ORANGE CITY LITERATURE FESTIVAL

“Arthashastra begins with samajshastra. Who don't understand society can't understand arthshastra. Every country looks for a good king. Chanakya seems first-person talk about Prajatantra. Why does Indian love to pay taxes? How we discuss saving taxes. The leaders need to be strong. Kautilya Arthshastra has 6000 sutras. It is big because it's made for kings. Chanakya Niti has 563 sutras because it is for normal human beings. It talks about normal rules regulations required to enhance the quality of life. The common person doesn't need too much. We are happy in small things, and that's what Chanakya has explained in Chanakya Niti. After necessities, it starts with moral principles, which is the main content in Chanakyaniti. You have to be a winner, and you have to exit the world anyways. Indian education has a very systematic procedure. We have different customs, and we need to be proud. I talk about parenting, married life, and life in society. One point I very much like in Chanakya Niti talks about how we should raise our children, when we should love, when we should scold, etc.”

Shatrughna Sinha:

“I am an actor and did not know much about literature, but it certainly has a great part to play in our lives. Since my autobiography "Anything but Khamosh" was published, I got many invitations for the literature festival, most of which I failed to attend. Still, I decided to join you here for the love of literature. I must mention here my experience in Pakistan, where I got a bit confused about choosing language where I thought about the importance of literature. Literature is a mirror of society that shows the right path. This literature inspires the next generation. It is a fake news era where we need motivating literature to show true stories. I would certainly like to participate in such future events.”

Ismail Darbar :

"Shatrughan Sinha sir was my idol, and that is why I chose to become a musician. I wasn't that good in studies but intent to do something good with my life. I loved movies. So I tried to find avenues to enter the industry. Love for music came here to rescue. I joined a music academy and learnt music. My journey toward my aim begins. I wanted to make my name, and I succeeded. I look toward Sinhaji, his style, his action and everything. I am fortunate to be in the industry with him.”

As Ms Vachharajani and Ms Hart get into the conversation, they start with how Ms Bijal ended up in the children’s book genre and how difficult it is compared to writing for grown-ups. Subsequently, Ms Bijal tells the viewers how writing for children keeps her on her toes and helps her bring out more interesting stories. As the conversation moves towards, “A Cloud Named Bhura” Ms Bijal’s work of fiction for children, she talks about how she discovered a cloud filled with toxic gases in Chile and it came to her mind what will happen if such a cloud shows up above Mumbai, a city she grew up in. As magical as her book, the conversation moves towards how she shaped the four protagonists of the book and how they manage to weave a strong storyline around the cloud and eventually save the city. The conversation between Ms Hart and Ms Bijal also moves in the direction of how children are far more climate-sensitive than adults and how they wish to make a bigger difference to secure their future. From character development to safeguarding the climate for our future generations, the conversation beautifully comes to a close.

“I think the story explains how the fascinating time of Hollywood connects to the end-of-the-British Raj in India. The sentiment of "The following Lana Turner" and a Cambridge-taught maharaja undermines his realm during the last days before Independence. A fictionalized account, The Star of India, depends on the genuine sentiment between a rising youthful entertainer and a Cambridge-taught war legend and leader of an antiquated territory. It is 1946 Hollywood, and it sparkles when the swank Maharaja of Cooch Behar, Jagaddipendra Narayan, meets Star of Tomorrow Nancy Valentine. Nancy was sent back home during India's fast approach to Independence. Amid the force battles of each political, illustrious, and strict group, Nancy is snared in a hurricane of interest, surveillance, and endeavored murder. Maharaja goes under great weight from his exquisite and imposing mother, Indira of Cooch Behar, who accepts his union with an outsider will debilitate the family's situation with their kin and make them helpless against an administration takeover. While developing resistance to the couple's association, the state's mythical Mughal Ruby vanishes, and its revile will vanish them all. From the glamour of Hollywood to the rich offices of Indian eminence, The Star of India weaves an energetic story of a solid willed lady whose destiny was profoundly laced with the pivotal birth of present-day India.”

“There are 7 Butter Fingers books. You can imagine the general Ideas behind titles. The whole series has a specific topic related to Butter Fingers. One character Arjuna very free boy who doesn’t care about anything. Characters are very peculiar. One character, Thomas, always ask questions. I have the idea of writing a book on cricket with all the boys. Girls might protest why there are only boys. In another book, I brought some girls working in and out. Characters in the book are funny, and they create humour. Children need to be humorous to share the load of homework. Humour is all about living truly; that’s why humour is an important part of the book. The first Butter Figure book is important, and every book is self-content. You can pick any book and read there won’t be an issue unlike Harry Potter, where to understand the story, it is important to read from the first book. All the characters are introduced very sophisticatedly.”

