5 - 7 December 2019 , Thu - Sat.
Sanjay Dharwadker
Sanjay Dharwadker is a writer of fiction and non-fiction.
Born in Naya Nangal, Punjab and educated at schools in Delhi and Jaipur, he has a master’s degree in pure mathematics from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Rajasthan. Thereafter his career has spanned three continents and he currently advises the United Nations and national governments on identification policy, privacy, biometrics and related topics. He has lived in Delhi and then Johannesburg and is currently based at Utrecht in the Netherlands.
His first book published in 1998 was titled “Chipping Away the Blues” which contained essays on corporate humour. “Diamond In My Palm” (2019) is his first fictional work and he has already embarked on a second novel titled “Philosopher’s Mistress” which traces René Descartes journey through the Netherlands.
He also writes about other books, travel, histories, as well as identity in the contemporary world, technology and society.
He travels extensively with his partner, Kippy and enjoys a good game of Bridge.
Mridula Garg
Equally proficient in Hindi and English, Mridula Garg has written in almost every genre in Hindi; 8 novels, 4 plays, 4 collections of essays, 1 memoir of fellow writers, 1 travel account and 90 short stories. Her latest work is a novel in English called The Last Email published in December 2017.
Her work displays both a wry sense of humor and self reflection. She does not adhere to traditions, Marxist, feminist or region specific. The familiar turns unpredictable as she discards stereotypes to uses irony to elucidate the axiom, I am my choices. If a book makes people angry yet does not allow them to put it down and ultimately forces them to rethink, it is most probably written by Mridula Garg.
Among other awards, her novel, Kathgulab was awarded the Vyas Samman in 2004 and Miljul Mann, the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2013. She received the Hellman-Hammet Grant from The Human Rights Watch, New York in 2001. She also received the Ram Manohar Lohia Samman from U.P Hindi Sansthan in 2014.
Sumana Roy
Sumana Roy is the author of How I Became a Tree, a work of nonfiction, Missing: A Novel, and Out of Syllabus: Poems. Her poems and essays have appeared in Granta, Guernica, LARB, Drunken Boat, the Prairie Schooner, Berfrois, The Common, and other journals. She teaches at Ashoka University.
Patricia Mukhim
Patricia Mukhim is currently Editor of The Shillong Times, the second oldest English language daily from the North Eastern Region of India. She writes regularly for the national dailies in order to better interpret India's North East to readers outside the region. She has recently compiled a series of articles on gender concerns in the Khasi matrilineal society and in the North Eastern states in a book titled, "Waiting for an Equal World." This book dismantles the assumptions about matriliny being naturally empowering for women and exposes the fallacies surrounding this social practice. This book was released on March 30, this year. She calls herself an activist-journalist. She has received several journalistic awards and the Padmashri in 2000.
Santiago Lusardi Girelli
Born in Buenos Aires in 1979, Santiago Lusardi Girelli is an Argentinian-Italian Music Conductor, Composer and Scholar of the music and philosophy of the traditions of the East and West. Dr. Lusardi Girelli has worked as lecturer and choir and orchestra conductor and in more than 20 countries in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia for the last 20 years. He holds Master degrees in Orchestra, Choir Conduction, Philosophy, and a PhD in Music Aesthetics and Philosophy. As the result more than ten years of research on Indian Philosophy he has published his Thesis on Buddhist Phenomenology and Hindu Ritualism and its links with Western Music & Art Tradition. Santiago has conducted choirs and orchestras, professional and amateurs, around the world throughout more than 300 concerts, and leaded music tours in several countries, from the Amazonas Rain Forest to Leipzig-Germany (J.S. Bach´s city); and from Peruvian Machu Pichu to the Indian Himalayas. His enthusiasm, leadership and passion for music, philosophy and cultures have led him to accomplish several important achievements and recognitions that have earned him the esteem of the local and international press alike. Currently located in India, Santiago holds the Anthony Gonsalves Chair as Visiting Research Professor at the Goa University in India, and he is the conductor of the Goa University Choir -the very first University choir of India-, he also collaborates as Lecturer, Composer and Guest Conductor with different Universities and professional orchestras and choirs from South America, Africa, Europe and India.
