ORANGE CITY LITERATURE FESTIVAL

After a heartwarming welcome by the anchor, Mr Tapan Sharma takes the opportunity to thank the anchor and goes on to add a few more achievements of Mr Ashish Kaul for the viewers to get a grip on his identity and remarkable work. Mr Sharma then requests Mr Kaul to give the viewers a walkthrough of his journey so far. Mr Ashish talks about how being a Kashmiri Pandit exposed him to culture and society that is run by women and is known for being among the most educated communities in the world. He goes on to add that Kashmir has kept a continuous record of history for the past 5000 years, even before the Egyptians set out to build the pyramids. Then Mr Kaul goes on to tell the viewers how his Grandmother introduced him to Didda, a forgotten queen of Kashmir and how it influenced him to write a book about her stories. The session goes on in the same direction with a few more interesting stories by Mr Kaul before it comes to a close.

Dr. Devdutt Patnaik On "Insights from Mythology into Hinduism for Happiness" In Conversation With Archana Sharma

“I grew up in a very traditional household, but I wasn't very interested in religion at all. It wasn't very easy for me. But I kept my identity because I thought it would cause a lot of trouble. When I came to the USA for study, I came in contact with Sikh literature available in English. My college library had a book by J D Cunning, "The History of Sikhs", which I read and found fascinating. First time in my life, I developed an appreciation for Sikhs Gurus. Then I move on to other books on subjects. I started reading Punjabi writers. After teaching Sikh history to young children, I decided to put it into the book. I wanted to inspire the younger generation about Sikhism. The book is not written formally because I wanted the book to be utilized academically by historians. The podcast is informal, so many listeners told me to make a book. It wasn't that hard to convert a podcast into a book. Translation of poetry is the important part. My engagement with Gurugranth sahib was in English. At the same time, the translation process changes the essence of the original work. Though I have translated, I would suggest readers go by original to feel the real essence.”

“This book is an account of everything you want to know about the food of Kolkata. Food is an undeniably very intricate part of Calcutta residents. For example, Puchka, Jhal Muri, puffed spicy rice, Ghugni, semisolid smashed or whole yellow peas, and many others. People of different origins reside in Calcutta in British India, which was the capital of India at that time. This book is not only about food, but it also covers Calcutta's history. It covers different communities, their participation in the food of Calcutta. It also covers the growth of hospitality of Calcutta. Hotels, the history of British westerns, and many other things related to food. Pre-independence eateries were meeting hub of freedom fighters. Even Ramkrishna Paramhansa loved the dishes of potatoes. Subhash Chandra Bose loved to eat fritters from the shop which exist even today. In the time of Mughal, Bengal was very prosperous due to textiles and silk. British are responsible for the degradation of Bengal. British certainly have a great influence on food habits. It was considered the pillar of food culture. They prominently introduced beverages. I have also covered coffee and Tea in this book. British learn the taste of Tea quite later than Europeans. I feel this book will take you on an amazing food exploration journey.”

Explaining in much detail and depth the concept of ‘Holistic wellness’ are two charismatic personalities, Major General Anand Saxena and Col Ateendra Godbole in their session. Major General Anand Saxena talks with a wealth of experience, knowledge and wisdom acquired by serving in the Indian Army for 32 long years and a triple master’s degree. Both of them have an army background and passionately work in fields of education and personality development. Holistic wellness is a much supported and advocated approach by various educationists, life coaches and leaders in present times for enriching the quality of one’s life. Major General Anand Saxena describes the structure of our life to be like a wheel, wherein the inner three spokes stand for our mental, spiritual and physical health. They need to be catered to first before moving towards the outer three spokes consisting of our social, financial and professional lives. According to him the pathway for holistic development is to look and focus inwards rather than outwards for our happiness and wellbeing. That is how he sums up the inside out paradigm for holistic wellness.

