Day 2 at Vedanta Presents Jaipur Literature Festival 2025 in Association with Maruti Suzuki, powered by Vida: A Celebration of History, Culture, and Thought-Provoking Conversations
Some highlights of the day include:
The sessions on the 2nd day of the Vedanta Presents Jaipur Literature Festival 2025 in association with Maruti Suzuki and powered by Vida featured an acclaimed line-up of speakers, including Tina Brown, M. K. Raina, Ila Arun, Deepa Malik, Pankaj Mishra, Malashri Lal, Kailash Kher, Kal Penn, Edward Wong, Prajakta Koli, and David Walliams. A range of fascinating ideas were discussed in the sessions, including conversations on Democracy and Equality, Geopolitics, Biographies and Memoirs, History and Culture, and more, offering something for all.
The opening day, January 30th, featured a session presented by the Holberg Prize, called The Swerve Revisited: How the World Became Modern, that had acclaimed American literary historian and writer Stephen Greenblatt in conversation with William Dalrymple, and was introduced by Jørgen Sejersted “India is increasingly important globally in terms of academic excellence, intellectual labour and serious and meticulous scholarship within the humanities, social sciences, law and theology. For this reason, the Holberg Prize has chosen to prioritise India in our ambition to become both more well-known and more relevant outside the context of Europe and North America,” said Professor Sejersted, Chair of the Holberg Board.
The first day closed with ‘The Golden Road’ in which Festival Co-director, award-winning author and historian William Dalrymple was introduced by Anirudh Kanisetti at the Front Lawn to packed audiences. Dalrymple deftly unpacked India’s contribution to global trade and civilisation by focusing on three topics: the influence of Buddhism, Hindu ideas and architecture, and Indian mathematical discovery. Dalrymple said, “To this day, go anywhere outside this country and while everyone will know the stories of Pythagoras or Archimedes, no one outside this country has heard of Aryabhatta or Brahmagupta.” He further remarked, “Through successive ages, the record of India in cultural and economic influence has been underrated, underplayed, and to date its contributions remain unknown…In the early centuries, it was India, not China, that was the centre of major international trade. The major centre of ideas and philosophies radiated out first over Asia and then over the wider world.”
The second day opened with ‘The Palace Papers’ with well-known journalist, magazine editor, columnist and broadcaster Tina Brown in conversation with publisher Chiki Sarkar. Brown commented, “I think it’s a fate worse than death to be a royal!” “A lot of the fascination [with the royal family] is the sort of really intriguing human dilemma of being a human being sort of trapped in an institution.” “The monarchy has become more important (in the context) of the more shabby and second-rate political culture…”
In a session, presented by European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) and the Austrian Embassy, Gabriela Ruivo and Tonio Schachinger, two celebrated literary voices, discussed their journeys across genres and borders. From European Union Prize for Literature winner Ruivo’s poetic and narrative explorations in Portuguese literature to Austrian writer Schachinger’s German Book Prize-winning works, they wove stories that transcended language and place, reflecting the limitless possibilities of contemporary storytelling.
In a thought-provoking session, Vax Nation: On Health and Vaccines, presented by the US Embassy, the panel including Thomas J. Bollyky, Vanshica Kant and Guru Madhavan, looked at the role of vaccines in transforming healthcare in recent years and addressed the importance of vaccinations in our ever-changing world.
In a thought provoking session, presented by the United Nations India, on disability, titled, Bridging Barriers: Inclusivity, Accessibility and Empowerment, the panel explored various aspects of inclusivity and accessibility, D. R Mehta, Vicky Roy, Deepa Malik and Shombi Sharp were conversing with Puneeta Roy and examining the systemic barriers in healthcare, technology, and policy. D.R. Mehta is the founder of Jaipur Foot, whose innovative prosthetics have transformed millions of lives worldwide; Deepa Malik is a celebrated paralympian and former President of the Paralympic Committee of India, also the author of a recent memoir - Bring It On; and photographer Vicky Roy has created an inspiring photo campaign showcases the lives of individuals with disability in India; and Shombi Sharp, is the UN Resident Coordinator of India. “Two-thirds of India’s cities are yet to be built, so if India gets smart cities right, inclusive cities right, this could be an amazing example for the world on how to build forward sustainably and with inclusion.” “I noticed that people always saw photographs of disabled people with sympathy. I wanted to break that pattern by photographing people in their homes and everyday lives instead of focusing on their disability,” said Vicky Roy.
Beloved content creator and actor Prajakta Koli spoke about her debut novel, Too Good to Be True with Priyanka Khanna, the celebrated YouTuber talked about the heartwarming romance, love, trust, and other stories we tell ourselves—both on and off the page. Koli spoke fondly of her audience, calling them her biggest cheerleaders and most honest critics, whose support and feedback push her to grow as a writer—before excitingly announcing the sequel to Too Good to Be True.
As part of the Festival’s FIRST EDITION Book Launches, there was the launch of The Whispering Mountains: Himalayan Folktales and Folklore, a gorgeously illustrated collection of timeless folktales from different parts of the Himalayas co-written by Festival Co-director and award-winning writer Namita Gokhale and academic and writer Malashri Lal, “A line I read many years ago has remained with me over the years, to quote ‘To become truly mature is to return the sense of earnestness of the child at play’, there is a child at play here in all these stories and working on these folktales was a return to innocence for me… I know these stories will find resonance outside the pages of this book and they will be told and retold across new media emerging platforms and continue to be read out by grandparents to their grandchildren,” remarked Gokhale.
Also among the launches was a book by iconic musician Kailash Kher - Teri Diwani: Shabdon Ke Paar. A belief in cosmic energies and unwavering dedication to the divine, culminated into spiritual aphorisms has always made Kailash Kher’s music stand out in a sea of commercially produced music. Kher fondly spoke of his journey, as a passionate lover of music, remembering his days as a worker in a printing press and as a truck driver. Audiences at the Festival got a pleasant surprise as the author Kher broke into song at the end of his session. The session also announced the dates of the second edition of the Jaigarh Heritage Festival at the historic Jaigarh Fort. Produced by Teamwork Arts, in partnership with the Royal Family of Jaipur, Jaigarh Heritage Festival will be celebrated from 5-7 December and will be a melange of music, workshops, crafts, conversations, food and more.
The session ‘New America’ with Thomas J. Bollyky, Kal Penn, Edward Wong and Ijeoma Oluo in conversation with Sree Sreenivasan, saw a wide range of perspectives, including insiders from the Obama administration, New York Times political analysts, to best-selling writers on race in America. The panel discussed political, health and environmental factors entering the new Trump administration. The panellists voiced their opinions on immigration crackdowns and the impact of migrants within the country. As the United States moves forward into a new era of foreign policy, women’s health, education and economics, the speakers offered hope that marginalized groups will continue to persist.
Day 3 of the Festival will be back tomorrow at the expansive premises of the Clarks Amer Hotel with another tranche of transformational dialogues, uplifting ideas, and change-inspiring books.
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