcast journalism with New Delhi Television (NDTV) as the first female videographer in news television in India. She quit 13 years later as Vice President, Training and Development and now works as an independent film-maker, media trainer and fashion entrepreneur.
She lives in New Delhi with her husband and three daughters.
Neelima Adhar
Neelima Dalmia Adhar’s father was the renowned Marwari industrialist, Ramkrishna Dalmia who had six wives and eighteen children. Her mother, his sixth and youngest wife Dinesh Nandini Dalmia, was an eminent Hindi poetess and novelist and a Padma Bhushan awardee. Neelima grew up in an atypical Marwari home with six siblings, three older and three younger, in New Delhi.
She completed her Senior Cambridge from The Convent of Jesus and Mary, before attaining her Bachelor's degree in Home Science from Lady Irwin College; and a Master's in Psychology from the Delhi University with a specialization in Personality. She taught Psychology for a short while at the same university to undergraduate students.
Neelima has been inculcated profusely by her mother with a passion for both the spoken and written word and divides her time between writing and pursuing her interest in poetry, philosophy and the paranormal.
Her writings have earned for her the tag of agent provocateur and perhaps, one of India's most fearless authors.
When she wrote her first book, Father Dearest: The Life and Times of R. K. Dalmia in 2003, it scaled the bestseller list and she was labeled a daredevil ‘family chronicler’ who had exposed some fiercely guarded secrets.
Her second book, a novel, Merchants of Death was published in 2007, which also received wide critical acclaim. It is a story that exposes the underbelly and duplicity of the perceived-to-be chaste, highly religious and overtly orthodox Marwari society. In a sense she had violated the sacred omerta and shattered that bastion of secrecy of her clan, by telling the world what everyone knows, but no one ever speaks about.
The Secret Diary of Kasturba is her third book that promises a fly-on-the-wall peep into the life of the wife of the Mahatma. It was launched in New York in October this year and in Delhi last month.
A passionate ‘people-watcher’, she is drawn to oddities and thrives on writing about personalities and human behavior, from the quirky to the mysterious, to the bizarre, a subject that she does chillingly close to the bone.
Nidhi Razdan
Nidhi Razdan is an award winning journalist working with NDTV for the last 18 years, where she is now Executive Editor. Nidhi has reported extensively on Indian politics, Jammu and Kashmir and international affairs. She has reported from China, Pakistan, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran, Africa and many more countries. Nidhi anchors a popular daily prime time show called ‘Left, Right and Centre’. Among her awards, she was the recipient of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka award for her reporting from Jammu and Kashmir.
Nilanjana Roy
Nilanjana S Roy is the author of The Wildings (winner, Shakti Bhatt Prize, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book prize), The Hundred Names of Darkness and a collection of essays on reading, The Girl Who Ate Books. She has edited two anthologies, A Matter of Taste and Patriots, Poets & Prisoners. She writes on life, art and books for the Financial Times, and was formerly a columnist with the New York Times and the Business Standard.
Pankaj bhadouria
Pankaj Bhadouria quit a 16-year-old job to participate in India’s First MasterChef and went on to win it.
She has 6 more television shows to her credit:Chef Pankaj Ka Zayka (Star Plus); Sales ka Baazigar (ETV); Kifayati Kitchen (Zee Khana Khazana) Just Like That, 3 Course with Pankaj & Health in 100 (Living Foodz) and also featured in the BBC Production Rick Stein’s India.
She has authored several books: MasterChef Cookbook (BPI Publications), Barbie I am a Chef (BPI Publications), Chicken From my Kitchen (Bloomsbury Publications), The Secret’s in the Spice Mix- (Penguin India).
She is a columnist for many leading Magazines, a speaker at many TEDx events and more, an entrepreneur and an educator with the Pankaj Bhadouria Culinary Academy training budding Chefs in Culinary Arts.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta work experience, spanning over 40 years, cuts across different media: print, radio, television and documentary cinema. He is a writer, speaker, anchor, interviewer, teacher and commentator in three languages: English, Bangla and Hindi. His main areas of interest are the working of the political economy and the media in India and the world, on which he has authored/co-authored books and directed/produced documentary films. He is (or has been) a visiting faculty member at reputed educational institutions including the Indian Institutes of Management at Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Shillong, University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration and Visva Bharati University.In collaboration with Authors Upfront, he has been the publisher of A Million Missions: The Non-Profit Sector in India by Mathew Cherian and a new edition of Calcutta Diary by Ashok Mitra. He is currently engaged in authoring/co-authoring/editing other books and producing/directing documentary films. Paranjoy served as the Editor of the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) from April 4, 2016 to July 18, 2017.
