Delhi Poetry Festival Season 6

Rabbi has come a long way since his watershed eponymous debut album’s release in 2005. Firmly ensconced in the role of the rebellious/ uncompromising though a wee bitelusive artiste, he’s avoided treading the path of maximum returns and instead chosen to keep the flag of independent music flying during its bleakest phase.

Known for enchanting the crowds with his live performances (e.g. MTV Unplugged, 2011; Windsong, 2012 and countless others) he remains a performer of a kind.
Since the starting of his own Odd One Out Records with the release of the standalone Tun Milen in 2015, Rabbi has been occupied with the creation of self-directed audio-visual projects and calls of literature.

His 4th album is now under productions and shall soon blow us all away like its predecessors

His music is an act of poetic subversion… he creates a bridge between the written word and music — Scroll.in

Harpreet is a versatile artiste, who sings original musical compositions in Hindi, as well as, in regional Indian languages and dialects such as Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Rajasthani and Haryanvi.

Harpreet has gained critical acclaim for his light classical style of singing. His creative talent fuses both the modern and traditional when composing tunes to his own lyrics and for classical poetry that he loves.

He is best known for creating musical scores to epic works of humanist poets like Kabir, Baba Nanak and Baba Bulleh Shah. Credited for taking celebrated poets to the masses, Harpreet has also composed popular hummable tunes to words of poets such as Pash (Avtar Singh Sandhu), Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Nirala (Suryakant Tripathi), Rahim, Amir Khusrau. The rhythmic blend of soulful poetry to the pulsating sounds of guitar and percussion are at once unique and innovative, familiar and foreign. On his musical journey with poetry, he has delivered a TEDx talk in Jaipur in 2016

The progressive elements of his artistic practice is not confined to poetry alone. His original composition, Kutte (dog) – a song about a canine’s view of human life — was selected by award-winning Bollywood film director Dibakar Banerjee and Kanu Behl for a Yash Raj Films production called Titli.

Some of his yet-to-be-released compositions — Geet Farosh, Khooni Vaisakhi, Chhaap Tilak(new rendition) and Bandhu — have received wide appreciation in literature and music festival circuits.

His graceful compositions, simple sonorous delivery, combined with a pleasing personality and stage presence, have touched a chord with the audience.

Social Media Links:
www.FaceBook.com/HarpreetMusic

www.Youtube.com/HarpreetMusic

www.Twitter.com/HarpreetMusic

www.Instagram.com/HarpreetMusic

Rene Singh is a singer trained in semi-classical music. She has a vast knowledge of Sufi and Urdu poetry, which has led her to delve into its history and musically present the lives of various poets to the people across the globe. Singh curates and designs modules and workshops through poetry and music. Her work is based on her vast travels and interactions with different communities and music across the country, including conflict zones. She has partnered with UNICEF to create musical stories for community radio in the remote villages of the country and has earned great appreciation for her work in Kashmir with orphan girls affected by terrorism. She is the founding member of HUM: Hamari Urdu Mohabbat, which has become a leading group for performing this form of poetry and singing.

SUDEEP SEN [www.sudeepsen.org] is widely recognised as a major new generation voice in world literature and “one of the finest younger English-language poets in the international literary scene” (BBC Radio). His prize-winning books include: Postmarked India: New & Selected Poems (HarperCollins), Distracted Geographies, Rain, Aria (A K Ramanujan Translation Award), The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry (editor), Fractals: New & Selected Poems|Translations 1980-2015 (London Magazine Editions), EroText (Vintage: Penguin Random House), and Kaifi Azmi: Poems | Nazms (Bloomsbury). Blue Nude (Jorge Zalamea International Poetry Prize) and The Whispering Anklets are forthcoming. He is the editorial director of AARK ARTS and the editor of Atlas. Sen is the first Asian honoured to read his poetry and deliver the Derek Walcott Lecture at the Nobel Laureate Festival.

The Government of India’s Ministry of Culture has awarded him the senior fellowship for “outstanding persons in the field of culture/literature”.

Sufi singer ~ composer

Radhika love for Sufi kalaam from the land of Punjab has defined her journey into music. Her heart sings the songs of Baba Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussein, Sultan Bahu, Baba Farid.
Starting with Mumbai Kabir Festival, she has travelled through Rajasthan, Malwa and Telangana Kabir yatras with her music. She likes to blend in narratives alongwith the music so that her listeners can connect beyond the boundaries of language.

