This weekend, the city will see a celebration of literature, arts and cinema as the fourth edition of The Hindu Lit for Life takes off on Saturday.
The three days of lectures, panel discussions and workshops by distinguished national and international authors, experts and opinion-makers have something for everyone. Fans of literature can look forward to insightful dialogues between Man Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga and literary agent David Godwin, and Man Booker Prize shortlisted author Jim Crace and physician-writer Abraham Verghese. Other best-selling writers who will grace the festival include Ashwin Sanghi, Ravi Subramanian, Anita Nair and Naresh Fernandes. History enthusiasts can look forward to lectures by Romila Thapar and William Dalrymple.
While Naomi Wolf will talk about Women in the 21st Century with journalist Barkha Dutt, writers Mamang Dai, Nandini Krishnan, Ira Trivedi and Madhuri Banerjee will discuss the Coming of Age of the New Indian Woman. Another session on women’s issues is The Politics of Sexuality with Tamil poets Salma, Sukirtharani, Sharmila Seyyid and Anar in a discussion moderated by translator and author Lakshmi Holmstrom.
For lovers of poetry, there are two sessions with Gulzar; one in conversation with writer and diplomat Pavan K. Varma, and another with his editor Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri. Tamil literature enthusiasts are sure to be hooked by the session featuring selected readings of Tamil literary works from across the ages by Anita Ratnam, Revathy Kumar, P.C. Ramakrishna, R. Rohini, Sushila Ravindranath and K.R. Arumugam.
While the second day will open with T.M. Krishna and Gopal Krishna Gandhi discussing the evolution of Carnatic music, day three will see Kamal Haasan and K. Hariharan taking a closer look at moral policing in Indian cinema.
After an exciting day of dialogue and discussions, relax with a jazz performance by UNK: The Radha Thomas Band. Workshops include celebrity instructor Payal Gidwani’s yoga session, screenwriter Sabrina Dhawan’s script-writing session, a session on movement by dancer Anita Ratnam, one on the art of writing biographies by A.R. Venkatachalapathy and on adapting books for plays by Nikhila Kesavan. For children, there will be a storytelling-cum-theatre workshop by Vikram Sridhar. To register, log on to www.eventjini.com
Journalism and New Media students from S.R.M. University and M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women will bring all three days of The Hindu Lit for Life 2014 to you through live updates at our websites — www.Nav Uttarakhand.com and www.Nav Uttarakhandlfl.com. They include live coverage, tweets from panellists and audience, images and videos of key moments, besides live updates on Facebook, twitter and Instagram.
Students from five colleges — VIT University, S.R.M. University, Anna University, M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women and Stella Maris College will perform excerpts from the five novels shortlisted for The Hindu Prize for Fiction 2013.
This is just a sample of the exciting line-up at The Hindu Lit for Life, so block your dates today!
Entry is free. Reserve a complimentary pass; SMS LFLName, Age to 53030.
The Hindu Lit for Life will be held on January 11, 12 and 13. Website: www.Nav Uttarakhandlfl.com; Microsite: www.Nav Uttarakhand.com/litforlife; Facebook: www.facebook.com/
TheHinduLitForLife; Twitter: @hindulitforlife;
YouTube: www.thne.ws/playlist-lfl
Event sponsors
Title Sponsor: House of Hiranandani; Powered by: VIT University; Associate Sponsor: Shriram Chits; Health Insurance Partner: Star Health Insurance; Official Banking Partner: IDBI; Hospitality Partner: The Leela Palace, Chennai; Official Bookstore Partner: Starmark; Session Sponsors: Sa Re Ga Ma; MIOT Hospitals; NTL, Sahitya Akademi, National Book Trust; Event Manager: Aura.