Speakers & Performers

Uday Bhawalkar is among the foremost Dhrupad vocalists and has been a strong force in its growing recognition, popularity and resurgence, worldwide. Uday believes that when immersed in the note and raga, the self disappears and music takes on its own existence; the principle of ‘darshan’ in Indian philosophy.

Romola Butalia is a writer, journalist, environmentalist and a practitioner in the traditions of the Himalayan yogis. 

As a media person she worked in print, visual and digital media. She is the Editor of India Travelogue, a website that was started in 1997. She is co-founder of Save Kumaon,  which supports initiatives to preserve, protect, foster and rejuvenate the natural ecology, traditions, culture and spiritual heritage of the Himalaya and creates environmental and ecological awareness and promotes sustainability.

Her first book In the Presence of the Masters traces her early encounters with Himalayan yogis and different sant-mahatmas. Sri Babaji Immortal Yogi of the Himalaya takes us to the tapasya sthals of Kumaon talking with, and about, well-known and loved yogis of the Kumaon Himalaya. Her essay on the Siddha Traditions in Namita Gokhale's Mystics and Sceptics In Search of Himalayan Masters takes us on an experiential journey through the meditative practices of the Siddha Traditions. We learn about the transformative role of the chimta and dhuni in the custody of the knowledge holders of these ancient and sacred traditions. 

Her search for wisdom and joy led to a continuing tryst with the Himalaya where she lives a mostly reclusive life.

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Sunita Pant Bansal’s forte is demystifying Hindu scriptures to show their relevance and application in today’s times. She explores and reinterprets the timelessness of characters from the epics and foundational texts in her stories, seamlessly blending mythology and history with real life. 

Sunita has authored 27 books for adults and young adults decoding the philosophy of mythology and over 100 books for children on folk literature and scriptures. Her books sell in multiple languages globally. Not limiting herself to only books, Sunita has also dabbled in writing articles, columns & stories, creating jigsaw puzzles & board games, and producing short films.

In her long and illustrious career path spanning four decades, Sunita has also headed publishing houses, founded-edited newspapers and magazines for readers in India as well as in the US and UK. She has worked with giants like Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Pearson Education, The Times of India, Hindustan Times and ABP Group of newspapers and magazines. 

Lalit Pande is an Indian social worker, environmentalist and the founder of Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Environmental Education Centre, a non governmental organization promoting environmental education in the hilly areas of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Under the aegis of the organization, Pande is known to have introduced community educational programmes focused on environment and development and supported over 200 community based organizations in the state. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for his contributions to environmental education.

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Dr Vasudha Pant is the Founder-Trustee and Secretary of the Greenhills Trust, Almora. She is an agricultural scientist by training and an environmentalist by profession.

An alumnus of Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, New Delhi, Queeny Pradhan is a professor of History at GGS Indraprastha University, New Delhi. She teaches Indian History, Legal History, and Women in History. She was awarded the doctoral scholarship from Teen Murti Memorial Fund. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. She was also an ICCR Visiting Professor at the University of Vienna. She has authored a book, Empire in the Hills: Simla, Darjeeling, Ootacamund and Mount Abu, 1820-1920, OUP in 2017. She has also co-edited a volume, Identities in South Asia: Conflicts and Assertions, Routledge, 2019. Presently, she is the Dean of the University School of Law and Legal Studies, GGSIP University.

Dr O. C. Handa is a well-known connoisseur of art and culture. Having been in the field now for half a century, he is an outstanding scholar of history and archaeology of the Himalayan region. Dr. Handa has authored thirty-one books on art, history, archaeology and culture of the Himalayan region and edited several books. Besides, he has written many research papers for various national and international journals, and contributed to the Encyclopaedia of Hinduism.

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Apart from being a known writer from Jaipur, Krishna Kalpit has also done teaching and journalism. He retired from the post of Additional Director General (Policy) from Doordarshan Directorate General in 2017 after working at various centers of All India Radio and Doordarshan. He was the all India coordinator of 'Bharat-Bharti Kavita-Yatra' against communalism (1992). He has done translations of poetry and stories in many Indian languages including English. He has also been honoured with many awards including 'Niranjannath Acharya Samman' and 'Major Ramprasad Poddar Samman'.

