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
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
Architect/Urban Designer
Amateur Historian, Fellow FIHCR
Prof. Aloke Kumar
Scientist IISc
Science communicator
Ami Ganatra
Author
Prof. Anand Ranganathan
Scientist SCMM
Author, Political Commentator
Aravindan Neelakandan
Contributing Editor, Swarajya
Author
Deep Halder
Journalist
Author
Harsha Vardhini
Co-Founder at Vizzhy and Hanooman (SML)
Jataayu
Tamizh Scholar
Exponent of Hindu Thought
Kanchan Gupta
Senior Journalist
Public Affairs Commentator
Prof. Kausik Gangopadhyay
Economist, Professor-IIM,Kozhicode
Author
NANDINI SENGUPTA
Journalist and Author
Bal Sahitya Academy Puraskar Awardee
Pradeep Bhandari
National Spokesperson, BJP
Dr. S. K. Manjul
Additional Director General
Archaeological Survey of India
Lt. Gen. S L Narasimhan
Avid China Watcher
Defense Expert
Lt. Gen. Sanjay Kulkarni
Siachen Pioneer
Former DG Infantry
Prof. Shailja Singh
Scientist, Special Center for Molecular Medicine (SCMM), JNU
Prof. Shamika Ravi
Economist, Professor, Member–Economic Advisory Committee to PM
Shiv Aroor
Journalist and Author
Defense & internal Security expert
Dr. Uday Kulkarni
Surgeon Commander Indian Navy
Historian
Dr. Vikram Sampath
Historian, Fellow-Royal Historical Society
Founder–Foundation for Historical & Cultural Research
Adv. Vishnu Jain
Lawyer (Advocate on Record)
Supreme Court of India
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