Parimal Bhattacharya
Parimal Bhattacharya is a Kolkata-based writer whose latest book No Path in Darjeeling is Straight was published by Speaking Tiger in July 2017.
Pavan Varma
Pavan K. Varma is a writer-diplomat and now in politics, where he was till recently an MP in the Rajya Sabha, and earlier Advisor to the Chief Minister of Bihar. Author of over a dozen best selling books he has been Ambassador in several countries, Director of The Nehru Centre in London, official Spokesperson of the MEA, and Press Secretary to the President of India. He is currently the National General Secretary and National Spokesman of the Janata Dal (United).
Perumal Murugan
Perumal Murugan is one of India's most reputed contemporary writers and among our foremost literary craftsmen. He is the author of ten novels, five collections of short stories, five anthologies of poetry, and six non-fiction books mostly on language and literature. He has also edited several fiction and non-fiction anthologies. His Tamil novels Koola Maathaari, Nizhal Mutram, Madhorubagan and pookkuzhi have been translated into English as Seasons of the Palm, Current Show, One Part Woman and Pyre all to popular and critical acclaim. He has received awards from the Tamil Nadu government as well as from Katha Books. Seasons of the Palm was shortlisted for the international Kiriyama Award in 2005. In 2017, the English translation of his novel Madhorubagan won the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize.
Pervaiz Alam
Producer, writer, journalist and broadcaster, Pervaiz Alam is a s a professor and dean, Journalism & Mass Com at Apeejay Stya University based in Gurgaon. He is the award-winning director of the immensely popular BBC radio-drama series in Hindi called, Life Gulmohar Style. The series, which dealt with gender issues like equality and sex-selective abortion reproductive health and violence, were broadcast by more than fifteen FM Networks across India.
Pervaiz has worked as a senior broadcast journalist with BBC World (Television) where he produced programmes like India Business Report, Mastermind India and HARD talk India, amongst others. Prior to this he was a producer with BBC World Service (Radio).
Pia PETERSEN
Pia PETERSEN was seven when she discovered she was a writer. She could have been born in the United States, India, France or Haiti but she was born in Denmark. She understands nationality as a coincidence, an imposed category and a limit to her diversity. Like Montaigne, she is global and considers herself as an offshore writer. After several escape attempts she went to Greece then moved to France and learned French by herself by reading Stendhal’s Red and black. With her first new words in French she presented herself to the Sorbonne to study philosophy where to her surprise she was accepted. She became the writer she was, met Hubert Nyssen, the founder of Actes Sud, who published her as a French writer. Her work focuses on the global world and she goes where her novels take her.
In 2014, she received the Award of the influence of the French language and literature of the French Academy for her entire work. She has 11 novels published in french prestigious publishing houses (Actes Sud, Plon, Robert Laffond), at least 12 short stories in collections of stories and she write for several magazines, (l’Atelier du roman, la revue Intranqu’îllités).
Prashant Jha
Prashant Jha is a journalist and author. He is currently an associate editor with Hindustan Times in New Delhi, covering national politics. He has earlier worked with The Hindu in both its National Bureau in Delhi and as its Nepal correspondent in Kathmandu.
Jha has written How the BJP Wins: Inside India's Greatest Election Machine (Juggernaut Books; 2017) and Battles of the New Republic: A Contemporary History of Nepal (Aleph, Hurst; 2014).
Jha's work has appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times and a range of international, Indian and Nepali publications. He is also a frequent commentator for the international media and a regular speaker at universities and thinktanks on South Asian affairs.
Pushpesh Pant
He is one of the most authentic paragons of Delhi’s composite culture and language. He is known for his passionate love and commitment for the Urdu language. One of the most respected poets who retains classical tone and temper in his poetry, he is probably the last iconic figure of Urdu culture.
R Kannan
R. Kannan is a child of the Dravidian movement and has long been a commentator on Dravidian politics. His Anna: The Life and Times of C.N. Annadurai received critical acclaim.