Navtej Sarna was born in 1957 to Punjabi litterateurs Mohinder Singh Sarna and Surjit Sarna. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1980 and served as an Indian diplomat for the next 38 years. His diplomatic journey included assignments in places as diverse as Moscow and Warsaw, Thimphu and Tehran.

He held several critical appointments including as the Foreign Office Spokesman, India’s Ambassador to Israel, High Commissioner to the UK and Secretary to the Government of India. He retired from diplomatic service in 2018 as India’s ambassador to the United States

Pursing a parallel passion as a writer, Navtej Sarna has written ten books that explore different genres – novels, short stories, travel, literary essays and translations. He has been a prolific columnist and commentator on policy, literary and cultural matters, contributing regularly to journals in India and
abroad.

Sarna is now a full-time writer, dividing his time between New Delhi and Mashobra in the Shimla Hills.
His latest work is the highly acclaimed historical novel, Crimson Spring.

Abhay K. is a poet, diplomat, editor and translator. He is the author of a dozen poetry books including ‘Monsoon’ (Sahitya Akademi) and the editor The Book of Bihari Literature (HarperCollins India).

He received the SAARC Literature Award 2013. His poem-song ‘Earth Anthem’ has been translated into over 150 languages.

Suanshu Khurana is an award-winning music critic and Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. Trained in Hindustani classical music under the aegis of Banaras gharana, she has a Masters in Journalism from Punjab University, Chandigarh. With an artistic eye that manifests in her work as a critic and journalist, her writing is a compelling source of truth for artistes in the present times. She’s uncovered stories of artistes hidden from the manic media glare. These include surbahar legend Annapurna Devi and Kathak exponent Roshan Kumari among others. Her other interviews include those with artistes such as Kishori Amonkar, Pandit Jasraj, Alarmal Valli, Pt Birju Maharaj, and Bombay Jayashree among others.

Founder & Festival Director, Dolly Singh is an established poet, author and editor. She carries her vision of promoting and popularising poetry and reviving poetic legacies close to her heart.

Since the launch of the festival in 2013 she has been working tirelessly to curate meaningful content for the poetry lovers of Delhi-NCR and beyond. She has managed to create a democratic and fearless domain for literature and poetry lovers who can express themselves without any bias.

Dolly also runs a women-centric platform- SheScapes, that addresses issues faced by urban women. SheScapes is an interactive platform that allows every woman in that space to air her views. It is an arena for creative, evolved and enlightened woman

Besides these, she works closely in the children’s literature sphere. She has edited 4 anthologies for children, and her own book on various poetry forms for children – A Poem Trots Along. She also runs poetry workshops.

Her own Coffee Table book- Frozen in a Pause has received rave review. Three of her own projects are ready and poised to be published.

Dolly has been the recipient of Rex Karmaveer Award and Global Fellowship for 3 consecutive years.

Twice a Fulbright Fellow, Dr. Arshiya Sethi, established Kri Foundation (2003), braiding Arts, Activism and Knowledge creation. Former dance critic Times of India, presenter for four decades of the archived National Programme of Music and Dance on the Public Broadcast TV network, Doordarshan, she was advisor, DD Bharati – its Art and Culture channel.

As Creative-Head, India Habitat Centre, she curated programmes, across genres, for a decade and then worked to create intangible cultural properties like City Arts Festivals. Co-author of the Book “Non-Gharanedaar: Pt Mohanrao Kallianpurkar, The Paviour of Kathak’ (2022), co-editor and contributor to “Dance Under the Shadow of the Nation” (2019), Dance Studies Association’s international publication, Editor of a soon-to-be launched international academic Journal on South Asian Dance and its Intersections, she is a popular columnist.

Recently she has been part of the team preparing the Position Paper for the National Education Policy, 2020’s focus on Arts Education and Arts Integrated Learning.

Brahmanand S Siingh is a Rex Karmaveer Chakra Award winner (a UN-driven International award for bringing about positivity in people’s mindsets through one’s works) and a National Award-winning filmmaker (producer-director), author, speaker and mentor based out of Mumbai.

