Speakers

R. Abilash is an accomplished Tamil novelist, literary critic, and translator, known for his profound explorations of contemporary themes in literature. Born in Padmanabhapuram, Kanyakumari, he holds graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degrees in English Literature from Scott Christian College, Chennai Christian College, and the University of Madras.

Air Vice-Marshal Arjun Subramaniam (Retd.) is a former fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force, a distinguished military historian, and a leading strategic affairs commentator. With a career spanning the IAF and academia, he currently serves as an Adjunct Faculty at Kautilya School of Public Policy, Hyderabad, and lectures at war colleges across India’s armed forces.

Akhil Katyal is a poet, translator, and academic, known for his evocative poetry and literary scholarship. He is the author of The Last Time I Saw You (HarperCollins India) and Like Blood on the Bitten Tongue: Delhi Poems (Westland-Context). He co-edited The World That Belongs to Us: An Anthology of Queer Poetry from South Asia and translated Ravish Kumar’s Ishq Mein Shahar Hona as A City Happens in Love (Speaking Tiger).

Ashok Gopal is the 2024 Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize and Karwaan Book Award winner for his critically acclaimed biography, A Part Apart: The Life and Thought of B.R. Ambedkar (Navayana, 2023).

Chandan Gowda is the Ramakrishna Hegde Chair Professor of Decentralization and Development at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru. His work spans social history, literature, and political thought, making him a leading voice in contemporary Indian discourse.

Colonel Ajai Shukla (Retd.) is a leading defense analyst, columnist, and journalist, specializing in strategic affairs, military policy, and geopolitics. A former Indian Army officer (1979-2001), he served on multiple borders, including J&K, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan, and was part of a UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mozambique.

Debashis Paul is an autism dad, author, and marketing strategy consultant with a distinguished career in advertising and brand consulting. He has worked with global agency networks such as McCann, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Lintas, managing campaigns for leading brands like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Nestlé, Hyundai, and Tata Tea.

Dr. Deepa Malik is India’s first female Paralympic medalist, winning silver in shot put at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. A Padma Shri, Khel Ratna, and Arjuna Awardee, she has won 23 international medals and 68 national and state medals, along with four Limca World Records in adventure sports.

Dilip Kumar is a celebrated short story writer and editor in Tamil, whose literary contributions have enriched contemporary Tamil fiction. Although his mother tongue is Gujarati, he has made a profound impact on Tamil literature, earning multiple awards for his work. His expertise extends beyond fiction, encompassing literary criticism and translations from Hindi, Gujarati, and English into Tamil.

Dion D’Souza is a poet and short fiction writer, known for his keen observations on contemporary life and human relationships. He is the author of Three Doors (Poetrywala, 2016) and the poetry chapbook Mirrors Lie, and Sometimes Mothers (Yavanika Press, 2021). His work has appeared in esteemed journals such as The Dalhousie Review, The Punch Magazine, Guftugu, Kitaab, and Out of Print.

Dr. Ganesh Devy is a distinguished scholar, writer, and public intellectual, renowned for his contributions to literature, linguistics, and cultural studies. Writing in Marathi, Gujarati, and English, he has dedicated his career to exploring India’s linguistic and literary heritage. He was the driving force behind the People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI), a monumental project that documented over 700 languages across 50 volumes.

Dr. M. D. Muthukumaraswamy is a leading folklorist and the Director of the National Folklore Support Centre (NFSC), Chennai, a role he has held since its founding in 1997. Under his leadership, NFSC has spearheaded major folklore projects, including the documentation of India’s oral epics, visual art traditions, and indigenous community archives, supported by the Ford Foundation and Tata Trusts.

Prof. Siddiq Wahid is a historian of Central Eurasian empires, currently serving as a Distinguished Professor at Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi. He has previously held key positions as the Founding Vice-Chancellor of the Islamic University of Science & Technology (J&K), Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), and Maharaja Gulab Singh Chair Professor at the University of Jammu.

Dr. Srinath Raghavan is a Professor of International Relations and History at Ashoka University, with a distinguished career spanning academia, policy research, and military service. Before joining academia, he served as an infantry officer in the Indian Army for six years. He has previously taught at King’s College London and worked at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, with visiting appointments at Yale University, Deakin University, and King’s College London.

Dr. Sundar Ganesan is a distinguished archivist, curator, and historian, known for his extensive work in preservation and archival research. A founder of the RMRL Trust, he has been instrumental in expanding the Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL), which now houses nearly 500,000 rare and historical items.

Geeta Ramanujam is an internationally acclaimed storyteller, educator, and author, widely recognized as a pioneer of the storytelling movement in India. She is the Founder-Director of Kathalaya’s International Academy of Storytelling, the world’s only globally recognized storytelling academy, with affiliations in the USA, Scotland, and Sweden.

Jaspreet Bindra is a leading expert in artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and business strategy. He is the Founder of AI & Beyond and Tech Whisperer Limited, UK, and has held key leadership roles, including Group Chief Digital Officer at Mahindra Group, Regional Director at Microsoft India, and General Manager at Tata Group (Tata Administrative Services).

Jehangir Palkhivala is a renowned Iyengar Yoga teacher and scholar of Upanishadic philosophy, with decades of experience teaching in Mumbai and internationally. A devoted student of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar since the age of seven, he has developed a deep understanding of yogic principles and their philosophical foundations.

