#Speakup Archives - Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF)

Archives for #Speakup

India’s Democracy XI

In the kickoff event of Bangalore Literature Festival on Day 2, Prem Panicker, Rahul Dravid, and Rajdeep Sardesai began the session amidst the massive crowd who welcomed them with huge applause that steadily reached a crescendo. Prem presented Rahul as …

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A Life Like No Other

Padma Vibhushan Dr. Sonal Mansingh needs no introduction. Her deep knowledge of several dance forms and classical music stands out. Her ‘Naatya Katha’ addresses several socio-cultural issues and is a solo dance theatre. Sonal Mansingh’s biography comes from Sujata Prasad- …

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Literary Fiction – An Endangered Species?

The evening session started with Italo Calvino’s words for classics ‘books that are treasured by the readers who loved it and also for the first first time readers, those books are classics.’ Imraan Coovadia asked about the relevance of classics …

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Aadhaar – Dystopia or Utopia

The title can be simplified to ask if Aadhaar is slavery or not but this is not how our moderator Charles Assisi decided to put the topic into discussion, he said that when Henry Ford created a motorcar, the pertinent …

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The World of AK Ramanujan

For a time, I was transported back to the world of AK Ramanujan attending the session ‘The World of AK Ramanujan’ presided over by Girish Karnad, Guillermo Rodriguez, and moderated by Chandan Gowda. Girish Karnad’s personal acquaintance with AK Ramanujan …

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Mrs. Funnybones

“Twinkle Twinkle little star
I am going to hit you with a car.”

Yes, Twinkle Khanna did say that, very eloquently in fact. To an unfortunate man in the audience who drew her ire by cracking jokes on her name, …

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Conversations with People not like Us

Madan Padaki, co-founder & CEO of 1Bridge, a last-mile services platform for Rural India was right when he said, “Conversations today are having a different meaning altogether. There is so much of impatience and distrust in conversations these days”. He …

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Festering Wounds – The 1984 Riots

While the session was titled ‘Festering Wounds – The 1984 Riots’, Preeti Gill, who is an independent editor and literary agent and someone who experienced the horror of 1984 first hand, broke ice with the panelists suggesting that to address …

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This Is My Story

Good writing or Good marketing? Ask Savi Sharma & Varun Aggarwal.The session had both Savi Sharma and Varun Aggarwal and was a treat not to be missed. Ying and Yang, they definitely do not fall under the same stars. Savi …

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Antara Gange

Women who have been through the toughest of times that life has thrown at them, Indira Lankesh and Dr. Vijaya opened in this interaction with M S Asha Devi about what makes them the strong women they are. Indira Lankesh …

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In Hot Blood

In an exclusive interview with Meenal Baghel in the Bangalore literature festival, author, columnist and journalist Bachi Karkaria talks about her book, the other side of the man Prem Ahuja, Sylvia and Kawas Nanavati

Meenal: What fascinated you about …

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Jingoism Vs. Patriotism

Weekend mornings of an octoberish Bangalore can carry you into an inertia that is extremely difficult to overcome. However, this is a time loved and awaited by writers, poets, and patrons of literature for reasons transcending into the creative streak …

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Remembering Gauri

The Bangalore Literature Festival began with ‘Remembering Gauri’. Gauri Lankesh whose tragic death continues to haunt our souls was given a heart stirring rendition by co-founder of Sandbox Collective, Nimi Ravindran, poet and theatre artist Padmavati Rao, and theatre artist …

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