Agnijit Sen

Agnijit Sen, popularly known as Mirchi Agni, is a radio jockey with Mirchi 98.3 FM. He has been doing radio shows since 2016 and currently hosts the morning show. He has been one of the lead actors of the first Bangla social media viral series, O Maa Go. He is the perfect combination of wit and a sense of humour. He is a prolific on-stage host and has moderated a number of big events.

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 10 am
Abol Tabol Special - Celebrating 100 years of Sukumar Ray’s classic with Pinaki De and Agnijit Sen. In conversation with Aparajita Dasgupta

Anaida Parvaneh

Anaida Parvaneh is known for flagging off an era in the Indian pop music culture. She is also an award-winning chef, artist, author, inspirational speaker and energy healer. Her ‘Power of You’workshops employ music, food, and art to help people connect to their inner selves. She is also a successful marketing consultant to hospitality, entertainment and luxury real estate.

Attending Session

January 26, 2024 ● 4 pm - 4.45pm and 5.15 pm - 6 pm (two sessions)
Healing Through Hues with Anaida Parvaneh - This workshop is designed to demonstrate how a simple yet intentional act of colouring can serve as a powerful tool for emotional healing, stress relief and concentration enhancement. 

Anand Neelakantan

Anand Neelakantan is an Indian author, columnist, screenwriter, television personality, cartoonist, and motivational speaker. He is known for writing mythological fiction and has authored eleven books in English and one in Malayalam. His debut work, Asura: Tale of the Vanquished, was based on the Indian epic The Ramayana told from the perspective of  Ravana. He also writes a column for New Indian Express on current affairs.

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 12.10 pm
Mythology for the Millennials - Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan, Anand Neelakantan and Sudarshan Ray on contemporising Indian mythology for kids. In conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha

Andaleeb Wajeed

Andaleeb Wajeed is a hybrid author having published more than forty-five novels in the past fourteen years. She enjoys writing in a number of different genres such as young adult, romance and horror. Her romance trilogy series, Jasmine Villa, was published in 2023. She has an upcoming horror novel for young adults in 2024.

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 12.40 pm
What Do You Read? - Jerry Pinto, Andaleeb Wajid and Reshma K Barshikar discuss the reading habits of young adults

Anindyo Roy

Anindyo Roy is Associate Professor Emeritus at Colby College, USA. The author of Civility and Empire, he has published several articles on Rudyard Kipling, Laurence Hope, EM Forster, the Bloomsbury Group and the contemporary Nigerian novelist, Helon Habila. Based on the travel journals of the nineteenth-century English illustrator and poet Edward Lear, The Viceroy’s Artist is his first attempt at writing fiction. He shuttles between Kolkata, Maine and the hills of Kalimpong, where he works on livelihood projects for small farmers affected by climate change.

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 4 pm - 5.30 pm
The Art of Storytelling and Keeping it Short! - Flash Fiction with Anindyo Roy 

Aparajita Dasgupta

Aparajita Dasgupta is an academician who has taught in various government colleges in West Bengal. She has also been a Fulbright Visiting Professor at St Mary’s University, USA. Her creative writing in Bengali includes novels, autobiographical vignettes, a book of short stories, a collection of essays and a children’s book. She has also edited and annotated her grandmother Mina Dasgupta’s autobiography Rita’r Jiban. 

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 10 am
Abol Tabol Special - Celebrating 100 years of Sukumar Ray’s classic with Pinaki De and Agnijit Sen. In conversation with Aparajita Dasgupta

Bijal Vachharajani

When Bijal Vachharajani is not reading a children’s book, she’s writing or editing one. Chief picture-book dreamer at Pratham Books, she is the author of multiple planet-friendly books including Savi and the Memory Keeper, A Cloud Called Bhura and When Fairyland Lost Its Magic. She has also been the Editor at Time Out Bengaluru, consulted with international NGOs and written about children’s literature and sustainable development as a freelance journalist. She has a Masters in Environment Security and Peace with a specialization in Climate Change and Security at the UN-mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica.