Best known for his films like Jhalki, feature-documentaries on RD Burman, Pancham Unmixed, Jagjit Singh Kagazi Ki Kashti, continue to enjoy an amazing, sweeping cult, critical and popular acclaim across many platforms.  Other than these, many other films like Riding on a Sunbeam; Through Our Eyes; Ambassador of Peace, Ragpickers: Scavengers of a Different Graveyard; Ashgari Bai; Uncaging the Body; A Burden of Love and a lot many commissioned films have been popular and acclaimed. Singh often brings out an insightful, exploring and reflective dimensions in the subjects that excite him, bringing out its core essence in a soulful and captivating manner.

A veteran in the Film Industry, he believes that films are a very powerful medium and can be made in a way to do wonders in communication, awareness, positioning, impact and change. He is known for his expertise and ideation-capacity in developing projects and exploring and delivering films that make a marked impact and stir people towards the desired goal.

Madan Gopal Singh is an Indian composer, singer, lyricist, actor, screenwriter, film theorist, editor and polyglot. He is currently Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi while on leave from Satyawati College (Evening Classes), where he taught English literature.

Son of well-known Punjabi poet Harbhajan Singh, Madan Gopal Singh has written and lectured extensively on cinema, art and cultural history besides performing the world over as a singer with his ensemble Chaar Yaar.

Amy Singh is a poet, podcast host, facilitator, and TEDx speaker from Chandigarh.  She uses poetry as a medium of storytelling, activism, and human connection to promote positive social change.

Amy runs Cross Connection Poetry, an initiative to bring poetry out into the public spaces and to work with marginalized communities and at-risk children through arts. She founded Daak: to Lahore with love, a letter-writing initiative to promote cross-border peace and harmony.

Currently, she hosts Agla Warqa – The Partition podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts where she attempts to turn a new leaf in this book of separation and promote peace and friendship between India and Pakistan. Her initiatives have been featured by The Indian Express, The Tribune, Quint, Hindustan Times, and other news and media platforms.

Nidheesh is an editor, poet, writer, digital evangelist, media consultant/ trainer and a translator. His book ‘Tamanna Tum Ab Kahan Ho’ is a first book of flash fiction in Hindi. His columns have been published in Hindi, English and Gujarati. His book of Hindi poems Kuchh Nahin | Sab Kuchh is published in 2019. Currently he is compiling his new collection of poems and translating poems written by Ukrainian around the current war waged by Russia. Nidheesh is co-founder of digital art newspaper abirpothi.com and online art gallery abirspace.com.
As Editor he has led newsrooms in BBC Hindi, News18, Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, The Tribune, Pune Mirror and Deshbandhu. He has lived in 11 cities, worked in 3 languages, and launched 7 newspaper editions from different cities.
He has been a speaker at Tedx (NMIMS) Hyderabad, Kala Ghoda Festival (Mumbai), Penguin Springfest (Delhi), Bharat Bhavan (Bhopal) and Tapasya Foundation (Bhubaneshwar) Born in Jagdalpur (Bastar) in Chhattisgarh in 1969, he lives in Delhi with his wife and two children and two pugs Lola and Zeus.

Vanita is a poet, academician, translator and critic.

She has a post graduate in music and Punjabi and completed her doctoral research in Punjabi from Delhi University. She served as a lecturer in department of Punjabi in Khalsa College DU. She has done extensive work in translation and newspaper articles and also edited books and magazines. She has presented seventy radio programmes and about 60 TV programmes for Delhi and Jalandhar.

Her poetry collection Kaal Pehar Ghariyan received Punjabi Academy award as well as Sahitya Akademi award.

Sunil Bhandari is a poet disguised as a corporate executive. His book of poetry ‘Of Love and Other Abandonments’ was an Amazon bestseller. His second book was ‘Of Journeys & Other Ways to Get Lost’.

His poetry podcast ‘Uncut Poetry’ is heard in over 70 countries. His new podcast ‘Red River Sessions’ features interviews with exciting poets. His cultural newsletter ‘The Uncuts’ is a weekly sundrop of grace and mulls with almost 3K dedicated subscribers.

Sunil has been featured in several poetry anthologies and is a popular poet in the Literature Festivals circuit.

