From the mind of a chess grandmaster to the wit of Stephen Fry, from the origins of fiction to the mysteries of the universe, Day 2 at Jaipur Literature Festival 2026 unfolded as a rich exploration of ideas, intellect, and creative expression, at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur.

(L-R) Simon Goldhill - Josephine Quinn

The world’s most iconic literary celebration, a carnival of books, ideas, music, art, heritage and the connections forged between cultures continued to draw packed audiences across venues, building on the Festival’s momentum of the previous day, that included the launch of Older, Bolder, the first edition of the book by Aman Nath, unveiled by Sanjoy K. Roy and Zeenat Aman. Speaking about it, Aman Nath said, “My book is dedicated to faces loved and left behind and faces that I loved but never knew.” Reflecting on the work, Zeenat Aman added, “If you read through the book, you will find a range of subjects that he has chosen to talk about both in poetry and prose over the years of his journey.”

The second day began with Morning Music by Bhanwari Devi of the Bhopa community, whose soulful folk performance brought the rich traditions of Rajasthan to life, followed by the Festival’s first session, Lightning Kid, which saw World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand in conversation with Rahul Bhattacharya. The session traced Anand’s illustrious career, tactical evolutions in the global chess circuit, and the personal motivations behind his latest literary work, Lightning Kid. Encouraging curiosity among the young players, Anand said, “You should have one thing you do, intentionally and passionately, that you do not get paid for.”

Viswanathan Anand

Island of Ireland

Day 2 also saw the announcement of a new JLF International edition. Following successful editions in the USA, Valladolid, and London, JLF will now make its advent at the Island of Ireland. JLF Island of Ireland will be held from 22–31 May, 2026. The announcement outlined the vision and scope of the initiative and opened with a breathtaking fiddle performance by Ivan Rodrick, followed by remarks and conversation featuring Ambassador Kevin Kelly, Niamh Campbell, Michelle Galan, Sam Mc Bride, Fintan O Toole, Sonja Hyland, and Sanjoy K. Roy.

Continuing with new announcements, Teamwork Arts also gave out the dates for the upcoming Sleepwell Presents The Sacred Amritsar Festival 2026, to be held from Friday, February 20 to Sunday, February 22, 2026. A star-studded lineup of performers, including Padma Shri Kailash Kher and Kailasa; The Anirudh Varma Collective; The Kutle Khan Project; and Usha Uthup, are to be featured at the festival.

Attendees on the second day were also treated to Ojas Art: Ascending Roots, a conversation between Ravinder Reddy and Premjish Achari, introduced by Anubhav Nath, exploring the intersections of tradition, innovation, and cultural storytelling in contemporary Indian art. The session also marked the presentation of the Ojas Art Award for 2026 to Pisadu Ram Mandavi, a visual artist from the Muria tribe of Chhattisgarh, by Sonya Rhie Mace. Mandavi will be present at the festival on all five days, creating artworks live for audiences to enjoy.

The third day of literature’s most marquee celebration awaits sessions on The Magic of the Lost Earrings with Sudha Murty in conversation with Mandira Nayar. You Can Have It All: Unlock the Secrets to a Great Life with Gaur Gopal Das in conversation with Poulomi Chatterjee, Human Edge: What's Cooking in AI with Ali Eslami, Nitin Seth, and Barsali Bhattacharyya in conversation with Sumeet Shetty, and What is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea with Fara Dabhoiwala in conversation with Oscar Guardiola- Rivera.

The much-anticipated 19th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival opened today at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur, bringing together some of the most influential voices from literature, politics, media, and culture across India and the world. Presented by Vedanta and produced by Teamwork Arts, the Festival will run till 19th January 2026, continuing its legacy as a vibrant platform for dialogue, debate, and the free exchange of ideas. The opening day set the tone for five days of thought-provoking conversations, powerful storytelling, and meaningful engagement with contemporary issues.

(L-R) Moutushi Mukherjee - Banu Mushtaq

In the traditional beginning of the Festival Morning Music, supported by Infosys Foundation, Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath and Rithvik Raja led a five-piece Carnatic music ensemble that blended classical rigour with quiet imagination. With Sayee Rakshith on violin, Praveen Sparsh on mridangam, and Skanda Manjunath on ghatam, the meditative performance created a calm, immersive tone for the day’s dialogue and discovery.

