“Our approach is not a ‘to do list’, but a Hippocratic Oath of ‘do no harm’ and that is why we were talking earlier about the early achievements and why we should stop undermining them.” A line that pretty much …
“There is something grounding about clay — humble, elemental, timeless.”
Long before books or paper existed, clay held water, nourishment, ritual, and memory. A beautifully calming session unfolded around this very element, drawing us into the world of the ghatam, …
The post-lunch session brought together writer Tanuj Tanuj and journalist-author Ghazala Ghazala for a penetrating conversation on one of the most debated, misunderstood, and politically charged spaces in India: the Hindi Heartland.
Tanuj opened the conversation with the very pertinent …
If you ever wanted a panel that sliced through morality, love, insecurity, and the architecture of relationships with wit and startling clarity, Arundathi Ghosh and Manu Joseph delivered it brutally honest, unexpectedly tender, and wildly funny in this session.
Manu …
Mental health conversations often begin with heaviness, but this session began with humour when the moderator broke the ice with a joke about his own weight before inviting us into a dialogue that was honest, expansive, and deeply grounding.
Aruna …
Food and its evocative tales are often referred to as the barometers of cultures. The culinary arts bear a syncretic relation with everything that we experience. Our lives, our experiences and our stories, our ecology and the future we behold. …
As the audience settled for the session to begin, the moderator Udayan opened the event by playing the original Akashvani signature tune, the one that got aired every morning at 5:58 AM during the AIR (All India Radio) days. The …
The wind was not on his side that day. Gourav was running(quite literally) through the streets of a city he barely knew, chasing a man he believed to be “Dronacharya to my Ekalavya”. It was his only chance to tell …
Has Chetan Bhagat really waxed?
“It hurts men wouldn’t know this, but it’s a painful job,” Chetan Bhagat joked while talking about the challenges he faced when One Indian Girl was published back in October 2016. Since the book was …
“The pause on my lips
You fill in what you feel”
James Shea read this two-lined poem during the session, and in a way it captured the entire theme of the conversation. A poem that leaves space. A poem that …
During the first day of the 14th edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival, the stage in the Open Cell likely observed the widest spectrum of vibes. What started as the nostalgic corner of Sufi ghazals and classical ragas evolved into …
Atta Galatta – Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize is probably the only major literary prize that considers translations, short-story anthologies, and self-published works. The awards are distributed across eight categories, and the winners are chosen by a jury that remains …
In the age of ever-reducing attention spans, relying on memory is tricky. And here we have a session where three writers made a bold decision to write memoirs.
The session was a treasure trove of stories from three very different …
If there is anything that can keep people in Bengaluru at the Lit Fest at 7 PM on a Saturday evening, despite the traffic they have to brace afterwards, it is a session by Shashi Tharoor.
With an audience of …
"Myth" comes from the Greek word "mythos," meaning a story that shapes moral codes and explores the human condition. Born through oral traditions, symbolism, and collective belief, myths quietly slip into our everyday lives—especially into what we eat, …
This session brought together three very different writers: Kazim Ali, a poet and novelist known for his lyrical and reflective work; Sabin Iqbal, a journalist and novelist who writes closely from people, places and social realities; and Ponnu Elizabeth Mathew, …
“To me, writing the book was an experience, the articulation was a reaffirmation of my decisions in life” – thus said Milind, at the start of a very interesting conversation with Roopa Pai and Mariam Begg on his memoir, ‘Made …
Chandan Gowda is a professor at Azim Premji University and moderated the session. Geeta Mohan is a foreign affairs editor at India Today TV Network and covers international relations and diplomacy. She met with Hamid Ansari at his house’s basement, …
Jeffrey misses being in India – this was the note with which he opened this very lively and tongue-in-cheek session. He was in conversation with Nirmala Govindarajan, whose new novel, Taboo, has been shortlisted for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize …
Bangalore! To a local, the city is one that carefully caresses the history it comes with, and throws the demanding, fast paced world of start-ups, and tech parks, and a growing population to the mix. Eleven Stops to the Present: …