Raised and educated at Chennai, Kannan completed his LLM from the University of Georgia and PhD in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He has served in various capacities with the United Nations in two continents for nearly a quarter of a century. He presently heads the Basra office of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq.
Kannan is married and has two children.
Rajesh Kalra
Rajesh Kalra is the Chief Editor of The Times Group Digital, the repository of everything digital of The Times of India Group, India’s largest media house. A journalist with decades of experience, Rajesh is an avid sportsperson, a trained high altitude mountaineer, a marathoner and a mountain biker who has ridden over the highest passes in the world, including twice on the highest long-distance road in the world from Manali to Leh. Rajesh is a member of the All India Council of Sports and was also the member of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Olympic Task Force that has recently given its recommendations on improving India’s performances in the next three Olympics. He is also a non-motorised transport evangelist and is a founder of the ‘Raahgiri’ Foundation
This is Rajesh’s third stint with the Times Group. Before taking over as the Chief Editor of Times Internet, Rajesh had served as Editor, Times Interactive, in 1999. During that stint, he was instrumental in launching the three major online initiatives of the Group viz The Times of India, The Economic Times and Indiatimes. In between, he also tried his hands at entrepreneurship. He has also worked in the print divisions of The Times of India, Business Standard and started his career with a computer publication, Dataquest, where he rose to become its youngest Editor.
Rana Safvi
An author and historian with a passion for culture and heritage Rana Safvi is the founder and moderator of the popular #shair platform on Twitter which is credited for reviving popular interest in Urdu poetry.
She is documenting the heritage and history of India in particular Delhi via her articles, blogs, writings and translations.
Her latest translation of Zahir Dehlvi's eye witness account of the Uprising in 1857 is an important work as it describes not just the Seige of Delhi bit the syncretic culture of the 19th century in Delhi and the courts of Jaipur, Alwar and Tonk where he takes up employment subsequently.
Ravi Subramaniam
Ravi Subramanian, India’s numero uno thriller writer is an alumnus of IIM Bengaluru. He has spent two decades working his way up the ladder of power in the amazingly exciting and adrenaline-pumping world of global banks in India. He is the award winning author of nine bestselling books. His debut novel If God was a Banker won him the Golden Quill readers choice award in 2008. He also won the Economist Crossword Book Award for The Incredible Banker in 2012. "The Bankster", released in 2012 won him the Crossword Book Award in 2013. In 2014 he won the Raymond Crossword book award for Bankerupt. His books have been translated into multiple Indian and foreign languages. He lives in Mumbai with his wife, Dharini, and daughter, Anusha. His latest book, In The Name of God, released in June and is based in the mysterious and exciting world of the Padmanabha Swamy temple in Kerala.
Rita Chowdhury
Dr. Rita Chowdhury (b. 1960), presently Director of the National Book Trust, India, was born at Nampong in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science as well as Asamiya Litearture, and an LLB. She got her Ph.D. from Guwahati University. Before joining the Trust, she was an Associate Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, Cotton College, Guwahati.
A prominent Asamiya novelist, poet and activist, Dr Chowdhury’s oeuvre include Makam, a poignant portrayal of Assamese Indian community of Chinese origin; Deo Lankhui, a novel of epic proportion on the glorious Tiwa Kingdom of Assam; Ei Xomoy Xei Xomoy, a fictionalized account of the societal and political changes brought in by historic Assam Agitation against illegal immigration from Bangladesh to Assam; and Mayabritta, a novel about the various shades of society, human natures and women’s empowerment. She received a Sahitya Akademi Award (2008) for her novel Deo Langkhui (The Divine Sword).
Roshni Vyam
Roshni Vyam is third generation Gond artist who was born in Sanpuri village in the Dindori district of central Madhya Pradesh. In 2015, she won the Ojas Award for ‘Young Gond Artist’ at the Jaipur Literature Festival. She has also worked on designs for graphic books with publishers such as Navayana (for the book Bhimayana), Tara Books (Chennai), Eklavya (Bhopal). She completed a graduate degree in Textile Design from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bengaluru, in 2016, becoming the first among the Pardhan Gond artists to have graduated.
