Jaipur Bytes

Santanu Das and Shrabani Basu in conversation with Yasmin Khan. Santanu Das's India, Empire and First World War Culture: Writings, Images and Songs recovers the experience of combatants, non-combatants and civilians from undivided India trying to make sense of home and the world in times of war. Shrabani Basu’s For King and Another Country also takes into account India’s First World War through th...

The inaugural address by Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee at JLF Belfast 2019. She has held the position of Vice-Chairperson of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti for nearly nine years. Gandhi Smriti is the site of the martyrdom of her grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, for truth and non-violence. She is also involved with the movement to protect rivers and the environment in India. She is the Chairperson of the...

Vasuki Shastry, Steve Tsang, Ellen Barry and Lijia Zhang in conversation with Salil Tripathi. While the phenomenal economic rise of India and China is of key interest to economists around the world, the civilisational links between these two ancient cultures are equally fascinating. A session on how the ‘elephant’ and the ‘dragon’ negotiate their relationship with each other and the ways in which...

Navin Chawla and Mukulika Banerjee in conversation with John Elliott. India is the world’s largest democracy. It has faced daunting challenges, sustaining democratic institutions against all odds. Its vigorous political system remains credible and sound in its fundamentals with nearly 900 million citizens, young and old, exercising their constitutionally given freedom to choose in what remains a d...

Helena Kennedy, Avi Singh and Sunita Toor in conversation with Bee Rowlatt. Helena Kennedy QC’s ground-breaking book Eve Was Shamed offers an impassioned, personal critique of the British legal system. “The smell of the gentlemen’s club permeates every crevice of the Inns of Court,” writes Kennedy. A session which focuses on the treatment of women in the legal system with Kennedy, academic and wom...

Eric Ngalle Charles (poet, author, playwright) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (Founder of Launchora). Eric Ngalle was born in Cameroon. After nearly a decade seeking sanctuary as a refugee, he eventually reached south Wales, where he studied modern history and popular culture at Cardiff Metropolitan University. A fellow of the leadership network British-American Project, he currently sits on t...

Lucy Caldwell (award-winning novelist and playwright) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (founder of Launchora). Lucy Caldwell was born in Belfast in 1981. She studied English at Queen's College, Cambridge, and for an MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmith's, University of London. She is the author of three novels: Where They Were Missed (2006); The Meeting Point (2011), set in Bahrain immed...

William Dalrymple transports us back to a bygone era of matchless splendour – the period of the last Mughal. This evocative session features readings by award-winning author and historian Dalrymple from his book The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 and the vocals of Vidya Shah celebrating the poignant and robust folk poetry of the time and ghazals of the Mughal court. This episode i...

Pico Iyer, Christina Lamb, Carlo Pizzati and Monisha Rajesh in conversation with William Dalrymple. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

James Crabtree and Avi Singh in conversation with Mukulika Banerjee. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Chris Power, Namita Gokhale and Navtej Sarna in conversation with Paul McVeigh. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Navtej Sarna in conversation with Amrit Kaur Lohia. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

David Levy, Irving Finkel and Michael Erdman in conversation with Pragya Tiwari. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Anita Anand and Kim A. Wagner in conversation with Navtej Sarna. Anita Anand’s The Patient Assassin tells the remarkable story of one Indian's 20 year quest for revenge, taking him around the world in search of those he held responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, which cost the lives of hundreds. Kim A. Wagner’s Jallianwala Bagh: An Empire of Fear and the Making of the Amritsar Mas...

Anjali Joseph, Lijia Zhang and Romesh Gunesekera in conversation with Catharine Morris. Three writers speak about ways of seeing and recording, and how they navigate words across countries and cultures. Romesh Gunesekera is the acclaimed Sri Lankan-born British author and finalist for the Man Booker Prize. Award-winning Anjali Joseph has written three novels, including her recent The Living. China...

Jonathan Gil Harris, Rachel Dwyer and Varsha Panjwani in conversation with Cary Sawhney. Shakespeare’s Indian avatar has taken deep root in Bollywood and popular culture. Poet and lyricist Gulzar along with directors Sanjay Leela Bansali and Vishal Bharadwaj have all taken inspiration from the Bard. A lively panel explores the profound resonance between Shakespeare’s craft and Indian cinema and cu...

Shashi Tharoor, Wajahat S. Khan, Romesh Gunesekera and Prashant Kidambi in conversation with Mukulika Banerjee. Cricket in South Asia has become a symbol of national identity and a surrogate battleground between competing nationalisms. Prashant Kidambi’s Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire tells the story of the first all Indian cricket tour of Britain and Ireland and how the i...

Opening Address (of ZEE JLF at the British Library 2019 on June 14) by Chief Executive of the British Library Roly Keating, High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom Ruchi Ghanashyam, Namita Gokhale, William Dalrymple, Sanjoy K. Roy, and Shreyasi Goenka. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Pico Iyer (author of 16 books, TED speaker) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (Founder of Launchora). Pico Iyer's books have been translated into 23 languages. Both his 2008 meditation on the XIVth Dalai Lama,  The Open Road , and his TED Book, The Art of Stillness , were best sellers across the US. Outside magazine called him "arguably the greatest living travel-writer," and the New Yorker...

Bashabi Fraser - author of “Rabindranath Tagore (Critical Lives)" - in conversation with Lakshya Datta - Founder of Launchora. Bashabi Fraser is a Tagore and post colonial scholar and poet. A Professor of English and Creative Writing and Founder Director of the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies at Edinburgh Napier University, she is also the Editor-in-Chief of the e-journal  Gitanjali and Bey...

Miles Taylor (author of “Empress: Queen Victoria and India”) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (Founder of Launchora). Miles talks about why and how he got into learning and teaching Modern History, what drew him to writing a book about Queen Victoria, while also sharing surprising facts about her life and influence on India. Miles is a Professor of Modern History at York University,&nb...

Damian Smyth (Head of Literature and Drama at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (Founder of Launchora). Hear Damian talk about the work the Art Council does in Belfast and beyond, how the association with JLF came about, and why Belfast is the perfect city for the festival. Experience the first ever JLF Belfast from June 21 to 23. #JLFBelfast2019

Jamie Andrews (Head of Culture and Learning at the British Library) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (Founder of Launchora). Jamie talks about the work the British Library does in the UK and internationally, their current “Writing: Making Your Mark” exhibition, why they got involved with JLF as their festival host in London, and what to expect from the upcoming festival from June 14 to 16. #ZEEJ...

Matt Reed (CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation UK) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (Founder of Launchora). AKF has been supporting JLF since 2015. As CEO, Matt’s focus is on expanding AKF’s partnerships in the UK and Europe and building greater public awareness about the work of the broader Aga Khan Development Network.  #ZEEJLFatBL2019

An encounter with the free-spirited Shabana Azmi, magnificent actor and a committed social activist. Azmi belongs to an illustrious literary family and has been a member of the Indian Parliament. In conversation with writer and film director Sangeeta Datta, she speaks of her work in experimental and mainstream cinema, and the interplay of culture, entertainment and politics. This episode is a live...