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Darshana Ramdev | NT

Bengaluru: Sahana Singh’s The Educational Heritage of Ancient India is a mere 61-pages, but it makes up for in substance what it lacks in length. In an article she wrote in Indic Today, recalls an interaction she had at the National Institute of Technology, where some of the country’s brightest engineering minds are trained. Her question was simple: Do they love what they study? Not a single hand went up. Singh understood then, why India’s educational system so urgently needed a rehaul.

Speaking at the first panel on Sunday, Sahana Singh will join Mohandas Pai and Vikram Limsay, the CEO of Helicon Consulting and a sought-after business and strategic advisor to discuss her book.

There is a certain thrill in seeing an admired writer in the flesh, but even if she’s speaking through Zoom, Lori Gottlieb promises to be a treat - the festival organizers do a standup job every year, but more so in 2021 for putting together a stellar lineup. But back to Gottlieb. A psychotherapist and author who has made it to the New York Times bestseller list, she will discuss her book, “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” with journalist Shrabonti Baghchi this afternoon.

Understanding ‘Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot’ will see Rahul Matthan, a Fellow with Takshashila’s Technology & Policy Research Programme, join Mehran Sahami, a Professor at the Computer Science Department in Stanford University. That’s not the only offering from Takshashila - co-founder Nitin Pai and journalist Josy Joseph will trace the history of India’s Deep State in ‘The Silent Coup’.

At 1.15 pm, in the first floor hall, author Tony V Francis will meet Ma Anand Sheela, as she is best known these days, after the massive success of the Duplass Brothers’ documentary, Wild Wild Country, on the Rajneesh religious group. Sheela was a teenager when she first met Rajneesh, who was not yet Osho in those days. She joined his organization, became his bodyguard and personal secretary and spearheaded the mammoth shift to the U.S. She’s still a firebrand, refusing to back down and even sending Priyanka Chopra a notice when it was announced the actor would play her in ‘Sheela’, a feature film adaptation of Wild Wild Country. ‘By My Own Rules’, is another session that must not be missed.

The star-studded lineup continues through the afternoon, with ‘Mercy’, a conversation between David Baldacci and Ashwin Sanghi, both bestselling authors in their own right. Baldacci is one of the most popular thriller writers in the world, a former trial lawyer with a keen interest in world politics, the US political system and intelligence services. He has more than forty bestsellers to his credit and his debut, Absolute Power, became a major box office hit as well, starring Clint Eastwood.

Journalist Sugata Srinivasaraju’s Furrows in a Field, a biography on former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, was launched in November. ‘Into the Mind of the Biographer’ will see him in conversation with Debashish Mukerji, Rajiv Vijayakar and Samanth Subramanian.

The languages of Karnataka remain the focus on Sunday too, with several panels on “The Many Language Worlds of Karnataka’. Journalist and author B.M. Haneef will discuss the Beary language, spoken by the Muslim communities of Dakshina Kannada, with N.A Mahamed Ismail. Syed Zameerulla Sharif and Syed Ghouse will talk about Navayati, also a group of Indian Muslims who use the Nawayarh name and live mainly in Hassan, Bhatkal, Tonse and Hassan.

Back in the main auditorium at 4.45 pm, Samanth Subramanian, whose book, ‘A Dominant Character’ was listed as one of the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2020 and one of the WSJ’s 10 Best Books of 2020, is part of ‘JBS Haldane: Radical Science and Restless Politics’, with Jahnavi Phalkey. In ‘The Language of Grief ’, AT Boyle, for whom the pandemic lockdown inspired a children’s book collaboration and new fiction for adults will be aired at the festival. Bee Rowlatt’s ‘In Search of Mary’ is an award-winning travelogue, which she will discuss at 4 pm, at the second floor boardroom, with Amrita Tripathi.

The festival will come to a close with award-winning author and poet, Jeet Thayil as he reads from his own work.