The opening day featured a keynote address by Banu Mushtaq, followed by inaugural addresses by writers and Festival Co-directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple, and Festival Producer Sanjoy K. Roy. A traditional lamp-lighting ceremony marked an auspicious start in the presence of Rajasthan’s Hon’ble Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and Deputy Chief Ministers Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa. Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, reflected on the Festival’s journey from Diggi Palace to its current global presence across nine cities, highlighting its engagement with contemporary themes such as artificial intelligence.  Festival Co-director and author Namita Gokhale welcomed the audience, acknowledging writers from across India and the world, representing diverse languages and literary traditions. In his Keynote address, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Bhajan Lal Sharma, spoke about Rajasthan’s rich cultural heritage, noting, “The Jaipur Literature Festival is not merely an event; it is a celebration of ideas, a confluence of words, and a bridge of dialogue between cultures.

Gokhale added, “In this bright sunshine, in the month of Magh, when fluttering kites reach for freedom as our minds do, the Jaipur Literature Festival 2026 carries the spontaneity and spunk that mark every edition. We have whimsy, opinions, counter opinions…every year brings its own magic, yet the spirit remains unchanged, a joyous curiosity.” Historian and Festival Co-director, William Dalrymple, in his address, emphasised how the festival has grown enormously in the past 19 years, and said: “There is a reason why this Festival has taken root in quite the spectacular fashion that it has…sometimes half a million people turn up to hear writers speak about books.”

(L-R) Puneeta Roy - Vrinda Grover - Banu Mushtaq - Swati Pandey - Deepti Priya Mehrotra

The opening session featured International Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq in conversation with Moutushi Mukherjee. Mustaq emphasised writing as an act of survival and resistance in societies marked by inequality and erasure. Framing literature as inseparable from life, she noted that her accolades, including the International Booker Prize 2025, reinforce her social responsibility. She advised young writers: “Don’t just plan writing, start writing. Write, Write, and Write.”

Legendary poet, lyricist, and public intellectual Javed Akhtar drew packed audiences in Javed Akhtar: Points of View, in conversation with Warisha Farasat, sharing the changes in post-independent cultures, the middle class in India, and the role of writers and poets in society. To the young minds present in the audience, he said that there will always be people in the world who are better than you. His guiding words of encouragement urged them to look within themselves for inspiration instead of competing with others.

In a session where global histories and shared futures formed the focus of Coexistence: How Arabs and Jews Can Live Together, featuring historians Ussama Makdisi, Noa Avishag Schnall, and Avi Shlaim, in conversation with William Sieghart, the panelists offered perspectives on memory, reconciliation, and coexistence.

Among other highlight sessions was The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, where Booker Prize-winning author Kiran Desai was in conversation with Nandini Nair. Desai spoke about her Booker shortlisted novel, offering rare insight into her writing life, creative discipline, and the emotional core of the book. The session moved fluidly between craft, memory, and the many meanings of loneliness that shape Desai’s fiction.

The Festival also hosted The Undying Light: India’s Futures, featuring diplomat and author Gopalkrishna Gandhi in conversation with Narayani Basu, offering a deeply reflective exploration of India’s moral imagination, democracy, and the road ahead. At a session on his new remarkable memoir, ‘The Undying Light: A Personal History of Independent India,’ Gandhi commented on how he committed himself to truth and honesty through the course of writing. Speaking of his associations with esteemed personalities such as M.S. Subbulakshmi, a most sensitive singer, Gandhi talked about how she personified sorrow and sublimity on stage, the former that was part of her life and the latter that she brought through her music. The Festival also witnessed notable FIRST EDITION book launches. A Statesman and a Seeker: The Life and Legacy of Dr Karan Singh by Harbans Singh was launched by Namita Gokhale, William Dalrymple, and Sanjoy K. Roy, followed by a conversation between Dr Karan Singh and Harbans Singh, moderated by Ravi Singh.

Another much-anticipated launch was The Art of Being Fabulous by Shalini Passi, who was in conversation with Ruchika Mehta, offering reflections on creativity, self-expression, and contemporary culture. In Unplugged: Adventures from MTV to Timbuktu, media pioneer and MTV co-founder Tom Freston spoke with journalist Saad Mohseni, sharing insights from a life shaped by global media, cultural exchange, and storytelling across borders, Freston recounted stories from the iconic “I want my MTV” campaign with David Bowie, his experience owning a clothing business in India and Afghanistan, launching Comedy Central, and even creating advertising for a toilet paper company.