Attending Sessions

January 24, 2024 ● 11.15 am
Fairy Tales in a Real World - Bijal Vachharajani and Varsha Seshan on storifying important issues such as climate change and democracy through fairy tales and fantasy

January 25, 2024 ● 11.40 am
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne on his timeless bestseller. In conversation with Bijal Vachharajani

Geeta Ramanujam

Geeta Ramanujam is a master storyteller, trainer, founder and executive director of Kathalaya’s International Academy of Storytelling and Kathalaya Trust. She is also an academician and administrator with twenty-three years of experience in storytelling. A pioneer of the storytelling movement in India, she has defined and evolved the ancient art of storytelling through workshops and certified courses. She has travelled to 43 countries and twenty-seven states in India to groom professional tellers, all the while sowing seeds of storytelling around the world for the last forty years. Kathalaya’s International Academy of Storytelling is the only globally recognized academy for storytelling in the world with accredited courses affiliated to the USA, Scotland and Sweden. She is an Ashoka Fellow and has won several accolades for storytelling, including the Best Story Narrator award from the Governor of Tamil Nadu and the Boca do Céu-Encontro Internacional de Contadores de Histórias Storyteller Award in Brazil. She has written The Wise Monkey and Other Animal Stories. Tales from the World  is her second offering.

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 11.45 am
Word of Mouth – Oral Storytelling - Nitin Kushalappa MP,  L Somi Roy and Geeta Ramanujam discuss the preservation of diverse cultures through folktales

Hannah Lalhlanpuii

Hannah Lalhlanpuii is a writer from Aizawl, Mizoram, and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Mizoram Christian College. Her areas of interest include North East literature, trauma writing and children’s literature. Her short story titled A Bird Called Freedom was published in the anthology Big Mistakes: An Anthology of Growing Up and Other Tough Stuff. Her poems were included in Lockdown Literature from Mizoram. She has also published a historical fiction titled When Blackbirds Fly. She manages a self-initiated NGO, JT Book Project, which aims to create reading awareness among young learners and setting up libraries for schools in remote areas in Mizoram.

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 10.50 am
This Land Is My Land - Hannah Lalhlanpuii, Tanu Shree Singh, Mandira Shah and Swati Sengupta on looking at the Indian freedom struggle from various points of view

Huma Qureshi

Huma Qureshi is a popular and critically-acclaimed Indian actress, model and producer working primarily in Hindi-language cinema. She has received several awards including the Filmfare OTT and Stardust Awards as well as several Filmfare Award nominations. The latest feather in her cap is the publication of her debut fantasy fiction novel Zeba: The Accidental Superhero in 2023. 

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 1 pm
Zeba: The Accidental Superhero -  Huma Qureshi on her debut novel and the need for feisty heroines in Young Adult writing. In conversation with Janet Gasper Chowdhury

Jael Silliman

Jael Silliman was a tenured Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Iowa, USA. She was also a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, New York. She is the author of several books, scholarly papers and popular articles for newspapers and magazines on gender, development, race, social justice and women’s rights issues. She writes about her community – the Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta. She has created a digital archive on the Calcutta Jewish community. Her most recent publications are Where Gods Reside: Kolkata’s Scared Places, Adda! The College Street Coffee House, and India in Celebration.

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 10.50 am
Shalome Rides a Royal Elephant - Jael Silliman discusses her new book with Jashodhara Chakraborti

Janet Gasper Chowdhury

Janet Gasper Chowdhury is a self-proclaimed ‘kaleidoscope’: a cool mom to two independent-minded teenagers and a demanding professional to a high performing team. She, along with her husband, leads an organization that runs ICSE and CBSE co-ed schools educating over 6500 students as well as a free evening school for underprivileged girl students. She enjoys designing interiors, writing poetry, and challenging herself with golf, badminton, and recently by playing cricket. With little or no exposure to Hindu mythology while growing up, Amish’s Shiva Trilogy opened up a new world for her and she’s been a fan ever since. 

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 1 pm
Zeba: The Accidental Superhero -  Huma Qureshi on her debut novel and the need for feisty heroines in Young Adult writing. In conversation with Janet Gasper Chowdhury

Jashodhara Chakraborti

Jashodhara Chakraborti is an alumna of Lady Shri Ram College and IIM Calcutta. She writes, translates, and teaches a course on storytelling.  She is the author of two books of The Wordkeepers Trilogy – The Wordkeepers and Skyserpents – the first, a bestseller on debut. She has been a columnist on Scroll.in. In 2019, she created a concept and Bible for a web series with Disney-Hotstar. She recently serialized a translation of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s opera, The Illusion Game, on the digital platform Scrollstack.