Sadia Dehlvi
Sadia Dehlvi is a well-known author, columnist and political commentator from New Delhi. For almost 40 years, her writings have focused on issues of faith, heritage, minorities, and women. She is the author of three books published by Harper Collins: Sufism: The Heart of Islam, The Sufi Courtyard: Dargahs of Delhi and the recent Jasmine and Jinns: Memories and Recipes of My Delhi.
Dehlvi has produced and directed a television series: The Sufi Courtyard (Sufiyon ka Aangan), documenting the spiritual legacy and the living traditions of important dargahs in India. Sadia’s surname Dehlvi signifies her family's centuries old connection with the city of Delhi.
Sampurna Chatterji
Sampurna Chatterji is a poet, novelist and translator. Her fourteen books include her poetry books Absent Muses (Poetrywala 2010) and The Fried Frog and other Funny Freaky Foodie Feisty Poems (Scholastic 2009); her novels Rupture and Land of the Well (both from HarperCollins); as well as her collection of short stories about Bombay/Mumbai – Dirty Love (Penguin 2013). Sampurna edited Sweeping the Front Yard (SPARROW 2010), an anthology of poetry and prose by women writing in English, Malayalam, Telugu and Urdu. Her translation of Joy Goswami’s Selected Poems (Harper Perennial 2014) was shortlisted for the Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry and her translation of Sukumar Ray’s Abol Tabol has been a Puffin Classic titled Wordygurdyboom! since 2008. As a participant of international translation workshops, she has worked with poets from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Holland, Iceland, Malta, Slovenia, Galicia and Estonia. Her own poetry has been translated into the languages of these countries as well as into Arabic, Bangla, Bambaiyya, Kannada, Manipuri, Marathi and Tamil. Sampurna has read her poetry at Festivals all over India and the UK, including at Hay-on-Wye, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Alchemy 2015 (as part of the “Walking Cities” Project celebrating Dylan Thomas’s centenary), Alchemy 2016 (as part of Shakespeare’s quatercentenary celebrations), and JLF@Melbourne in February 2017. She wrote her fifth poetry book, Space Gulliver: Chronicles of an Alien (HarperCollins 2015), during her residency at the University of Kent, Canterbury.
Shaili Chopra
Shaili Chopra is an award-winning journalist, an author of four books and the founder of SheThePeople.TV, India's biggest platform for championing stories of women. It reaches over 15 million women through its online and offline network. As a writer her work is fearless, firebrand and fierce.Shaili through SheThePeople's many initiatives has captured the minds of women across India and documented over 40000 stories. Shaili received the Vital Voices Fellowship (founded by Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright) for 2017. She picked the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Entrepreneur.com. Beyond Diversity Foundation also felicitated her with the Woman of Influence Award 2017 for her work with SheThePeople. In March 2016 Shaili was announced one of India’s Top 50 Most Influential Women in Media, Marketing and Advertising by IMPACT Magazine. Her business books have been published to critical and commercial acclaim.
Shamim Hanafi
Shamim Hanafi is one of the most respected Urdu literary critics, playwrights, and poets of India. A former academic at the Department of Urdu at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, he has also been the editor of its prestigious magazine, Jamia. He has authored a number of respectable books in literary criticism. Some of these that need mention include Jadidiyat ki Falsafiyana Asaas; Nayi Sheri Riwayat; Tareekh, Tehzeeb aur Takhleequi Tajurba; Urdu Culture aur Taqseem ki Riwayat; Khayal ki Musaafat; and Qari Say Mukalma. He has also written four plays, translated four books, and brought out four books for children which he admits of enjoying immensely. A not-so-known fact about Hanafi is that he maintains a keen interest in painting, pottery and the performing arts.
Shantanu Gupta
Shantanu Gupta is an Indian author, political analyst and TEDx speaker.. He is also the alumni ambassador of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, (United Kingdom) in India. Shantanu has worked for a decade in corporate consulting in India, Switzerland, Hungary, Cyprus & Israel before moving to social & political space. He has worked with Naandi Foundation, UNICEF and noted think tank Center for Civil Society, before starting his own non-profit – YUVA Foundation. He has authored four books, including the latest bestseller, The Monk Who Became Chief Minister, biography of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister - Yogi Adityanath, published by Bloomsbury.
