"Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit"
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Kumaon Literary Festival 23 to 27 Oct 2015



The Kumaon Literary Festival 2015 will bring together authors, cinema and media personalities, political commentators, thought leaders and opinion makers of the country to ideate and draw upon each other's ideas. It will simutaneously reach out to children and young adults to engage them and inculcate the reading habit.

Kumaon Literary Festival is a new initiative born of dreams asking to be fulfilled. Designed to take you away from the city adrenaline rush, return to nature's moods and pace, KLF will bring together celebrated authors, thought leaders and opinion makers at Dhanachuli, an enchanting village amidst fruit orchards, with awe-inspiring Himalayan views, in an area where people still have the power to believe.

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Kumaon Literary Festival
Festival Schedule
Speakers at Festival
Te Aroha

Te Aroha The festival is conceptualised as an innovative and unusual event where enriching discussions will be held over 5 days in an inspiring environment. Sumant Batra, corporate lawyer, and founder of the initiative says, "KLF is deep in content, high in profile and experiential in format".

In the Skanda Puranas, the region of current Kumaon is referred to as Manas Khand. Known as Kurmanchal, the land of the Kurma avatar of Lord Vishnu, the current name of Kumaon was a later derivative. There is an intangible bond between the area and literature, shared by writers and poets who belong here or have adopted it as home, inspired to live and write here. Kumaon Literary Festival is as much a celebration of literature as it is of the region, inextricably intertwined as they are.

The plan is that KLF will bring together authors, cinema and media personalities, political commentators, thought leaders and opinion makers of the country for a literary festival to ideate and draw upon each other's ideas. Centred at Te Aroha, a boutique resort in Dhanachuli, from 23-27 October 2015, it is hoped that the festival will grow organically and be an annual event that will be yet another pride of Kumaon. On the last days, the festival will travel to Nainital where events will be held at Abbotsford, a vintage summer house converted into a boutique home stay.

On the advisory board of KLF are known names from journalism and publishing, writers, novelists and poets: Barkha Dutt, Consulting Editor with NDTV; Anuj Bahri, CEO, BAHRISONS bookstores & Principal Agent, Red Ink Literary Agency; Geet Chaturvedi and Geetanjai Shree, both of whom are Hindi poets and novelists; social commentator Santosh Desai, Sunder Chand Thakur , Resident Editor of Navbharat Times, Mumbai, and writers Zafar Anjum, Priya Kapoor and Sudeep Sen.

Sumant Batra, says, "Caged birds must be set free. Untold stories must be told. Books, existing, as well as those that are work-in-progress, must be celebrated, for they are the stories of the writers, thinkers, and artists, who are the influencers of our society." Because literature for children and young adults doesn't get the attention it deserves, KLF will simultaneously reach out to children and young adults to engage them, with the belief that reading 'good' and 'responsibly written' books, as well as reading the classics, is an important habit to inculcate from a very young age.

Who knows what the manifestation of the dream will grow to become? If the idea resonates with something deep within, check out: Kumaon Literary Festival

Hope to see you there!



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Editor: Romola Butalia       (c) India Travelogue. All rights reserved.