After a very warm welcome by the anchor, Mr Vishal Jain goes on to talk about how Ms Shabnam Minwalla’s new book about an 11-year-old girl is very relatable to him because of how much his 10-year-old son enjoyed it; he goes on to ask Ms Shabnam about how her kids who are now in their early teens helped her write a funny book in the children genre. Ms Minwalla acknowledges the anchor and Mr Vishal and answers his question. As per Ms Shabnam, her children played an essential role in helping her write this book, and the conversations weren’t even deliberate. While growing up, when Ms Shabnam tucked her kids into bed, they would often talk about their day to her and tell her the happy and sad parts of the day. From kids throwing water on each other to the story of a bean bag that didn’t last a day in the classroom, Ms Shabnam got a lot of stories from there. The conversation rolls on in the same direction with a few more questions before coming to a close.

One of the most celebrated Children’s writers, Ms Paro Anand gets a warm welcome from the anchor and soon after, she takes over and begins with the topic of how she managed to write every day before the pandemic. In her words, Ms Anand had never been through writer’s block because she borrowed stories from real-life instances of the children she usually spends a lot of time with. Ms Anand talks about how she went through writer’s block for the first time in her life during the pandemic because she could not spend time with children and that meant she was unable to borrow their stories. Ms Anand has spent a lot of time with children in the zones of conflict and trouble like in Kashmir. Initially, Ms Paro decided to wait until the pandemic was over to start writing again, but soon she realised that the pandemic wasn’t coming to a close anytime soon. Eventually, with the help of her daughter who was working with families in the slums of Mumbai, Ms Anand wrote 19 stories about the times in covid in her new book. As the session rolls on, Ms Anand talks about her dilemma regarding the target audience of the book, etc and soon after, the session comes to a close.

“Looks cannot stop me. Rather I proceed to give the set of experiences behind each picture. Here I give insights regarding my foundations, returning even to the appearance of my progenitors in India. While doing ordinary errands, food isn't a long way from the table. However, my solace food remains the tomato-coconut soup her grandma made for me. I'll favour hot rice, and ghee would cheerfully be my last dinner! To say, regardless of whether I'm discussing my grandma cooking her number one nourishments, or about fellowshipping with my recently discovered Armenian companion in the US, or testing Chinese food sources at a recently opened eatery.

Following fourteen days, I recollected an old thought I'd had. I required Americans to understand what I knew; that Indian food was fluctuated and modern and finished and nutritious. I portrayed my cooking as intriguing, however recognizable, encouraging, yet audacious. It was anything but difficult to cook when you had the essential procedures, and it could fit delightfully into American ways of life. My fantasy was for India's cooking to achieve the spot that Italian, Chinese and Thai food had accomplished in the American minds. Keeping that in mind, I considered a name that would be engaging, snappy and proper. I asked my friend once, "Would you mind if I utilized Un-Curried for the new business?"

“Since childhood, reading was passion. One of the old libraries where my brother was a member used to bring a book which I used to read. This reading and listening is also a great form of observation where we collect many ideas and a lot we can learn. While writing the book, I used fictional eating this and that. Some reviewer points out this on social media, and yes, they are right. Indeed there's a lot of food. Whenever I read a book, there is a mention of the variety of food. I took inspiration from these readings and used the same method. For me, the joy of writing is to respond to something I have read. Reading is an important part of writing off course. I found out that my childhood photos were missing in the floods of 2015. This loss is not big in comparing who lost their houses. I used my pain to understand others pain. While in journalism, I read many books where I thought about how could we empathize with book characters and create my own.”

“I used to read a lot and then try to write. I was interested in doing media, but professional writing began quite later. I made History in graduation. There was a college festival but not much storytelling program. The mass communication program was started at Jamia Islamia University in 90. Those years were very important. I met different people. They challenge me to think more. You need to figure out how you want to live and what education should do. I did many kinds of workshops for children to engage them with the world. They need to understand how the world works. My stories come from that interaction. Children lives are very fragile. That’s where my book “ Nida finds a way” came from. I feel it is very important that the story relates to children. We cannot shield children from what is happening in this world, but rather, we need to share our knowledge to face the challenges so that they can make sense of it themselves. Initially, I thought of writing a story about parent and children relationships. Sound allows us to create the narrative and connect us emotionally.”