(L-R) Sanjoy K. Roy - Priyambada Jayakumar - Manu Joseph

The third day of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series Jaipur Literature Festival began with a lyrical performance from the renowned Trio One World, presented by the Embassy of Switzerland. They are a classical crossover project that combines western classical piano and Indian classical sitar and tabla. With Rohan Dasgupta on the sitar, and Pandit Udhai Mazumdar on the tabla, they were able to transport the audience to another realm. 

Acclaimed poet Arundhathi Subramaniam has been awarded the prestigious Kanhaiyalal Sethia Award 2024. Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia, a celebrated poet, educator, social reformer, environmentalist, and freedom fighter, is remembered through the annual award, presented by the Festival in collaboration with the Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Foundation. The esteemed jury consisted of Namita Gokhale, Sanjoy K. Roy, Sukrita Paul Kumar, Ranjit Hoskote, and Siddharth Sethia.

The morning commenced with a focus on the larger canvas of the our place in the universe and our forays in outer space with a session titled The Pale Blue Dot: Cherishing Our Planet with Founder of Myntra and CureFit Mukesh Bansal, G20 Sherpa to the Prime Minister Amitabh Kant and Chief Economist of Axis Bank Neelkanth Mishra in conversation with NDTV Group Executive Editor Vishnu Som (Presented by Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series). Speaking of the growing industry of space exploration and India’s place in it, Kant said, “We should not be in the space business for space tourism, but to improve the lives of our citizens”. The panel highlighted the role that the private sector and, most importantly, the youth of India must play in the research of space exploration. Bansal, who has also funded India’s first private space company, Skyroot, added, “A lot of young entrepreneurs are understanding that sky's the limit, literally.” 

One of today’s marquee sessions was Oppenheimer: The American Prometheus in which the co-writer of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird, was  in conversation with British journalist Jonathan Freedland, (presented by Rajasthan Patrika).

Bird’s book was the inspiration behind the 2024 Academy award-nominated film Oppenheimer. He opened the session by expressing his great approval of the movie’s portrayal of Robert J. Oppenheimer’s life. He spoke about the importance of Oppenheimer, “Oppenheimer gave us the nuclear age, the atomic age that we are still with that we will always be living with in this very dangerous world balanced on the precipice of Armageddon.” Bird also shared that Oppenheimer was a very complicated and hard man to understand; he had justified the existence of the bomb to himself as he truly believed that the bomb was needed to end all wars.

In The Power of Myth, Anand Neelkanthan in conversation with Satyarth Nayak (Presented by The Week), explored the plurality of the Hindu texts and the various interpretations across regions and periods. Neelkanthan, author of the blockbuster Bahubali trilogy, explained his idea of ‘Ishwar’ and how it vastly differs from the concept of ‘One god, one Hindu’ that was developed by the British during the colonial era. At the end of the session, Neelkanthan mentioned his new release, Asura: Tale of the Vanquished, and how it explores the narratives of Raavan in different Puranic texts.

The much-awaited session, Paro Turns 40, celebrated 40 years of writer and Festival Co-Director and Co-Founder  Namita Gokhale’s trailblazing 80s novel Paro: Dreams of Passion.  The session featured Gokhale, journalist Pragya Tiwari, podcaster Eric Chopra, and literary agent Hemali Sodhi in conversation (presented by Sakal Media). Gokhale reminisced about her debut novel Paro, first published in 1984, which has remained a cult classic over the years. She remarked, “I think people got offended because it was funny about sex, I don't think it was the sexual bit that offended people. Women were not allowed to laugh at things sexual…”  

In the session, The Name is Fleming, Ian Fleming, award-winning biographer, Nicholas Shakespeare discussed his book Ian Fleming: The Complete Man with Matthew Parker, renowned historian and writer. Shakespeare shared intimate details about the trajectory of Fleming’s life, from his childhood when he lost his father at eight years old to eventually landing a job in Geneva, Austria at the League of Nations. While talking about Fleming, Shakespeare described, “He [Fleming] was the son of privilege but the grandson of poverty….” Letting the audience into a secret, Shakespeare said that it was Fleming’s access to naval intelligence that inspired him to record his operations into the now world-renowned James Bond.

In a session with Booker Prize awardee Damon Galgut in conversation with Anish Gawande (presented by: TV9), Galgut talked about his book The Promise, which conveys the play of power in relationships - with self, society, state - against the backdrop of post-apartheid South Africa. Galgut said that it was structured around four funerals that had taken place in his friend’s family during the most tumultuous decades in South Africa which witnessed transformational changes. When asked about how he is as a writer, Galgut admitted, “I am the messiest, most chaotic of writers, I start from complete obscurity and incoherence, not really knowing what it is I want to express, how I want to express it.” 