Michael Creighton is a poet, educator, and library movement activist, who has been based in Delhi since 2005. His work explores themes of love, memory, and urban life, capturing the nuances of everyday existence through verse. His debut poetry collection, New Delhi Love Songs (Speaking Tiger, 2017), received critical acclaim for its evocative portrayal of the city and its people.

Neerja Chowdhury is an award-winning journalist, columnist, and political analyst with a distinguished career spanning over forty years. She was the Political Editor of The Indian Express for a decade, covering the terms of eight prime ministers and ten Lok Sabha elections.

Neha Bhat (ABT, ATR-P) is a licensed sex and trauma therapist, clinical supervisor, and artist, practicing psychotherapy through an arts-based, creative wellness lens between India and the U.S.. She has specialized in sexual assault trauma care through clinical training at institutions such as the University of Michigan, Art Institute of Chicago, Rush Medical Center, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

R. Balakrishnan is a distinguished Indologist and historian who has spent over 35 years researching the Indus Valley Civilization and its cultural legacies. His pioneering work, The ‘High-West: Low-East’ Dichotomy of Indus Cities: A Dravidian Paradigm, is a key contribution to the Dravidian Hypothesis of the Indus Civilization, praised by scholar Iravatham Mahadevan.

R. Gopalakrishnan is a veteran corporate leader, author, and business strategist with a career spanning over five decades in leadership roles at Unilever and Tata Sons. He has served as Chairman of Unilever Arabia, Managing Director of Brooke Bond Lipton, and Vice Chairman of Hindustan Lever, and was a director on the board of Tata Sons. He currently serves as an independent director at Press Trust of India (PTI).

Rajdeep Sardesai is an award-winning journalist, author, and television news presenter with over three and a half decades of experience in print and broadcast media. Currently the Consulting Editor and Lead News Anchor at India Today, he has previously served as the Founder Editor of CNN-IBN and Managing Editor of NDTV 24×7 and NDTV India.

Rama Bijapurkar is a leading business advisor, consumer economy expert, and corporate strategist, widely recognized for her insights into India’s market and consumer behavior. She has authored several acclaimed books on business-market strategy and India’s evolving consumer landscape, helping organizations align business strategy with market realities.

Rashmi Palkhivala is a writer, educator, and yoga practitioner based in Mumbai. She is the author of a biography on Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar, published by HarperCollins, and has also written Samundari City, a children’s book on the history of Mumbai. A passionate educator, she teaches English to high school students and serves as an examiner for the International Baccalaureate Board.

Rear-Admiral Sudarshan Shrikhande (Retd.) is a distinguished naval officer, strategist, and scholar with extensive expertise in sea-based nuclear deterrence, operational strategy, and Indo-Pacific geopolitics.

S. Anand is a poet, translator, and publisher who writes in English and Kabiri. He translates poetry from multiple Indian languages, often setting them to ragas as part of his study of Dhrupad music. As the publisher at Navayana, he has collaborated with a diverse range of writers, translators, artists, and poets, focusing on literature that engages with caste, history, and social justice.

Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari is an Indian author from Areekode, Malappuram district, Kerala. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Aligarh Muslim University and a Master’s degree in Political Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Shalini Kapoor is a renowned technologist and AI expert, with 28 years of experience working with global tech giants. Known for her innovations in deep tech, she holds 15 patents and has authored four IEEE research papers, contributing extensively to industry, academia, and technology forums.

Shreevatsa Nevatia is an independent journalist based in Kolkata, with bylines in Hindustan Times, National Geographic Traveller India, and India Today. His work has also appeared in 1843 (The Economist’s lifestyle magazine), OPEN, and Fifty-Two.

Smriti Ravindra is a Fulbright Scholar with an MFA in Creative Writing from North Carolina State University. Her fiction and journalism have been published globally, with works appearing in India, Nepal, and the U.S..

Sonali Gupta is one of India’s leading clinical psychotherapists, with two decades of experience helping young adults, artists, couples, and corporate professionals enhance their emotional well-being. Her work focuses on relationships, grief, anxiety, and compassion, offering deep insights into mental health in the Indian context.

Soni Sangwan is a journalist with over three decades of experience, having worked as a field reporter and editor with leading media houses. She has covered a wide range of beats, including crime, health, politics, education, defense, and internal security.

Sreenivasan Jain is an award-winning broadcast journalist, columnist, and author with a career spanning three decades. He began his journalism journey in 1995 at NDTV, where he rose to become Group Editor before resigning in early 2023.

Sukirtharani is a powerful poetic voice who fearlessly critiques social discrimination, caste oppression, and gender inequality through her verse. Born in 1973, she has published nine collections of poetry, each resonating with themes of oppression, female identity, and the politics surrounding the female body. Her poems have become an integral part of college curricula across Tamil Nadu and have been translated into English, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Bengali, French, and German.

Sumantra Ghosal is an acclaimed filmmaker and storyteller, with over 25 years in advertising, having crafted numerous successful commercials. After retiring from advertising, he transitioned into documentary filmmaking, focusing on the arts and cultural heritage.

T.M. Krishna is one of India’s most renowned Karnatik musicians, known for his uncompromising artistry and socially conscious approach to classical music. Trained under B. Seetharama Sarma, Chengalpet Ranganathan, and Semmangudi Srinivasier, he upholds the rich traditions of Karnatik music while redefining its boundaries with stunning individuality and deep artistic intensity.

Theodore Baskaran is a renowned historian, film scholar, and writer, known for his work on India’s freedom struggle and South Indian cinema. His book The Message Bearers (1981) is considered a pioneering study of India’s independence movement.