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 10.50 am
Shalome Rides a Royal Elephant - Jael Silliman discusses her new book with Jashodhara Chakraborti

Jerry Pinto

Jerry Pinto is a Mumbai-based poet, novelist, short story writer, translator and journalist. He has a liberal arts as well as a law degree. For his 2006 book Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb on the acclaimed dancer-actress Helen, he went on to receive the National Film Award for the Best Book on Cinema. His debut novel, Em and The Big Hoom, won him a plethora of honours including the Hindu Literary Prize, the Crossword Book Award, the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for fiction and the Sahitya Akademi Award.

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 12.40 pm
What Do You Read? - Jerry Pinto, Andaleeb Wajid and Reshma K Barshikar discuss the reading habits of young adults

John Boyne

John Boyne is the author of fourteen novels for adults, six for younger readers and a collection of short stories. His novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has sold more than eleven million copies worldwide and has been adapted for cinema, theater, ballet and opera. His many international bestsellers include The Heart’s Invisible Furies and A Ladder to the Sky. His novels have been published in fifty-nine languages making him the most translated Irish author of all time. 

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 11.40 am
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne on his timeless bestseller. In conversation with Bijal Vachharajani

L Somi Roy

A New-York based film and media curator, L Somi Roy’s film exhibitions have been seen across the US and in China, India, Indonesia, and Israel. He has been the Festival Director of many well known film festivals. He has produced animation displays for the Atlanta Olympics, the International Women’s Conference in Beijing and HD for Tokyo Broadcasting System in New York. He has a singular record of experience in the presentation and dissemination of Manipuri culture on the international stage. He also promotes international polo in India, notably Polo Yatra, India’s first national tour of international women’s polo. He is working on building a pony preserve as well as a museum of art for North East India at the Pushpavanta Palace in Agartala, Tripura. He started Imasi Publications in 2014 and has a host of translation works to his credit including MK Binodini’s Sahitya Akademi-winning historical novel.

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 11.45 am
Word of Mouth – Oral Storytelling - Nitin Kushalappa MP,  L Somi Roy and Geeta Ramanujam discuss the preservation of diverse cultures through folktales

Mandira Shah

Mandira Shah is a full-time IT professional and a part-time writer. Her first book Children of the Hidden Land talks about hope and friendship amidst conflict and is set in Manipur. It has won her the Binod Kanoria Award and the Valley of Words Award and was shortlisted for The Times of India Author awards. She and her husband are founders of Paradox of Fiction, a creative production house for short films.

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 10.50 am
This Land Is My Land - Hannah Lalhlanpuii, Tanu Shree Singh, Mandira Shah and Swati Sengupta on looking at the Indian freedom struggle from various points of view

Nandita Basu

Nandita Basu is a comic book artist and a trained Western classical pianist from the London College of Music. She has written three full-length graphic novels for Young Adults and one full-length graphic novel for older readers. Her book Rain Must Fall won the Neev Literature award in the YA category in 2022. Her book The Piano is a story of a friendship that was on the Parag Honour List. Her latest book for Young Adults Starry Starry Night has recently been released.

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 4 pm - 4.45 pm and 5.15 pm - 6 pm (two sessions)
Pictures, Stories - A visual chronicle of how a Graphic Novel is made with Nandita Basu

Nitin Kushalappa MP

Nitin Kushalappa MP devours anything edible on myths and folk stories. Otherwise, he is either digging into histories or typing away code on a computer. He has an MA in history and archaeology and an EPGDM in Finance. He has also been developing software for a while and is responsible for at least 22 iPhone apps. His articles have been published in the Deccan Herald, Times of India and Star of Mysore. He has authored eight published books including four on local history; a biography of an army hero; a translation of a Gandhian’s biography from Kannada to English; and a fictional novella, which is a modern-age Ramayan. His latest book  Dakshin: South Indian Myths and Fables Retold is a collection of folk tales from regions across South India, retold for children. It has been shortlisted for the Atta Galatta – Bangalore Lit Fest Prize.