In another session which focused on the current global climate crisis and its impact on India's primary energy needs, Founder, Chairman and CEO of ReNew, Sumant Sinha, said, “I think a lot has changed..15 years ago, climate change was something that we were just beginning to imagine and start thinking about, today I think it is front and centre..”.

Some of the sessions which made up the large canvas of day 3 are listed below:

Banned, Burned and Censored

Speakers: Mridula Garg, Kalpana Raina, Merve Emre and Navdeep Suri in conversation with Nilanjana S. Roy

Presented by TV9

An illustrious panel spoke about the currently relevant issue of book bans and censorship that has been on the rise globally. The session was interspersed with the speakers’ experiences of “rehabilitating” work that had been banned years ago by different institutions in power. While talking about her grandfather Harikrishna Kaul, Kalpana Raina said “He was an author without an audience and I want to focus on rehabilitating a writer and giving him his rightful place in history.” While talking about her work that received considerable criticism, Mridula Garg said, “When I was arrested, I was fine, I was released. No harm was done to me. But it did harm for the literature community”. Merve Emre highlighted, “We need to think of book banning, burnings and censorship in the context of expansion of all other types of freedom of expression.” 

Justice: The Voice of the Voiceless

Speakers: Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice S. Muralidhar, Sital Kalantry, and Aparna Chandra in conversation with Chief Justice Raghavendra Chauhan

Presented by The Quint

The session began with Aparna Chandra, author and Associate Professor of Law, speaking about the enormous changes in the role and the structure of the Supreme Court over the 75 years of its existence. Justice Muralidhar remarked, “Today we don’t have a judiciary that is completely insulated from executive interference.” Chandra took the conversation further by discussing the themes in her co-authored book Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India, the everyday working of the court and the broader pattern of the court’s functioning and the gaps between the intent and the outcome. The session progressed with Sital Kalantry commenting on the Supreme Court’s access to people and how if more time was spent hearing PILs then the reach of the court would be wider. Justice Madan B. Lokur added, “The Constitution of India itself provides sufficient guidelines for coming to the Supreme Court; so all that the Supreme Court needs to do is follow what the Constitution says.” The session ended appropriately with the panellists discussing the lack of women judges in the collegium and whether the Supreme Court was suffering from a patriarchal syndrome. 

The Palestine Laboratory

Speakers: Antony Loewenstein, Navtej Sarna, Charles Glass and Kai Bird in conversation with Suhasini Haidar

As the world reels under the current conflict between Israel and Palestine, an informed panel discussed the complicated history of the conflict, the present developments and their likely impact on the region. Diplomatic Editor of The Hindu, Suhasini Haidar added, “…death toll that is already crossing 25,000 and closer to 30,000 at the time we speak…as a journalist you're used to seeing a lot…but … (what’s) new is to hear is the UN Secretary General speak up about an area as a graveyard for children because of the daily bombardment…” Jewish journalist Antony Loewenstein, empathised with Palestinians and felt that the Western world’s support for Israel, which was gradually diminishing, was a wake-up call, and that he believed that one democratic state was a solution. Author Charles Glass expressed his concern on the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, lack of essentials, due to ongoing Israeli attacks. Kai Bird believed that events of 7th October have changed fundamental Jewish sensibilities of security and America's influence on the on-going conflict. 

Tomorrow, the Festival is looking forward to host author and Padma Shri awardee Sudha Murty; winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for 2021, writer and journalist Patrick Radden Keefe; the UN Resident Coordinator for India Shombi Sharp; 2023 International Booker Prize-winning author Georgi Gospodinov; third-time member of the Parliament and best-selling author Shashi Tharoor; US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, amongst a long list of speakers. 

The second day of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series Jaipur Literature Festival 2024 featured diverse themes from fiction to memoir and fashion and travel to politics and India’s economic future to espionage and the Second World War. The day began on a soul-stirring note with Morning Music by Phil Scarff, master jazz saxophonist who performed a series of traditional music ragas. He was accompanied by Priyank Krishna, a classical saxophonist and Pandit Anoop Banerjee, tabla player. 

