Arun Maira has an unusual combination of hands-on leadership experience in the private sector, in government and in the social sector. He was a member of India’s Planning Commission from 2009-14. He is a thought-leader on processes of institutional transformation. He is the author of several books, including Transforming Systems: Why the World Needs a New Ethical Toolkit, and Listening for Well-Being: Conversations with People Not Like Us. Chandrahas Choudhury is the author of the novels Arzee the Dwarf, Clouds, and Days of my China Dragon, and editor of the anthology India: A Traveller's Literary Companion. He is also a Creative Writing mentor at the University of Iowa's Summer Institute programme and Honourary Distinguished Professor at KR Mangalam University. Easterine Kire has written nine novels and novellas, winning the Hindu Prize in 2015 and Tata Book of the Year in 2017 and the Sahitya Bal Puraskar in 2018. She has also published a number of poetry volumes and children’s books. Kire holds a Phd from Poona University. Kabir Bedi’s credits include starring with Michael Caine in Ashanti and Roddy McDowell in Thief of Baghdad and playing the title role in the Italian film The Black Pirate (Il Corsaro Nero). On American television, he has acted in Highlander, Murder She Wrote, Magnum, PI, Dynasty and many HBO mini-series. On stage, he starred in John Murrell’s Taj at the Luminato Festival in Canada and MM Kaye’s Far Pavilions in London’s West End. In India, he has done close to 70 Bollywood films, famously starring with Rekha in Khoon Bhari Maang. Bedi lives with his wife Parveen Dusanj, a producer, in Mumbai.
Anita Agnihotri in conversation with Arunava Sinha
Writer and poet Anita Agnihotri, who retired as Secretary, Social Justice Department, Government of India, has written over 35 books and has been translated into major Indian and international languages. Her books have woven themes of the struggles, exploitation and deprivation of the marginalised with a range of human emotions. Her recent books include the novels Mahanadi and Kaste and translated short stories - A Day in the Life of Mangal Taram. In conversation with celebrated translator Arunava Sinha, she speaks of her journey through the literary world.