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 11.45 am
Word of Mouth – Oral Storytelling - Nitin Kushalappa MP,  L Somi Roy and Geeta Ramanujam discuss the preservation of diverse cultures through folktales

Pinaki De

Pinaki De is a multiple award-winning graphic illustrator-designer who regularly works for renowned publishers like Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, Hachette, Routledge, Bloomsbury, Roli, Rupa and many others. He has designed almost five hundred book covers till date. He has won the Publishing Next prize for best book cover design in India in 2017 and 2019. His cover for Kalkatta by Kunal Basu won the prestigious Oxford Bookstore prize for the best cover design in India at the Jaipur Literary Fest 2017. His layout design on Satyajit Ray’s archival manuscripts has drawn accolades from all across the globe. A Charles Wallace Trust Fellow, his PhD is in comics theory. He is one of the editors of the prestigious annual magazine Longform, generally regarded as the first global comics magazine from India. He is the Indian comics advisor of Mangasia, the biggest ever exhibition on Asian Comics curated by Paul Gravett for the Barbican, London. His book-length comics on the Partition is due next year. He is also an Associate Professor at Raja Peary Mohan College, Uttarpara.

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 10 am
Abol Tabol Special - Celebrating 100 years of Sukumar Ray’s classic with Pinaki De and Agnijit Sen. In conversation with Aparajita Dasgupta

Priyadarshinee Guha

A gold medallist in Modern History, Priyadarshinee Guha is in charge of the senior school humanities programme and the entire co-scholastic activities at Indus Valley World School, Kolkata. Her vast experience of over twenty-five years in teaching and teacher training helps her to promote novel and creative approaches to teaching. With her multifaceted talents and love for the arts, she is able to steer students to explore varied avenues of expression through drama, dance, singing, music and literary endeavors. Passionate about teaching, she chose to make this her life force. Born into a family steeped in reading, theatre and cinema, these influences have enhanced her work enormously over the years.

Attending Sessions

January 24, 2024 ● 12.10 pm
Mythology for the Millennials - Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan, Anand Neelakantan and Sudarshan Ray on contemporising Indian mythology for kids. In conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha

January 25, 2024 ● 12.50 pm
Republic of Hope I: I Kick and I Fly - Ruchira Gupta discusses her debut novel, and how stories can inspire and empower. In conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha

Reshma K Barshikar

Reshma K Barshikar is the award-winning, bestselling author of The Hidden Children series. Her debut novel Fade Into Red was an Amazon bestseller. Her YA fantasy novel The Hidden Children won the 2019 Children’s Book Award, was long listed for the Neev Award, and went on to become a national bestseller. The sequel The Lost Prisoner was called ‘the Indian Harry Potter’ by the Deccan Chronicle. When she’s not dreaming up elaborate plots, she also writes features and her work has been published in the National Geographic Traveller, Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia, The Sunday Guardian, The Mint Lounge, The New Indian Express and The Hindu. She is also the creator and founder of The Hidden Imagination Writers Academy.

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 12.40 pm
What Do You Read? - Jerry Pinto, Andaleeb Wajid and Reshma K Barshikar discuss the reading habits of young adults

Ruchira Gupta

Ruchira Gupta is an Emmy-winning journalist and founder of Apne Aap, a non-governmental organization that works for women’s rights and the eradication of sex trafficking. I Kick and I Fly is her debut fiction novel. She has been awarded the French Ordre National du Mérite, the Clinton Global Citizen Award and the UN NGO CSW Woman of Distinction, amongst other honors. She has co-written a book with Gloria Steinem, As If Women Matter, and edited two anthologies, River of Flesh and Renu’s Letters to Birju Babu. She has worked for the United Nations in Nepal, Thailand, Kosovo, Iran and the USA. She occasionally teaches at the New York University’s Center for Global Affairs as a visiting faculty. 

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 12.50 pm
Republic of Hope I: I Kick and I Fly - Ruchira Gupta discusses her debut novel, and how stories can inspire and empower. In conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha

Satyajit Banerjee

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 10 am
Of Spins, Sixes, and Surprises - Author Titash Banerjea talks cricket with Satyajit Banerjee

Shahana Chatterjee

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 2.10 pm
Irrfan - Tigmanshu Dhulia, Tillotama Shome, and Shubhra Gupta discuss the magic of Irrfan and his everlasting legacy. In conversation with Shahana Chatterjee 

Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan

Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan is the author of a dozen works of fiction and non-fiction and an award-winning voice-over artist. She is also a former non-profit development professional who spent two decades as an advocate and fundraiser for persons with disabilities. She has published children’s books and been recognized with awards for many of them. Her poetry book for children It’s Time to Rhyme won the prestigious Publishing Next Best Book of the Year Award in 2022. She is a regular speaker on panels and a frequent guest at literary festivals. Her books have also been included in school curriculums in India.