Sheen Kaaf Nizam
Shiv Kumar, known by his pen name Sheen Kaaf Nizam is an Urdu poet and literary scholar. He has edited many volumes of poets in Devanagari including Deewan-e-Ghalib and Deewan-e-Mir Nizam has published a number of poetry collections - Lamhon kee Saleeb, Dasht mein Dariya, Naad, Saya Koi Lamba Na Tha, Bayazein Kho Gayi Hai, Gumshuda Dair ki Gunjti Ghantiyan, and Rasta Yeh Kahin Nahin Jaata. Nizam's poetry collection Gumshuda Dair ki Gunjti Ghantiyan won the 2010 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu.
Shekhar Gupta
Shekhar Gupta is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of ThePrint, an exciting news media start-up. He is a prolific columnist, with the highly influential column National Interest, which is translated into several languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati and Marathi. He is a senior prime-time anchor at NDTV.
Over the past two decades, National Interest has been regarded as the sharpest, most perceptive analysis of current events as they unfold. These columns were recently collected in the bestselling book, 'Anticipating India'. Currently, National Interest appears in Business Standard every Saturday.
Shekhar, a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, hosts Off the Cuff - an offering from ThePrint - which sees him in conversation with an eminent guest twice a month. Off the Cuff is telecast on NDTV 24X7 and NDTV Prime at the end of each month. He also hosts “Walk the Talk” on NDTV 24x7 every week. A collection of his news-making interviews will be published soon.
During a 39-year career, Shekhar has reported on key Indian and international events, including the Nellie massacre in Assam, Operation Blue Star, the student uprising in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first Gulf War from Baghdad, the first “jihad” in Afghanistan, and the many twists and turns in the troubled 1983-1993 decade in Sri Lanka’s Tamil North.
In June 2014, Shekhar concluded a 19-year stint at the Indian Express and the Express Group of publications where he was Editor-in-Chief.
Sudeep Chakravarti
Sudeep Chakravarti’s latest book is The Bengalis: A Portrait of a Community. He is the author of several ground-breaking and bestselling works of narrative non-fiction (Red Sun, finalist at Crossword awards in 2009; Highway 39; and Clear.Hold.Build, winner of the Award for Excellence at Asian Publishing Awards 2014), novels (Tin Fish, The Avenue of Kings) and short stories. His essays and short fiction have appeared in collections in India and overseas, and, like his books, are translated into several languages.
Sudeep is among India’s leading independent commentators on matters of conflict and conflict resolution, democracy and development, political economy, and the convergence of business and human rights. An extensively published columnist, he has over three decades of experience in media, and has earlier worked with major global and Indian media organizations, mostly in leadership positions.
An avid scuba diver, Sudeep’s keen interest away from writing remains marine conservation. He lives in the Velliangiri Hills in Tamil Nadu, and Goa.
Sunetra Choudhury
Sunetra Choudhury started her career at The Indian Express in 1999 where she headed the city team. In 2002, she moved to TV news, first Star and then NDTV. After the success of one of her assignments at NDTV, covering the 2009 election campaign, she authored Braking News (Hachette). Behind Bars: Prison Tales of India's Most Famous was the result of extensive interviews with VIP inmates line Peter Mukerjea, A Raja, Amar Singh, Pappu Yadav and others.
Sunetra anchors a daily, audience-based show called Agenda – the only out-of-studio show of its kind – and a primetime show on student leaders and elections. In April 2016, she got the Red Ink award for her story on how Indians were adopting disabled children.
Sunita Narain
Dr. Sunita Narain is an environmentalist and writer, and presently serves as the director-general of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Editor of the fortnightly magazine, Down To Earth. Dr. Narain plays an active role in policy formulation on issues of environment and development in India and globally. She has co-authored influential publications on India’s environment, conducted in-depth research on the governance and management of the country’s environment and directed campaigns on air pollution control, community water management, sustainable industrialisation and food & toxins, among others. In 2016, she was featured in Time magazine's list of 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Swami Sukhabodhananda
Swami Sukhabodhananda is the founder Chairman of Prasanna Trust. Swamiji is not only one of the most respected spiritual leaders of the country, but also nicknamed as ‘Corporate Guru’. His expertise lies in synthesizing ancient wisdom of east and modern vision of west appealing to both young and old from wide spectrum of society. He is the author of many best sellers whose books have sold over a million in more than 112 titles in different languages.
