Festival Advisors

Durga & Sushila Agrawal are an Indian-American couple. Durga Agrawal is a member of the UH System Board of Regents and serves as chair on the UH’s endowment management committee. He is the founder of Piping Technology & Products Inc. The University of Houston renamed an engineering building after Agrawal and his wife, Sushila.

Hari & Anjali Agrawal moved to Houston and built their life here—family, business, and community. Their mission now is to pass on their beautiful culture to future generations, especially their daughters and grandchildren, as proud supporters of JLF.

Shazma & Arshad Matin have lived in Houston for 27 years. Arshad is the CEO of Avetta. Together, they are involved in numerous local institutions and nonprofits, including the Houston Endowment, Texas Children’s Hospital, Asia Society, Baker Institute, Daya, and the Museum of Fine Arts.

Murthy Divakaruni is a veteran management & tech consultant with 45 plus years’ experience in various US and global industries, He is the founder of Performatica LLC, a consulting company. He is closely involved with several Indo American nonprofit organizations. Chitra Divakaruni is the award-winning author of 21 books, an activist in the fields of women’s empowerment and children’s education, and a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Houston.

Arvinder Bobby Singh a resident of Houston for over 45 years, has been actively involved in several social, charity and civic organizations. Currently he is on the Board of Directors of Foundation for Children Cancer Research and Support and Indian Music and Performing Arts. Previously he was President of the Indo-American Charity Foundation that supported several mainstream health, education, and hunger initiatives in the greater Houston area.

Medha & Shashank Karve have resided in the Houston area for nearly 40 years. They are strong supporters of the arts. Medha has been a docent at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston for more than a decade. Being an avid reader, Medha believes that literary culture, such as what the Jaipur Literature Festival promotes, has an important place in the community.

Rich Levy is a poet and, since 1995, executive director of Inprint, a literary organization in Houston, Texas. His collections include Why Me? and the letterpress chapbook One or Two Lights, and his poems have appeared in various publications, including Boulevard, Callaloo, The Florida Review, Gulf Coast, The Hopkins Review, Pool, The Texas Observer, and more.

Krupa Parikh has been with Inprint, a Houston based nonprofit literary arts organization, for 20 years and now serves as the organization’s Associate Director. Among her many community activities, she has served as president of the Houston chapter of Amnesty International and a commissioner for the Houston Commission on Disabilities under Mayor Annise Parker.