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 12.10 pm
Mythology for the Millennials - Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan, Anand Neelakantan and Sudarshan Ray on contemporising Indian mythology for kids. In conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha

Shubhra Gupta

Shubhra Gupta is a film critic and columnist with the Indian Express, and the curator of the enormously popular Indian Express Film Club, a unique platform for cinema appreciation. One of India’s most well-regarded and influential film critics, she has traveled extensively around the world to film festivals both as reporter and jury member and served as a member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 2.10 pm
Irrfan - Tigmanshu Dhulia, Tillotama Shome, and Shubhra Gupta discuss the magic of Irrfan and his everlasting legacy. In conversation with Shahana Chatterjee 

Sohini Mitra

With over seventeen years of experience in publishing, Sohini Mitra is now in charge of the Children and Young Adult list at Penguin Random House India. An expert in children’s content, she has acquired and published a wide range of award-winning books and diverse voices from the subcontinent that continue to be loved by young readers. She has collaborated with some of the finest and best-loved authors writing for children including Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murty, late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Subhadra Sen Gupta, Devdutt Pattanaik, Namita Gokhale, Anita Nair, Paro Anand, Deepak Dalal and Devika Cariapa.

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 10 am
Grandma’s Bag of Stories - Sudha Murty in conversation with Sohini Mitra on writing for children and how her journey has evolved over the years. Launch of Grandma's Bag of Stories – Special Edition

Sudarshan Ray

Sudarshan Ray is a software developer and entrepreneur with postgraduate degrees in Business Administration (MBA, University of Oxford), Computer Science (MS, State University of New York, Stony Brook) and Operations Research (MS, The College of William and Mary, Virginia). Presently, he runs multiple businesses in healthcare, hospitality and software across Calcutta and Bangalore. He travels around the world with his family and writes blogs on travel, history and the Indian freedom struggle. Mahabharata: The Great India Epic is his first published work. 

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 12.10 pm
Mythology for the Millennials - Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan, Anand Neelakantan and Sudarshan Ray on contemporising Indian mythology for kids. In conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha

Sudha Murty

Sudha Murty is an Indian writer who is also the Infosys Foundation’s chairperson. She writes in Kannada and English and has authored collections of short stories, travelogues, technical books, non-fiction stories, novels and children’s books. Her books have sold over four lakh copies and been translated into several Indian languages. She has received various prestigious awards such as the Padma Shri, the R.K. Narayan Award for Literature and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award from the Government of Karnataka for excellence in Kannada literature. Her other works include, The Bird with Golden Wings: Stories of Wit and Magic, Grandma’s Bag of Stories, Gently Falls the Bakula, The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk: Life Stories from Here and There and Dollar Bahu.

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 10 am
Grandma’s Bag of Stories - Sudha Murty in conversation with Sohini Mitra on writing for children and how her journey has evolved over the years. Launch of Grandma's Bag of Stories – Special Edition

Swati Sengupta

Swati Sengupta is an author, translator and gender rights educator. A former journalist, she writes for the young and not-so-young and finds both equally enjoyable. Her books include Guns On My Red Earth, Half The Field Is Mine, Out of War, Murder In The City (translation), The Talking Bird and A Tea Garden Party. Her most recent work is the Incredible Life series (six books on Savitribai Phule, Milkha Singh, Birsa Munda, Jhalkari Bai, Bhagat Singh and Arati Saha). She also runs a gender workshop series for the young titled The Elephant In The Room. She collaborated with Kolkata Police and Barrackpore Police in 2017-22 to run gender sensitization programmes – Dear Boys (for schools) and Equality Matters (for colleges). She has worked for over two decades with leading newspapers The Times of India, The Telegraph and The Statesman in Kolkata and has also written for HuffPost India, The New York Times’ India Ink, The Caravan, scroll.in and Khaleej Times.