Swapna Liddle
Swapna Liddle fell in love with the city of Delhi after arriving here as a college student. The love led to a PhD on the history of the city, and in efforts to preserve its rich built heritage. She seeks to raise public awareness about heritage, through the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. She leads heritage walks around the city, gives lectures, and answers listeners' questions about Delhi's history on a long-running monthly radio show. She is the author of Delhi; 14 Historic Walks (Westland 2011) and Chandni Chowk: The Mughal City of Old Delhi (Speaking Tiger 2017).
Tabish Khair
Educated mostly in Gaya, Bihar, Tabish Khair is the author of various books, including novels and poetry. In 2016, he published a study, The New Xenophobia and a novel, Jihadi Jane, to critical acclaim. Winner of the All India Poetry Prize, his fiction has been shortlisted for the Man Asian Prize, the DSC Prize, the Hindu Fiction Prize, Encore Award, etc. Khair is currently a Leverhulme guest professor at Leeds University, UK, and an associate professor at Aarhus University, Denmark. A new novel by him, Night of Happiness, will appear soon.
TCA Raghavan
TCA Raghavan is a former Indian High Commissioner to Singapore and Pakistan. He has a PhD from Jawahar Lal Nehru University for his 1992 dissertation on the Agrarian History of the Narmada Valley in Central India. His first book was published in January this year: Attendant Lords, Bairam Khan and Abdur Rahim - Poet and Courtier in Mughal India (HarperCollins, 2017). His second book is to be released in August 2017 and is entitled ‘The People Next Door- The Curious History of India’s Relations with Pakistan’.
Tishani Doshi
Tishani Doshi publishes novels, essays and poetry. She has worked as a dancer with the Chandralekha troupe for fifteen years. She lives on a beach in Tamil Nadu.
Tripti Lahiri
Tripti Lahiri is the Asia editor of Quartz and is currently based in Hong Kong. Before working on Maid in India, she reported for The Wall Street Journal and Agence France-Presse from New Delhi. In 2013, she was part of an award-winning Journal team that reported in-depth on violence against women in India. Her reporting on Bangladesh’s factory disasters was recognized with a Society of Professional Journalists award and she is also the winner of a Ramnath Goenka award for civic journalism. Maid in India has been shortlisted for the Shakti Bhatt first book prize.
Vinita Nangia
Vinita Dawra Nangia is an Associate Editor, Columnist and Author with The Times of India. With over two decades of experience in Lifestyle & Features Journalism, Vinita has helped launch several cutting edge editorial products and specialises in society, relationships and life commentary. Her weekly column in The Times of India - O-zone - is an ongoing commentary on Contemporary Living, shifting Societal Trends & Relationships.
Vinita fronts a movement to identify and launch new writing talent in the country – Write India, the world’s biggest movement for crowd-sourced writing in association with established authors.
Vinita has authored three books – It's Your Life -- Reflections on Contemporary Living & Relationships, Love is Always Right & Other Musings and Fashion Fair -The Journey of 13 Contemporary Designers. She has also edited Write India Stories - launching several new authors in one go.
Vishal Shivhare
Vishal Shivhare believes is an enthusiastic serial entrepreneur. He has been devotedly involved in growing and consulting large business houses both in India and abroad. At present, he is the director of DLT Labs Canada, Zen, San Fransisco Stock Exchange. Vishal Shivhare is blessed with two lovely daughters; Viha and Vaishnavi. He pledged to cultivate around 1 million entrepreneurs throughout his corporate journey. He is the author of VyaparShastra, which descibes ancient and modern Indian business practises from barter systems to global start-ups. Its plot is woven around the lives of local merchants and urban businessmen of India.
