Close To The Bone
With the labelling of ‘Close to the bone’ as a cancer memoir by the literary world and the rest of it, Lisa Ray challenged this idea by speaking extensively about the trials and tribulations that she had to survive …
BLF 2019 Reports
Colour Matters
Disambiguation of the persistence of colour and society’s dependence on the same for determining an individual’s thoughts and actions is much needed today. The trials and tribulations of time and history are a testimony to that. Artefacts predating the 20th …
Discovering Bengaluru
The cool climes in the Red Couch at 10:30am adds to the authenticity of the topic of discussions. What else do we really know about Bengaluru apart from its pleasant climates that has been an abiding attraction for years? Meera …
Early Indians
The audience seated at the Yayati stage arena on the first day of the Bangalore Literature Festival’19 were greeted by Tony Joseph, the author of the best-selling book, ‘Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From’…
First Novels and Nation Building
Vanamala Viswanatha who is an award-winning translator, working with Kannada and English, introduced the first Kannada novel ‘Indira Bai: The Triumph of Truth and Virtue’ by Gulvadi Venkata Rao who hailed from south kannada region. This novel is about a …
Forbidden Love
Which is forbidden love? Is it Romeo and Juliet’s star-crossed attraction or Khilji’s obsession for Rani Padmavati or the love of those women who explore love outside their own culture? What does forbidden love actually mean? Is it the love …
Fried Rice and Fellowship – Days Of My China Dragon
First session of day 2 of BLF 2019 and one would have thought it would be a dampener given the heavy outpour of previous night. But that is not namma Bengaluru!
This delightful conversation started right on time.
The session …
From Cosmic Dance to Climate Change
The stage was set for what was going to be one of the most mesmerizing dance performances and social statements all blended into one. Revanta who is a dancer, choreographer, and actor from Ahmedabad started off on a very strong …
Happiness Express
The session flagged off on time at The Red Couch stage with an introductory address by Khurshed Batliwala, popularly known as BAWA – one of the two authors of ‘Happiness Express’ who particularly based his focus on the topmost things …
Hindustani Mussalman
The evening session driven by Abdullah Khan, a Mumbai based novelist, screenwriter, literary critic, and banker was one of the most engaging events of the day two of Bangalore Literature Festival. His discovery of George Orwell sharing origin to his …
I’m OK, You’re OK – Exploring Mental Landscapes
The biggest panel of Bengaluru Literature Festival focused on breaking mental health barriers and was moderated by Amandeep Sandhu, author of the novel ‘Sepia Leaves’.
The conversation involved remarkable writers and pioneers of mental health awareness. Amandeep started the …
Imagining (an)other – Men Writing Women
A conversation with writers Amitabha Bagchi, Chandrahas Choudhury, Deepak Unnikrishnan , Mahesh Rao anchored by Karthika Nair was initiated with the fundamental question – “How do men write women characters? Is gender the greatest distance you have to traverse while …
India 2047 – Many India’s possible
A candid conversation of Ian McDonald, an award-winning Science Fiction author with Gautham Shenoy.
Getting straight into it, Gautham asked Ian about his book ‘River of Gods’ released in 2004 which talks about India in the year 2047, a century …
India Automated
The session commenced on time at The Red Couch venue with Pranjal Sharma taking the lead who is an economic analyst, advisor and writer, focusing on technology, globalisation, and media. He guides projects on economic forecasting, business intelligence, and public …
Indian Elections
Ornit Shani speaks of the ramifications of the election system placed in India by the British Raj during their colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent. The election process in India is an established one that has been practised effectively since …
Inside the LeT
The Indian political environment is ripe with stories of Islamic invasions, Hindu-Muslim tensions and land title disputes. The easiest emotional currency that politicians can use is Kashmir, terrorism and Pakistan’s LeT. While navigating through this fragile socio-political atmosphere, Christine Fair …
Jill of all Trades
How many of us are Jill of all trades? The session saw a very refreshing and joyous discussion among the rock stars of female fiction- Milan Vohra, Minnie Vaid and Piya Bahadur, hosted by Sudha Menon.
Each of these …
Keshava – A Magnificent Obsession
Bhavana Somaaya has been writing for cinema for more than forty years. She has not only worked as a film critic but published several books, worked on radio, and has no limit to her explorations. In her sixties now, she …
Lessons in Leadership and Love from India’s Sex Workers
“Don’t step on people who are having sex”. The session, which had Ashok Alexander in conversation with Vijayendra Rao, started with the former quoting this line from his book ‘A Stranger Truth. This was in answer to the moderator, Vijayendra …
Life and Death of Sunanda Pushkar
Ravi Subramaniam interviewed author Sunanda Mehta about her popular book, ‘Life and Death of Sunanda Pushkar’. It was a great interaction between Sunanda Mehta and Ravi Subramanian. When one thinks of Sunanda Pushkar’s life, the first question that hits …