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 10.50 am
This Land Is My Land - Hannah Lalhlanpuii, Tanu Shree Singh, Mandira Shah and Swati Sengupta on looking at the Indian freedom struggle from various points of view

Tanu Shree Singh

Tanu Shree Singh is an Assistant Professor in Psychology. She completed her studies in Positive Psychology, a relatively new and promising branch of psychology devoted to cultivating contented, happy and fulfilling lives. Her passion for reading and getting more children to read led her to set up two libraries in Faridabad and Tirthan Valley. She also supports thirteen other libraries in Himachal. She is the author of Keep Calm and Mommy On, DK Indian Icons: CV Raman and Darkless and has contributed to the anthologies Flipped and I’d rather read. Her latest book The Letter to Lahore has just been released.

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 10.50 am
This Land Is My Land - Hannah Lalhlanpuii, Tanu Shree Singh, Mandira Shah and Swati Sengupta on looking at the Indian freedom struggle from various points of view

Tigmanshu Dhulia

Tigmanshu Dhulia is an Indian film dialogue writer, director, actor, screenwriter, producer and casting director. He has a Masters degree in theatre from the National School of Drama. He wrote the dialogue for the Mani Ratnam film Dil Se. His directorial debut Haasil was a love story set among politicized students in northern India. His directing career garnered international recognition with Paan Singh Tomar (recipient of the National Award for Best Feature Film and Best Actor for Irrfan in the eponymous role) and the thriller drama Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster. He is also well known for his role as Ramadhir Singh in Anurag Kashyaps’ modern cult film Gangs of Wasseypur. 

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 2.10 pm
Irrfan - Tigmanshu Dhulia, Tillotama Shome, and Shubhra Gupta discuss the magic of Irrfan and his everlasting legacy. In conversation with Shahana Chatterjee 

Tillotama Shome

Actress Tillotama Shome has created a repertoire of exceptional performances in critically acclaimed award-winning films, both domestically and internationally. She is an extraordinary actress, navigating between cultures and languages effortlessly. Her debut as Alice in Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding won hearts world over with New York Magazine hailing her for having ‘a moonstruck quality right out of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Some of her most noteworthy recent roles have been in Delhi Crime (Season 2), The Night Manager and Lust Stories, in which she portrayed strong female characters. Although she has been in the business for over twenty years, she feels she is just getting started.

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 2.10 pm
Irrfan - Tigmanshu Dhulia, Tillotama Shome, and Shubhra Gupta discuss the magic of Irrfan and his everlasting legacy. In conversation with Shahana Chatterjee 

Titash Banerjea

Quizmaster, entrepreneur and a true knowledge explorer, Titash Banerjea has been actively involved with the world of quizzing for more than ten years. He has hosted many events including the Starmark Open Sports Quiz, The Cycle Heritage Quiz (on Indian Heritage for schools) and the Nairobi Rotary Quiz Night. He made his debut as an author with The Ultimate IPL Quiz Book. He is also a keen theatre person and has acted in many plays. He is the co-founder of Gyanspace and Citybytes. His book Of Spins, Sixes and Surprises tracks the history of Indian cricket not in terms of an anthropological study but instead through fifty defining moments.

Attending Session

January 27, 2024 ● 10 am
Of Spins, Sixes, and Surprises - Author Titash Banerjea talks cricket with Satyajit Banerjee

Varsha Seshan

Varsha Seshan is a writer of lists, emails and notes to herself. She also writes children’s stories and loves windy, rainy days full of magic and possibility. A Pune-based author, she has been published by Scholastic, Harper Collins, Oxford University Press, Puffin, Duckbill, Karadi Tales, Pratham Books, Zubaan Books and more. Her books have been shortlisted for the AG Bangalore Literature Festival Prize for Children’s Fiction 2023; the Neev Book Award 2021; the Singapore Book Award 2019; and the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2018 and 2016. She conducts online book clubs and writing programmes for ages 7-14. A classical dancer with over thirty years of training in Bharatanatyam, she has performed extensively in India and abroad.

Attending Session

January 24, 2024 ● 11.15 am
Fairy Tales in a Real World - Bijal Vachharajani and Varsha Seshan on storifying important issues such as climate change and democracy through fairy tales and fantasy

Varuna Shunglu

Varuna Shunglu is an international yoga teacher, wellness entrepreneur and lawyer. Varuna has written for publications such as The Telegraph, Asia Spa, Men’s Health and the Business Standard.

Attending Session

January 25, 2024 ● 4 pm - 4.45 pm and 5.15 pm - 6 pm (two sessions)
Yogic Wisdom for Success - with Varuna Shunglu