After a warm welcome by the anchor, Ms Kasturika Mishra talks about how she plans to conduct the session, which was evident to the viewers. In a very humble tone, Ms Mishra talks about why stories about women must be told in one way or another to contribute to the cause of women empowerment. On the same note, Ms Mishra starts reading mesmerising poetry focused on women to the viewers one after the other. As Ms Mishra goes on, a sense of empowering aura among the women who specially tuned in for the session must have emerged. Ms Mishra is known for her work as a single mother who adopted an Adivasi girl child. She lives up to the expectations as the session comes to a close with her final poetry.

“Writing journey began in school, where I wrote essays and articles. In the 1990s, while being in the USA, I wrote articles for a journal about the Indian business scenario. Since then, I have been writing books, journals and articles. I read a lot, listen to a lot, and read a lot. I also learn to write poetry in "Haiku", a Japanese type of poetry where we express ourselves in 17 syllables. Due to the pandemic, our and also other countries hit a roadblock. "The Billion Butterflies" discussed the critical situation of Indians who, we forgot, that they exist. But when the pandemic hit, we saw them on roads. These days intellectuals are dictating terms such as vaccine despite Government expenditure on research. We have to reframe the whole scenario and what life is all about. Reframe what defines a good life.”

“All of us, as women, are trying to find completion. This book content 11 inspirational stories of women, which delve the reader into a journey of women through societies dry response to the job and insecurities, mental issues and obsession and many other things. “Baanz” seems a very insensitive term used for women who cannot conceive. Whoever is responsible for that, a woman is the one to take the blame, even if it's a man fault. It's been a long time since these thought process was going on in mind about this topic. I played many roles onscreen and off-screen. It gave me the deep experience of women living to see closely. The whole journey is within. I was always interested in the unknown and copying people, which I started. Women are the keeper of secrets; even when we smile, there are secrets. Men, too, understand this. In-laws tussle is born out of something old wound she experienced in her life. Mother genetic feeling is very sensitive. If mother-in-law has something bad in her psychic experience, she may or may not use those tactics on daughter law. I do not have any process for writing. I don't think I am not intelligent with a machine; rather, I prefer the comfort of pen and paper and writing whatever is in my mind.”

After a warm welcome by the anchor, Mr Tushar Mulay takes the opportunity to appreciate Mr Abhirup Dhar’s work over the years and how it astonished Mr Mulay when he came across the author for the very first time, Mr Mular follows up with a question about how Mr Dhar ended up in the horror genre after starting out with a book on modern love and how he juggles writing and a full time job. Mr Dhar thanks Mr Mulay for the appreciation and acknowledges the fact that Mr Mulay’s question is not only valid but a difficult one to answer for him. He says that he didn’t really orchestrate his journey from romance to horror but it just happened and it’s the same with him juggling two roles. He talks about how he was always a writer, writing stories in school, writing for magazines in college and then blogging in the blog era, Mr Abhirup never really stopped writing and then one fine day, on the recommendation of his friends who read his work, he set out to become a published author and did that really well. The conversation goes onto the direction of his new book with a few more questions and then comes to a close.

After a warm welcome by the anchor, Mr Kuldeep Yadav takes the stage and engages with the audience right away. Mr Yadav told the audience that he won’t be talking about boring things or showing them a PowerPoint presentation, he told them that he had a real story. That is followed by a question about who had heard about the battle of Rezang La before. A few people in the audience raise their hands. That’s when Mr Yadav told the audience that he’ll talk about a story of courage and valour which had been lost in the record books. Mr Yadav gives a background to the story where 120 Indian Soldiers were stationed in Ladakh to defend the Rezang La pass from the Chinese. With outdated World War 2 weapons and insufficient winter clothing, the Indian troops managed to hold on to a massive 5000 Chinese soldiers to defend the pass which was strategically important to defend the country. Mr Yadav talks about how two of his blood relatives were among the Indian troops in the battle and how it hurts his heart that their courage was not remembered in a proper manner. The session rolls on as Mr Yadav talks about the battle and how he wrote a book about it, to sum up, a beautiful session.