RJ Sayema is an artist and a radio presenter. She has done both her Masters in Social Work and M Phil in Social work from Delhi University. She is an eligible lecturer after having qualified in NET. However, she chose passion over qualification. She started her radio journey with All India Radio as an English presenter and National News Reader (English).

Some years after, she joined Radio Mirchi as the host of the much-acclaimed Hindi retro night show “Purani Jeans”. The show closed down in  Delhi in April’2017 after staying at No.1 position for the last 14years. Now the same show goes to many cities of USA and India. She also hosts 12-3 in Delhi wherein a one experiences pure radio magic.

An award-winning radio jockey, she has truly demolished the wall between generations and brought them together with her signature style of presenting the show the millennial way. Her twitter bio talks about the promise with her friends not ‘fans’

“Zindagi ka ek tukda tum laao, ek main laati hu’n…
You pick up a piece of your life and I will get the other…”

RJ Sayema pioneered in bringing the heart-wrenching, soul stirring stories of prolific writer Saadat Hasan Manto on a private Radio Station in her radio series called “Ek Purani Kahani’. She also keeps the tradition of urdu poetry alive through her recitals of the likes of Ghalib, Faiz and Kaifi Azmi etc. She enjoys a massive fan following on social media with more than 1 million followers on facebook and Twitter.

In the digital world, she is rocking it with her video series. ‘Urdu Poetry and P for Pronunciation’. Also catch her Urdu Ki Paathshala on social media.

Sakoon Singh studied English Literature at the JNU, New Delhi and Panjab University, Chandigarh. She has been a recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship and currently teaches Indian literature and cultural studies in Chandigarh. She has published her academic writings extensively, including contribution to Cultural Studies in India (2015) by Routledge, Literature and Theory (Routledge 2021) and Reading India in a Transnational Era (Routledge 2021).

She has served on the editorial team of Dialog and edited a special South Asia section for E3W Review of Books (University of Texas, Austin). She was a member of the selection process of Bal Puruskar, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. 2021.

She is currently doing a stint at Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla.
“In the Land of the Lovers” (Rupa; April, 2020)- Short listed for PFC-VoW Book awards 2021 is her debut
novel.

A poet and a PhD in literature on “Transformation of folklore in Guru Nanak vani” from Guru Nanak University, Amritsar, Surjit Patar hails from village Pattar Kalan in Jalandhar district. He then joined the academic profession and retired as Professor of Punjabi from Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.

Among his works of poetry are "Hawa wich Likhe Harf (Words written in the Air), Birkh Arz Kare (Thus Spake the Tree), Hanere Vich Sulagdi Varnmala (Words Smouldering in the Dark), Lafzaan Di Dargah (Shrine of Words), Patjhar Di Pazeb (Anklet of Autumn) and Surzameen (Music Land).

He has translated into Punjabi the three tragedies of Federico García Lorca, the play Nagmandala of Girish Karnad, and poems of Bertolt Brecht and Pablo Neruda.

He is the president of Punjab Arts Council, Chandigarh. In the past, he has held the office of the President, Punjabi Sahit Akademi Akademy, Ludhiana He was awarded Padma Shri in 2012.

Ramesh Inder Singh, popularly known as R.I. Singh, is a distinguished civil servant of the Punjab cadre. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1986, at the age of thirty-six, for his notable contributions in the field of public administration. He was district magistrate, Amritsar, from 1984 to 1987, and dealt with the turbulence in Punjab from close quarters.

The various army operations against militancy, including Operation Blue Star, Operation Woodrose and Operation Black Thunder I, were conducted during this period. During his long career of forty years in public life, he has held many crucial appointments.

He was principal secretary to the chief minister of Punjab for five years; chief secretary of Punjab for over two years; and from that position, he took premature retirement from the IAS in 2009 to serve for five years as chief information commissioner, the transparency watchdog under the Right to Information Act. Before joining the IAS, he taught political science in a constituent college of Delhi University. He has an MA in Political Science and topped Panjab University, and is a law graduate (LLB) from Delhi University. He has also worked with the World Bank as a consultant. He is currently retired.

Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is a multi-award-winning translator, writer, and literary historian. She has published over 25 books and written over 50 academic papers and essays. Some of her books include: Liking Progress, Loving Change: A Literary History of the Progressive Writers Movement in Urdu (OUP, 2014); a biography of Urdu feminist writer Dr Rashid Jahan: A Rebel and her Cause (Women Unlimited, 2014); a translation of The Sea Lies Ahead, Intizar Husain seminal novel on Karachi (Harper Collins,2 015) and Krishan Chandar’s partition novel Ghaddar (Westland, 2017), among others.

She runs an organization called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularization of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture. She is a Trustee of the Ghalib Institute, Delhi, the Sarvodaya International (Delhi Chapter), PEN (Delhi Chapter) and Seva Mandir (Udaipur); she also serves on the Board of the annual Shankar-Shad Mushaira organized by the DCM Shriram Group.

She is also the Editor of the Taj magazine, a bi-annual book-length journal of the Taj group of hotels.

Savita Singh made her mark with the publication of her first Hindi collection Apne Jaisa Jeevan (A Life Like its Own) in 2001 to the wide acclaim of fellow poets and the literary critics. The collection received Delhi’s Hindi Academy Award in 2002  .

Her second collection entitled Neend Thi Aur Raat Thi appeared in 2005. that won her the Raza Award in 2005. Her bilingual collection of poems   with Sukrita Paul Kumar entitled Rowing Together appeared in 2008 and also the other bilingual collection (French and Hindi) je suis la maison des` etoiles in 2008.

A poetry collection of seven women poets of five continents, Seven Leaves, One Autumn, appeared in 2010, Currently she is working on her collection of short stories and three manuscripts of meditative and explorative prose at different stages of completion: Political Theory in India- A Hermeneutical Exploration, Fathoming the Depths of Reality (with Roy Bhasker, London) and Alternative Modernity in India (with Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty and Thiago Reis, Brazil). She is also working on the UGC’s Major Research Project, “Household and its Labouring Women: Valuing and Measuring Domestic Labour in India,” and is interested in feminist politics and epistemology, Indian modernity, and women. Savita Singh is Professor and Director, School of Gender and Development, India Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Delhi. She lives and works in Delhi.

Vipul Mudgal is an activist, journalist and an academic. He is the Director and Chief Executive of Common Cause (www.commoncause.in), known for its high-impact interventions. He also heads the Inclusive Media for Change (www.im4change.org) a clearinghouse of ideas and information on India’s marginalised. A doctorate in media studies from Leicester University, UK, as a Nehru Fellow, Vipul has been a Resident Editor of Hindustan Times in Jaipur and Lucknow, South Asia Editor of Asia Times, Bangkok, and a BBC journalist in London and Delhi. He was earlier a visiting Senior Fellow and the founder-director of Publics and Policies Programme at the CSDS. He works on the intersections of media, democracy and political violence.

Keki N. Daruwalla  is  a poet and short story writer in English. He is also a former Indian Police Service officer. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1984 for his poetry collection, The Keeper of the Dead, by the Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters. He was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2014.

Sukrita Paul Kumar, poet and critic, was born and brought up in Kenya. She held the prestigious Aruna Asaf Ali Chair at Delhi University. Formerly, a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, she was an invited poet at the International Writing Programme, Iowa, USA and Hong Kong Baptist University. Honorary faculty, Durrell Centre at Corfu, Greece, she has been a recipient of many prestigious fellowships and residencies.

Her recent collections of poems amongst others are Vanishing Words, Country Drive, Dream Catcher, Untitled and Poems Come Home (with Hindustani translations by Gulzar). She is the “Writer in Context” Series co-editor, being published by Routledge UK.

Her co-edited book on the eminent writer Krishna Sobti is the first in the series. Amongst her critical books
are Narrating Partition and Conversations on Modernism.

Her translations include Nude, poems by Vishal Bhardwaj and the novel, Blind (HarperCollins) by Joginder Paul. A guest editor of journals such as Indian Literature, Manoa (Hawaii) and Muse India, she has held solo exhibitions of her paintings. Many of her poems come out of her experience of working with the homeless, street children and Tsunami victims.

Maheep Singh is an unassuming man with plenty of stories to tell and unquestionably amongst the pioneers of stand-up comedy in Delhi.

Noted comedy writer, stand-up comedian, a playwright, a lyricist – an entertainment entrepreneur. Maheep Singh is Founder and Curator of many experiential events, i.e. Jaspal Bhatti Humor Festival, Khushwant Singh Humor Festival, curated a segment of I AM Identity Art Marathon.

