Thank You

We thank each of you who joined us at the venue and on our live streams for your co-operation and involvement. This event was made possible by your support.


We look forward to meeting you next year!

Bharat Shakti

"If thy aim be great and thy means small, still act; for by atcion alone these can increase to thee.
Care not for time and success. Act out thy part, whether it be to fail or to prosper."

Sri Aurobindo

Pondy Lit Fest 2024 will be the 7th edition of the festival. We have always invited distinguished speakers with proven impressive bodies of work. The event has systematically avoided noise from debates that are curated for the sake of polemics, thus giving an undesirable lease of life to debunked narratives. We instead empower with knowledge on spiritual, religious and cultural subjects that showcase Bharat Shakti and critically evaluate what holds her back via Lectures and Conversations, Book Talks and presentations on Science & Technology, Defence & Security. This year we focus on Bharat in the New Age. “Bharat Shakti” is a phrase we have chosen from the writings of Sri Aurobindo to serve us as guiding principle. Pondicherry is Sri Aurobindo’s seat of sadhana and we take these associations with reverence and respect.

In past editions our Lectures and Conversations have included luminaries such as (alphabetically on last name). K. Annamalai, Dr. Swapan Das Gupta, Bibek Debroy, Kanchan Gupta, Dr. Meenakshi Jain, Vishnu Jain, Dr. Sampadananda Mishra, Prof. R. Nagaswamy, Aravindan Neelakandan, Dr. Shamika Ravi, Sanjeev Sanyal, Dushyanth Sridhar and Sridhar Vembu. Our archives are a priceless repository of their wisdom.

The Pondy Lit Fest Book Talks stand out for their in-depth well-prepared analysis, since one of our main aims is to empower our audience with bankable scholarship via books. The distinguished authors featured include Vivek Agnihotri, J. Sai. Deepak, Deep Halder, Prof Ranganathan, Dr. Vikram Sampath. Nandini Sengupta, Dr. Pariksith Singh, Harini Srinivasan and Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam.

The stride of a nation is crippled without progress in Science & Technology. We have established a reputation within the scientific community of being the foremost platform that gives space to Indian scientists to bring cutting edge research to the layman. Our superlative guest list of scientists at the very top of their areas of research includes Prof. Gautam Desiraju, Prof. Aloke Kumar, Dr. S. K. Manjul, Dr. Soumya Pati, Dr. Niraj Rai, Prof Vijay Sathe, Prof. Shailja Singh, and an exclusive first as a scientist, Prof. Anand Ranganathan.

Bharat’s Shakti in the domain of Defence & Security has always featured at the Lit fest. We have had the honour to host veterans including, Air Marshal Anil Chopra, Lt. Gen. Satish Dua, Commodore Srikanth Kesnur and Maj. Navdeep Singh. We consider it our privilege and duty to pay homage to our heroes and great wars by featuring discussions and books on military history authored by the sharpest of defence reporters and analysts such as Shiv Aroor, Abhijit Iyer Mitra., Sandeep Unnithan and Shiv Kunal Varma

This year we will strive for greater excellence, depth and heights with a lineup and content that will showcase Bharat Shakti entering a New Age.

Organizers

 
Alo Sud
director
 

Chief Guest

 
R. N. Ravi
Hon'ble Governor of Tamil Nadu
 

Key Note

 
Nirmala Sitharaman
Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs
Government of India
 

Speakers

Aabhas Maldahiyar

Aabhas Maldahiyar

Architect/Urban Designer
Amateur Historian, Fellow FIHCR

Prof. Aloke Kumar

Prof. Aloke Kumar

Scientist IISc
Science communicator

Ami Ganatra

Ami Ganatra

Author

Prof. Anand Ranganathan

Prof. Anand Ranganathan

Scientist SCMM
Author, Political Commentator

Aravindan Neelakandan

Aravindan Neelakandan

Contributing Editor, Swarajya
Author

Deep Halder

Deep Halder

Journalist
Author

Harsha Vardhini

Harsha Vardhini

Co-Founder at Vizzhy and Hanooman (SML)

Jataayu

Jataayu

Tamizh Scholar
Exponent of Hindu Thought

Kanchan Gupta

Kanchan Gupta

Senior Journalist
Public Affairs Commentator

Prof. Kausik Gangopadhyay

Prof. Kausik Gangopadhyay

Economist, Professor-IIM,Kozhicode
Author

Nandini Sengupta

NANDINI SENGUPTA

Journalist and Author
Bal Sahitya Academy Puraskar Awardee

Pradeep Bhandari

Pradeep Bhandari

National Spokesperson, BJP

Dr. S. K. Manjul

Dr. S. K. Manjul

Additional Director General
Archaeological Survey of India

Lt. Gen. S L Narasimhan

Lt. Gen. S L Narasimhan

Avid China Watcher
Defense Expert

Lt. Gen. Sanjay Kulkarni

Lt. Gen. Sanjay Kulkarni

Siachen Pioneer
Former DG Infantry

Prof. Shailja Singh

Prof. Shailja Singh

Scientist, Special Center for Molecular Medicine (SCMM), JNU

Prof. Shamika Ravi

Prof. Shamika Ravi

Economist, Professor, Member–Economic Advisory Committee to PM

Shiv Aroor

Shiv Aroor

Journalist and Author
Defense & internal Security expert

Dr. Uday Kulkarni

Dr. Uday Kulkarni

Surgeon Commander Indian Navy
Historian

Dr. Vikram Sampath

Dr. Vikram Sampath

Historian, Fellow-Royal Historical Society
Founder–Foundation for Historical & Cultural Research

Adv. Vishnu Jain

Adv. Vishnu Jain

Lawyer (Advocate on Record)
Supreme Court of India

 

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