The day was full of interesting, inspirational and reflective sessions covering a gamut of ideas and multiple genres in books by acclaimed and award-winning writers and speakers. Some of the key sessions of the day are listed below:

Trust

Speakers: Hernan Diaz in conversation with Katie Kitamura

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hernan Diaz, introduced the theme of solitude, trust and the mythological touch in his novel. While talking about how he approached writing, Diaz remarked, “I'm not a testimonial writer, my personal experiences do not constitute the primordial material out which I draw my books…because I'm fatally and irreversibly me…so it's inevitable that I will be on the page, but…I happen to be the kind of writer who thinks that literature is made out of more literature, and I write facing tradition, not to the back to it…most of my work engages with these hardened tropes and then tries, inspires, to make some sort of archaeological intervention into them…”. 

Yashodhara and the women of Sangha 

Speakers: Shyam Selvadurai and Vanessa R. Sasson in conversation with Arundhati Subramaniam, introduced by the Deputy High Commissioner of Canada to India, Stewart Wheeler 

Presented by: Dainik Bhaskar 

Writer and academic Vanessa Sasson spoke about her inspiration for writing her book on the shadowy figure of Yashodhara, the young wife Siddhartha left behind in the palace before he became the Buddha. She spoke about how Yashodhara’s character has never been given the attention she deserved. Sasson also talked about her privilege of being able to research and study religious literature and how the women of the past needed their stories to be retold. Echoing Sasson’ sentiments about Yashodhara, Arundhati Subramaniam said, “What struck me about both these novels is that there are similarities, in both Yashodhara is a proud, spirited, woman with questions that would perhaps always remain unanswered. In both cases, there is a very deep and very genuine love between her and Siddhartha, in both there is a very deep preoccupation with women’s relationships and female bonding and yet they are vastly dissimilar.” 

The Memoirists

Speakers: Mani Shankar Aiyar and Gurcharan Das in conversation with Mandira Nayar

Presented by Rajasthan Patrika

A fascinating session, The Memoirists, sprinkled with anecdotes from the speakers’ childhoods and professional lives, took the audience through the processes of how Mani Shankar Aiyar and Gurcharan Das, respectively wrote their memoirs. Das let us into a secret of his writing, “The reason why I am able to write so clearly about my childhood is because of my mother’s diaries.” Aiyar reminisced moments that he truly enjoyed while writing, “I’ve always enjoyed writing. I have never known how to stop.”

The Elephant Moves: India’s new Place in the World

Speakers: Arun Kumar, Amitabh Kant, Amit Kapoor, Ajai Chowdhry in conversation with Nidhi Razdan

Presented by Dainik Bhaskar

Another session began with the unveiling of Amitabh Kant and Amit Kapoor’s new book The Elephant Moves. Kant is presently the G20 Sherpa to the Prime Minister of India and Kapoor is the Honorary Chairman at Institute for Competitiveness, India, and Lecturer at USATMC, Stanford University. The session also featured Arun Kumar, Ajai Chowdhry, and Nidhi Razdan. It highlighted the great advancements that India has made over the years including its technological infrastructure and better governance structures, however it also acknowledged that India has ways to go when it comes to social development and employment. In his aspirations for the country, Kant said, “India needs to be a very integral part of the global value chain.”

The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn The Worldz

Speakers: Jonathan Freedland in conversation with Roger Cohen

Orwell prize-winning journalist and author Jonathan Freedland spoke about his book The Escape Artist. At the age of 19, he had watched a documentary film of people who had witnessed the attempt to murder all the jews in Nazi Germany. The film mentioned in passing the story of Rudolph Vrba — the subject of Freedland’s book — a man who had managed to escape Auschwitz. In response to Roger Cohen’s question about why people refused to believe Jewish stories Jonathan responded “We sometimes know the truth, we know the facts …but something in us stops us being able to believe them.”

Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the ancient world to the modern

Speakers: Mary Beard in conversation with Peter Frankopan  

In another session, much-loved classicist Mary Beard spoke about the Roman Empire and how the discourse around it has been resurging in recent times with TikTok trends such as ‘What’s Your Roman Empire?’ Beard spoke about her fascinating book Twelve Caesars. When describing the process she undertook to portray the historical figures, she said, “That’s the point of portraiture… It’s the creation of a way of seeing the ruler, it isn’t necessarily wholly dependent on what the ruler looks like”. She was in conversation with historian Peter Frankopan. 