An accomplished playwright and lyricist, his work has been performed internationally at various Art Festivals.

Major(Dr.) Mohommed Ali Shah is an International TEDx speaker who has given the maximum number of TEDx talks not only in India but across the world.
He was crowned Mr. Pune ” Talent” while he was in college. He is referred to as the no.1 motivational speaker of India. He has acted in national award- winning films such as Haider, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, The Tashkent Files and many more.
He was conferred the coveted award of ” Best Actor” at Delhi International Film Festival, two critiques best actor awards in Australia, a critique’s award in the state capital of Kerala by a Kerala minister for an English film he played the lead and title role in called ” The Ruffian”.
He led the Assam Rifles marching continent saluting H.E. The President of India at the Republic Day Parade 2008. He is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and has been the CEO of a leading company and is seen every day on National TV channels with his brilliant analysis on various issues that lot of people resonate with.

Sumit Sehgal – the name brings on an instant smile and a reassurance when you find him in your corner. Which is exactly where Sumit has been for the past 7 years with Delhi Poetry Festival. With multiple experiences spanning over 13 years – an author & poet, events & outreach planner, digital communicator, visualizer & designer, literary, poetry & children’s festival curator, an environment advocate, and most recently, an educator.

Sumit is an established writer with one fiction novel, My Chameleon Soul, and 29 e-books as a ghost-writer under his belt. He has been published in various national and international English poetry anthologies, has edited 2 children’s anthologies, and is now waiting to bring out his third.

His literary agency, Butterfly & The Bee has facilitated over 90 book launches, 40 plus literary events and worked with over 550 authors.

Sumit has been conferred with REX Karmaveer award two consecutive years for his literary contribution.

Currently, he is working on his newest passion – Young Dragon English Club, a platform for helping children with reading & writing skills and nuances of English language and multiple activities around language & literature.

Young Dragon English Club was recently conferred with, ‘Achievement Award – Best English Learning Platform of the Year 2022’ by TopRoboLabs.

Singh Sidhu has been researching the social history of Punjab. His doctoral thesis ‘Contesting Visions of Sikh Identity’ examined the sub-discipline of ‘Sikh Studies’.

Striving to unravel the Idea of Punjab, Sumail is stitching together the Punjabi radical intellectual tradition. A disciple of the legendary Punjabi author S. Jaswant Singh Kanwal, Sumail is figuring out the ‘agrarian’ aesthetic in Punjabi literature.
His hermeneutic reading of Heer Waris Shah resulted in a celebrated essay in 2018 ‘Heervanne Punjab Di Sirjana…’ , which continues to be at the heart of conversations about Punjabi cultural formation.

Sumail is interested in retrieving the pre-colonial textual traditions; interrogating the colonial constructions and the post-colonial academia while engaging with literary culture of Punjabi.

Currently, he is the Director of ADARA 23 MARCH, a platform engaged in building a sustainable culture of ideas in Punjab. Anchoring substantive issues, he is organising an annual festival of ideas, the Puranmashi Punjabi Jorr Mela at village Dhudike which is now in its fourth year.

Educationist/ Coach / Mentor / Poet/ Writer.
Founder at “Karmic Therapy By Eitu” Mental Wellness and Transformational Life Coach.
Co founder – Rex Ideas For Action Initiatives /iCONGO

Eitu has 30 years of experience in Education and Non Profit sector.She Enjoys working in diverse environments that encourages creative and innovative decision making.She is fearless and a risk taker at work to bring in great life learning skills .
She has done her double post grad in literature and education as well as SEP Social Entrepreneur Program from HiH and Harvard Business school.
Eitu is a certified NFNLP ( US) master Mindset and Energy as well as Master Reiki Coach .
Eitu is also a poet and a writer , her love for literature and verse started very early in life as she comes from a family of literary teachers since five generations. The love for words and coaching was bettered with teaching at the start of her career as a English teacher for 16 years before plunging into corporate ,non profit sector entrepreneurial space .
Eitu has contributed her writings in various forums like womenlines in Singapore and in school program iVLSF( REX) and MoJOsh book, Weekends with Zoey ( on publishers desk) . Eitu is also working on Triology the “Joy of Giving is the Joy of Living”.
Eitu believes herself to be an eternal learner in a quest to learn, relearn and unlearn and discovery more.