Vivek Menon
Vivek Menon is a wildlife conservationist, environmental commentator, author and photographer with a passion for elephants. He has been part of the founding of five environmental & nature conservation organizations in India. The winner of the 2001 Rufford Award for International Conservation for his work to save the Asian elephant, Menon is the Founder, Executive Director and CEO of the Wildlife Trust of India as well as Advisor to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
In India, he plays a role in advising the government on natural heritage conservation as a part of several committees including the Project Elephant Steering Committee, National Wildlife Action Plan Committee, CITES Advisory Committee and the Governing Council of the Central Zoo Authority. He is a member of four State Advisory Boards for Wildlife and an Honorary Wildlife Warden of Delhi. In the interphase between business and Biodiversity, he is the Co-Chair of Leaders for Nature, IUCN and an Advisory Council Member of the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development
Internationally, Menon is the Chairperson of the IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group since 2013 and a member of the Species Survival Commission Steering Committee of the IUCN, on the International Jury of the Future for Nature Awards (Netherlands) and an Advisor of the Marjan Centre of Kings College, London. In the past, he has served as a consultant to the Kenya Wildlife Services and helped establish the first elephant reserve of Myanmar. He has trained wildlife officers of over fifty countries in wildlife crime prevention and has attended CITES meetings for over twenty years as a Technical Advisor to the Indian delegation and as an observer.
He is also the author or editor of ten wildlife books including the recently published bestselling Indian Mammals, A Field Guide, scores of technical reports and more than 150 articles in various scientific and popular publications.
YV Reddy
Yaga Venugopal Reddy (Y V Reddy) was the Chairman of the Fourteenth Finance Commission of India (2013-14). He was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (2003-2008).
During 2008-13, he has been active in academic arena, and was associated with University of Hyderabad, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Columbia University, New York. He was also on the Advisory Board of Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET).
In 2010, he was awarded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan.
He served as a member of the United Nation’s Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, and The Palais-Royal Initiative on the Reforms of the International Monetary System, Paris.
Prior to being appointed as Governor, he worked in Government of Andhra Pradesh, Government of India, Reserve Bank of India, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Currently, Dr. Reddy is Honorary Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad, India.
Zuni Chopra
Zuni Chopra is a sixteen-year-old author who has published two books of poetry and, most recently, a novel called The House that Spoke. She has a passion for fantasy writing and fairy tales, and her favorite authors include Neil Gaiman and Lewis Carroll. She lives in Mumbai with her parents, older brother and their six dogs.
Directors
Festival Director
Sagarika Ghose
Sagarika Ghose is a journalist, author and broadcaster. She joined journalism in 1991 and has been a journalist for over two decades. She began her career at The Times of India, was part of the start up team of Outlook magazine as special correspondent and then went on to work as Senior Editor at The Indian Express. She was co-founder of the news network CNNIBN, as well as prime time anchor of the flagship show Face the Nation. She is the author of two novels, 'The Gin Drinkers' and 'Blind Faith', both published worldwide. In 2004 she became the first woman to anchor the flagship BBC World debate programme Question Time India. She was awarded the Best Anchor Award by the Indian Television Academy in 2013 and named as one of the 50 Most Famous Rhodes Scholars by the Rhodes project. At the moment she is Consulting Editor, The Times of India. Read More
Nalin Mehta is an award-winning social scientist, journalist and author. He is associate professor with Shiv Nadar University, consulting editor with The Times of India and editor of the international journal South Asian History and Culture (Routledge) as well as the Routledge 'South Asian History and Culture' book series. He has previously been managing editor of India Today's English news channel, adjunct professor at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and held senior positions with the Global Fund in Geneva, Switzerland, and UNAIDS. He currently sits on the governing board and governing council of the University Grants Commission Consortium for Educational Communication, an inter-university centre that coordinates the work of 22 centres in universities nationwide on education through communication technologies. He is also on the editorial board of the South Asia Archive, a digital archive encompassing millions of pages of original documents stretching back to the 18th century, and the international peer-reviewed journal Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics. Mehta's new book, Behind a Billion Screens: What Television Tells Us About Modern India(New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2015) is a critically acclaimed national bestseller and was longlisted as Business Book of the Year by Tata Literary Live. His other books include 'India on Television: How Satellite Channels Have Changed the Way We Think and Act, which won the 2009 Asian Publishing Award for Best Book, the best-selling Sellotape Legacy: Delhi and the Commonwealth Games, and a critically acclaimed social history of Indian sport, Olympics: The India Story. He has edited Television in India: Satellites, Politics and Cultural Change and co-edited Gujarat Beyond Gandhi: Identity, Conflict and Society as well as 'The Changing Face of Cricket: From Imperial to Global Game. Read More
Rajnigandha
Rau’s IAS
GAIL
Pearl Academy 
D Paul’s
Full Circle