Usha Alexander
Usha Alexander is the author of the novels The Legend of Virinara (2018) and Only the Eyes Are Mine (2008); and the novelette, Leaving Idaho (2017). Her writing has been featured in 3 Quarks Daily, Scroll.in, The Punch Magazine, Pangyrus, and White Wall Review. Her life and work have taken her from Vanuatu, a Pacific Island nation, where she taught secondary school science as a US Peace Corps volunteer, to the corporate life of Silicon Valley, where she worked for Apple, and to many points between. She maintains an abiding interest in science, anthropology, and history. Usha grew up in Pocatello, Idaho, a remote little town in the Rocky Mountain region of the USA. Though currently residing in the National Capital Region of India (NCR), she carries her home within herself. You’ll find her on the web at www.ushaalexander.com
Mamang Dai
Mamang Dai is a poet and novelist from Arunachal Pradesh, India. A former correspondent for the Hindustan Times, the Telegraph and The Sentinel newspapers, Dai was President, Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists.
She also worked with World Wide Fund for nature in the Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspots programme.
Her first publication was ‘Arunachal Pradesh- the hidden land,’ (2003) documented the culture and customs of her land for which she received the state’s Verrier Elwin Award. Her other publications include novels: The Legends of Pensam, Stupid Cupid, The Black Hill, and River Poems and Midsummer- Survival Lyrics (poetry), and illustrated books for children and young readers.
Dai served as member, Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (2011-20017) and is a recipient of the Padma Shri, (literature and education) 2011. She is also conferred with Honorary D.Lit by the National Institute of Technology, Arunachal Pradesh (2016), the Luminous Lummer Dai Award by the Arunachal Pradesh Literary Society, and is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, 2017, for her book The Black Hill, in English.
Dai lives in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India.
Arun Prakash
Admiral Arun Prakash was India’s 20th Naval Chief and served concurrently as Chairman Chiefs of Staff 2004-2006.
A naval aviator by specialization, he commanded a fighter squadron as well as a number of warships, including the aircraft-carrier Viraat. In flag-rank he commanded the Eastern Fleet, the Andaman & Nicobar Joint Command and the Western Naval Command. He served on staff, as head of the navy’s Aviation and Personnel branches, and as the Vice Chief.
Post-retirement, he served two terms in the National Security Advisory Board and headed the National Maritime Foundation. He writes and speaks on maritime and strategic issues and currently holds a Distinguished Chair in India’s Naval War College.
Dilip D'Souza
Dilip D'Souza was educated in Pilani, Providence, Delhi, Rishi Valley, Bombay, Cambridge, Austin and places in between. Once a computer scientist, he now writes for a living. To Dilip, the switch seemed natural. Computer science stresses clear thinking, reason, logic and getting to the heart of matters. Maybe those things shape his writing.
He writes about political and social issues, travel, sports and mathematics. His writing has won him several awards, including the Statesman Rural Reporting award, the Outlook/Picador nonfiction prize and the Newsweek/Daily Beast South Asia Commentary Prize; he has also twice been Writer-in-Residence at IIT Kanpur. He has published seven books, a monograph of essays on patriotism, and has contributed to a number of anthologies. His most recent book is “Jukebox Mathemagic: Always One More Number”.
Dilip lives in Bombay with his wife Vibha, children Surabhi and Sahir and cat Cleo. He misses his Rhodesian Ridgeback, Shaka.
Sethumadhavan
Sethu (A.Sethumadhavan) has been writing in Malayalam for the past five decades. A banker by profession and a writer by passion, he has around 40 titles to his credit, consisting of novels and collection of short stories. Many of his works have been translated into other languages, including English, Hindi, German, French and Turkish. His novels translated into English include Pandavapuram, The Saga of Muziris, Aliyah, The Wind from the Hills, Once Upon a Time, The Cuckoo's Nest and Jalasamadhi & other Stories. Kadambari, the Flower Girl is under print. Pandavapuram has already appeared in 10 languages. It has been filmed in Malayalam and Bengali, the latter titled Nirakar Chaaya, which had won recognitions abroad. Four of his works have been filmed, the latest being Jalasamadhi. A winner of all the major awards like the Sahitya Akademi award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi award(twice), etc, he was the former Chairman of the National Book Trust, New Delhi. Joining the State Bank as a Prob. Officer, he had retired as the Chairman & CEO of the South Indian Bank.