Urvashi Butalia is a feminist publisher and writer. Co-founder of India’s first feminist publishing house, Kali for Women, she now heads Zubaan, set up after Kali’s closure in 2003. She writes and publishes widely on issues relating to feminism and gender. Among her best known publications is the award-winning history of Partition, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India.

Rakesh Anand Bakshi is a scriptwriter and the author of Directors’ Diaries: The Road to Their First Film and Let’s Talk on Air: Conversations with Radio Presenters. He is an aspiring director and actor, and a swimming, cycling and gym enthusiast. Rakesh runs Bicycle Angels, a non-profit social initiative supported by friends that gives bicycles and wheelchairs to the underprivileged and teaches the visually impaired how to use a computer.

He co-founded, with Kanika Kedia, I Adore You Diaries, which creates personalized diaries. He also authors a blog, Beautiful Bicycles Beautiful People, on cyclists, their rides and stories.

Rakesh is son of the legendary Hindi Film industry lyricist, Anand Bakshi

Sushil Bhasin, also known as Doodlewala, is an artist, cartoonist and a compulsive doodler. He’s not a chain smoker. But he doodles like a chain smoker. FB: www.facebook.com/doodlewala. Instagram: @Doodlewala_is_here

Sushil’s artworks have been displayed at DLF Emporio, The Stainless Gallery and many other spaces. His cartoons and doodle stories have been published in The Economic Times, Navbharat Times, The Pioneer and in ads for Coca Cola, Essar cellphones and various other brands and publications.

He has conducted doodling and ideation workshops for The Little Black Book, The Stainless Gallery, for Indian organizations and for a Silicon Valley brand.

Poet, Story Teller and Film Maker Devi Prasad Mishra was born in a small village Harshpur in Pratapgarh, U.P.18 August, 1958.

His childhood and teenage were spent in Gwalior, Rewa and Allahabad.

A first divisioner all through, he graduated from Allahabad University.

He has been writing poetry for almost forty years and has been reluctant about bringing them in books. He is an author almost without a book having published only two poem books. Recently, Jitdhar kuchh nahin.

An incorrigible experimentalist, he was awarded Bharat Bhushan Smriti Samman, Sanskriti Samman and Sharad Billore Samman.

Illustrated Weekly of India chose him in 1993 as one of 13 Indians who made a definitive impact on national life.

All this because is his documentary on rebellious poet, Jyotsana, now no more,.

One of his documentaries got National Award for the best film on social issues.

Vineet KKN ‘Panchhi’ is a Communication Consultant, Writer, and Leadership Coach. He worked with US MNCs like Reebok, Bose Audio, GE, and Carlson Wagonlit, before starting his social-entrepreneurship company called ‘Word of Mouth Media’.
His writing, poetry and films have been used both by large brands and the social sector extensively.
Vineet currently spends most of his time with grassroots organisations in training and assisting them with digital and technology tools, to communicate better with their identified audiences. Vineet’s dream and passion project – ‘The Jai Hind Project’ has been recently supported by The Azim Premji Foundation and University, where his team will be working with the NGO ecosystem in India to train them on storytelling and digital tools.
Vineet is a graduate of XLRI, Jamshedpur and has a certificate from The University of Oxford in Leadership Psychology. More about Vineet at: www.VineetPanchhi.com

Sumit Tandon has been a television anchor, radio broadcaster, theatre actor and even a music critic. He deftly fits into many moulds such as being the current Director of the India Habitat Centre or President of the Delhi Music Society. In the recent past, he has served as Director of the coveted media college IIMC (Indian Institute of Mass Communication) and CEO of Lok Sabha TV. But public speaking has been a steady companion with Tandon, a skill which got honed further with exposure to theatre and music.

Robin Gupta is the author of his best- selling memoir ‘And What Remains in The End’ which Khushwant Singh described as ‘a literary milestone’. He has also authored ‘A Bouquet of Thoughts’ published in London in 2002. He penned his heartfelt poems in the book called ‘The 70th Milestone’.

