Program

Award-winning chef Anita Jaisinghani's cookbook Masala: Recipes from India, the Land of Spices, is an ode to India's rich culinary history. In a session that evokes food, memory and a platter of cuisines, Jaisinghani - chef and founder of the famed Pondicheri restaurant in Houston - pays homage to the wisdom and techniques of Indian cooking.

In a session of music and spirituality, author, classical singer and historian Dr. Reba Som takes us on a melodic journey through Vivekananda's life and also speaks of one of his most cherished disciples, Margaret Noble, known to the world as Sister Nivedita. A chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda's pathbreaking speech at the World's Parliament of Religions in 1893 introduced Hinduism to America.

As the world teeters on the edge of economic and environmental collapse, geopolitical compulsions and political hubris script further disasters. A thoughtful session that searches for direction and hope amidst the pervading chaos of a tense present.

Internationally acclaimed performers, composers, cultural entrepreneurs and music educators Pandit Shubhendra Rao and Cello Virtuoso Saskia Rao-de Haas carry Indian music towards new horizons with their strong belief in the unifying power of music. Their effortless musical communication and improvisation is a joyful experience for listeners who are spellbound by the energy and freshness that they bring to their performance.

A session that explores the intangibles of memory and the texture of lived life through the writing of Chitra Divakaruni. Divakaruni is an award-winning writer, activist and teacher, and the author of books such as Mistress of Spices, Sister of My Heart, Before We Visit the Goddess, Palace of Illusions, The Forest of Enchantments, and most recently, The Last Queen. In conversation with academic and writer Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan, Divakaruni gives us a peek into the many words, legacies and memories that have formed her writing practice.

A session spanning continents, looking at the repercussions of climate change and the misuse of water. Varsha Bajaj's recent book, Thirst, is a poignant take on class, wealth and equity around the disparity of water in the suburbs of Mumbai, India. In conversation with writer and civic leader Andrea White, Bajaj discusses the asymmetrical patterns of resource access in a parched world.

Two celebrated poets take us on a journey through their work in a session of reading, poetry and prose.Award-winning poet, translator, and art historian Roberto Tejada's powerful poetry collection, Why the Assembly Disbanded, pushes the boundaries of Latinx literature and masterfully relates the ravages of white supremacy with immigrant precarity and the question of home. Celebrated Indian poet and author Arundhathi Subramaniam's poetry collection, Love Without a Story, celebrates an expanding kinship of passion and friendship, mythic quest and modern-day longing in a world animated by dialogue and dissent, delirium and silence.

Mathematician and novelist Manil Suri's latest book, The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Math, embarks on a mathematical origin story spanning the universe. An inspired and insightful journey through the fundamental mathematical concepts that form the cornerstones of our existence, Suri's visionary work takes us on a riveting journey to infinity and beyond. In conversation with Maya Kanwal.

Two writers examine literary journeys, involving both their motherland, India and other worlds. Naheed Phiroze Patel’s latest book, Mirror Made of Rain, is a devastating coming-of-age novel about the wounds of inherited trauma. Sonal Kohli's book, The House Next to the Factory, charts three decades of a 'rising' India. In conversation with Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan, they take us on a journey through the stories, memories and histories through which their work navigates.

Celebrated art critic and curator Gayatri Sinha's latest edited books Points of View: Defining Moment of Photograph in India and The Archival Gaze: A Timeline of Photography in India 1840s-2020 take a deep dive into the technological changes and aesthetic movements in photography across the Indian subcontinent. Focusing on archival and visual elements, the collections provide a much-needed kaleidoscopic lens on photography in colonial and post-colonial India. Artist, writer, curator Steven Evans is the Executive Director of FotoFest International.

This is an important conversation in which Dalit activist Guru Prakash Paswan discusses the wounds of history and the processes of restorative justice. His co-authored book, Makers of Modern Dalit History, features the inspiring accounts of individuals who battled the divisive, discriminatory force of caste - their forms of protest, activism, social reform, and legacy - in contemporary India. Paswan is in conversation with political commentator and writer Sunanda Vashisht.