Gulzaar Sa’ab 

Speakers: Gulzar and Yatindra Mishra in conversation with Sathya Saran

Presented by Rajasthan Patrika

The session discussed Yatindra Mishra's new book, Gulzar Sa’ab, which takes us on a journey through his life and times.  The book is based on meticulously recorded conversations, recorded over two decades, translated into English by Sathya Saran, Mishra's book is a tribute to the genius of Gulzaar Sa’ab, whose presence at the session lifted the audience’s spirits. The session was brimming over with people, all hanging at every word being uttered by Gulzaar.

The Identity Trap

Speakers: Yascha Mounk, Badri Narayan and Sreenivasan Jain in conversation with Pragya Tiwari 

Authors Yascha Mounk, Badri Narayan, and journalist Sreenivasan Jain discussed the intertwined nature of identity, ideas, and individualism in today’s political sphere, while in conversation with journalist  Pragya Tiwari. While Yascha Mounk shared his insight on childhood in Germany, the white privilege, race difference, and race encouragement in the West, he also proposed alternatives to these challenges and the need for constructed politics. Journalist Sreenivasan Jain talked about his experience as a writer, and his recently released and co-written book Love Jihad and Other Fictions - the book is a detailed account of India’s evolving rifts arising from misinformation, and conspiracy theories against minorities, which he and his co-authors have investigated and debunked them after fact-checking. He said, “…democracies function and thrive when they are built on the bedrock of certain shared facts and shared truths.” Badri Narayan, poet and academic, spoke about the need to tap into the unexplored potential of Dalits, and the challenges he feels as a writer belonging to the upper caste working on the social dichotomies in India.

Colditz: Prisoners of Castle

Speakers: Ben Macintyre in conversation with Narayani Basu

Presented by OneIndia

Bestselling historian Ben Macintyre’s latest nonfiction book, Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle, is a true story of the most infamous prison in history. Colditz gained international infamy as a prison of war camp during World War 2 for Allied officers who had repeatedly attempted to escape from other camps. Set in the time of World War 2, Macintyre presents a biography of the prison itself, the world detainees built within it and their thrilling escape. Ben Macintyre began the session by saying, “The real story of Colditz is a story about class, race, sexuality, mental health, about many other things that interest us today”. Throughout the session, Macintyre highlighted the theme of honour that was displayed in the story as even the German Officers at Colditz honoured the rules of the Geneva Convention, acknowledging that prisoners had certain rights. Macintyre, who writes mostly about the role of espionage in war, ended the session by saying, “I think I prefer rogues to great men of history or men and women of history.  I just like the underside of history.”

Style and Substance

Speakers: Tarun Tahiliani in conversation with Shivani Sibal

Fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani’s book Journey to India Modern, co-written with investigative journalist Alia Allana, navigates the legacy of Indian fashion as a vibrant tapestry, seamlessly weaving together elements of the past and present, tradition and modernity. Tahiliani revealed the paths he took for his craft, and the significance of his luxury design studio in today's world. He remarked that in his experience if three women in a room wear the western outfit, it may lead to a “crisis”, but if three women wear the same saree, because of how the saree drapes on differing body contours, it can look completely different. In conversation with writer Shivani Sibal, Tahiliani shared insights into his explorations in fashion around the globe, his efforts to merge stories across time and space, and the questions he seeks to pose through his designs. Shivani remarked, “I think Indian women have supported the growth of the Indian fashion industry in that they have not adopted an entirely Western approach ever.”

Inspiration to Creation

Speakers: Marcus du Sautoy, Hernan Diaz, Vidya Shah, William Dalrymple, Mukesh Bansal, Kanan Gill and Albert Read in conversation with Sanjoy K Roy

What serves as the inspiration for the most brilliant thinkers to create? What propels their creative endeavours? How do their dreams transform into reality? The Freedom to Dream is the most precious of all freedoms. Samsung explores the power of innovation and digital artistry to enable new levels of joy through the intuitive skills of its very latest model of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series. An inspiring panel of artists, writers, musicians, historians, mathematicians and entrepreneurs discussed the many ways in which one can educate, create and conceptualise thought in a constantly transforming world.

Tomorrow, the Festival is looking forward to start the day off with a magical performance by the Trio One World, a classical crossover project that combines western classical Piano and Indian classical Sitar and Tabla. The third day will feature Pulitzer prize-winning author Kai Bird, whose book American Prometheus was the inspiration behind the 2024 Academy award-nominated film, Oppenheimer; award-winning biographer Nicholas Shakespeare, Sahitya Akademi prize-winner and prolific Hindi writer Mridula Garg, and Festival co-director and renowned author Namita Gokhale, among others.