Robin is a member of the elite IAS and has had the distinction of having served the country in four provinces. He was posted as Commissioner in the field on six separate occasions, itself a record in the history of the ICS/IAS. He retired as Financial Commissioner Revenue in the rank of Secretary to the government of India.

Robin studied at the renowned Bishop Cotton School, and St. Stephens college Delhi. He is also an International Scholarship holder who studied at New Trier High School, U.S.A. from where he passed out with straight A’s. Robin returned to India, imbued with the desire to serve the country.

He had a short stint with the Indian Police Service before joining the IAS in 1974. Indeed, Robin Gupta is a most unusual civil servant who continued to nurse his muse even while having to deal with bone dry files for almost 40 years. On his mother’s side he is a third- generation civil servant.

Robin’s father was enrolled as member of the FRCS in 1933 after which he joined the IMS and served the British Indian army under Field Marshal Montgomery’s command in the middle Eastern theatre of the second world war. After his retirement, Robin who divides his time between his homes in Panchkula, Delhi and Goa and devotes all his time and energy to promoting the literary movement in India.

Prof. Danish Iqbal is an awarded playwright who combines in himself various roles of a performer, teacher, writer, researcher, cultural organizer, and to all of which he brings exacting standards. Danish has done pioneering work in storytelling & drama, combining different styles seamlessly to project the unifying thread of Indian literary traditions.

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Danish Iqbal is a Media Educator and also an awarded playwright who combines in himself various roles of a performer, teacher, writer, researcher, cultural organizer & arts administrator. Danish has done pioneering work in storytelling & drama, combining different styles seamlessly to project the unifying thread of Indian literary traditions.

Mannu Kohli is a content curator, producer and artiste manager with an extraordinary journey in the music world. She has been a part of the Indian Music Industry for the last 21 years as an A&R (Artiste and Repertoire) Head and an artiste manager. Currently working as President – A&R for Panorama Music in India, which she is also a founding member of. She spent many years as the Label Head of the well-known music label Music Today, which was the music division of the India Today Group. Her 15-year long stint with the music label was replete with experiences with some of the finest voices and musicians of the sub-continent, comprising both legends as well as outstanding upcoming musicians. While at the label, she seamlessly also slipped into her role as an artiste manager for one of the leading voices of the sub-continent and Classical, Sufi, Bollywood singer Shafqat Amanat Ali. She continues her journey with the artiste as his global business manager after 14 years of starting work with him in 2007. Trained in Hindustani classical music under the guidance of Smt Abha Mukherjee and late Smt Shanti Sharma, Mannu also sings the poetry of poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Baba Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrau and Mirza Ghalib for select platforms. She is currently working on creating a digital music platform to present the music of artistes across the sub-continent and Asia along with her existing artiste management and content creation work. She also working with an NGO on a digital cultural education program for students across India, for which she has designed the content.

Dr. Pallavi Mahajan is an Endodontist (Root Canal Specialist) who found her love for the stage in 2017 and started putting her heart out in poetries since then. She has performed in various cities, at various events and festivals, her videos garnering millions of views on social media. Sukoon ki Talaash, kya Aadmi tha, Betiyaan being few of them.

Gaurav Arora is a poet and a comedian from Delhi. He has been writing for 14 years and performing for 7 years having made over 400 stage appearances. He loves talking about love-life and work-life imbalance. He has performed at DTU, GGSIPU, and NIT Neemrana each having 1000+ audiences. He has also worked with brands like UN, Tinder, FNP, TrulyMadly, American Express, Stage, to name a few. His videos “Kandha”, “Kardata” and “Mai Khwaab bade dekhta hun” garnered millions of views. You can get a daily dose of laughter from his Instagram handle @PoetArora.

Meet Dilli Ka Sabse Bada Vella RJ Rocky, we have been glued to his pranks, puns and Punjabi avatar on Radio for more than 15 years! He has been a versatile actor, singer and storyteller, theatre artist across the nation.

RJ Rocky can mesmerize the audience with his Punjabi avatar and drive you straight to memory lane with his Poetry andaaz.

Rocky lately started his own podcast, ‘STORIYAN’- a light hearted audio series based on slice of life situations, love and relationships and fans and people were not only left surprised but showered him love and blessings. Storiyaan – his Punjabi fiction podcast show has won more than 5L hearts across top podcast Apps