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Dinesh Kandpal has been active in electronic media for the last 20 years including India TV, News Express, S-1 and ETV, All India Radio's Yuvvani and Foreign Broadcasting Service. In his career of journalism, from anchor, reporter to program making, he has kept a close watch on the matters related to defence. The documentary on the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 has been watched by more than 12 lakh people. The documentary on the young inmates of Tihar Jail was nominated for the All India Radio Annual Award in 1999. Moreover, his most popular book - Parakram is one of the presentations of the valor of Indian soldiers.

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Meet Threesh Kapoor! Born in Almora, he is a photographer, philanthropist, mountaineer and an entrepreneur. Apart from contributing photographs for over 28 books, he’s also a social worker. He was honoured with ‘Life Time Achievement Award’ by Lucknow Camera Club in 2007, for his valuable contribution to the art of photography. 

Anup Sah, the wildlife photographer from Nainital is also a Padma Shree awardee. He is also an accomplished mountaineer, beekeeper, mushroom expert and heads Nainital Mountaineering Club (NTMC) that grooms young mountaineers. He has captured thousands of pictures capturing Himalayan Life over the past five decades.

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Meet Ashok Kumar! He is a 1989 batch Indian Police Service officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, who is currently serving as the 11th Director General of Uttarakhand Police. He is the author of the famous book ‘Human in Khaki’ (खाकी में इंसान)– The Book has been translated in to Bengali, Gujarati & Marathi also. The Book has been awarded ‘Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant’ Award by Bureau of Police Research and Development, MHA. He has also authored three other books titled "Challenges to Internal Security of India", "Cracking Civil Services The open secret" and "Ethics for Civil Services". His latest book, “Cyber Encounters” delves deep into this nebulous cyberspace, to bring twelve fascinating accounts of cybercrime. In addition, all his books are available in both English and Hindi! 

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Samrat Pandit is an exponent of Patiala Gharana, a school of Hindustani classical vocal music. As a regular artist on All India Radio, he has been praised for his command on Khayal and Thumri.

Meet Dr. Basanti Bisht! Her journey is really an unbelievable tale. Winner of the Padma Shri in 2017, she started singing only in her thirties, and later started the arduous task of digging out old folk lyrics and tunes from the older generation. Also famous for being the first woman singer of the Jagar folk-form of Uttarakhand, she is known for nurturing the traditions purely and authentically! 

Himanshu Bajpai is a storyteller, author and journalist. He writes about the society and culture of the city of Lucknow. He is a well-known artist of Daastangoi – the medieval form of oral storytelling in Urdu.

Dr. Sriparna Pathak is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Admissions at the Jindal School of International Affairs of O.P. Jindal Global University. Dr. Pathak is fluent in English, Mandarin and Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali and Assamese. She has been a recipient of the joint fellowship awarded by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, India and the China Scholarship Council, Government of the People’s Republic of China. 

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Dr. Anil Joshi, a retired professor and former Head of the Department of History & Dean of the Faculty of Arts at SSJ University, Almora. With 43 years of exceptional teaching experience, he specializes in modern and colonial period history. He has successfully guided 12 Ph.D. scholars in their research pursuits.

Siddharth Warrier is a Mumbai – based doctor and neurologist. He studied medicine in Grant medical college, Mumbai, and holds an MD Medicine degree from Seth GS and KEM hospital, Mumbai. He completed his DM Neurology course in SGPGI Hospital, Lucknow. He has completed his MRCP UK degree from London.
On his YouTube channel, he explores science, mental health and human behaviour, bringing neuroscience to the mainstream conversation, destigmatizing mental health and facilitating conversations on behaviour change, mindfulness and learning.

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Ashok Vajpeyi is an eminent Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, literary-cultural critic, apart from being a noted cultural and arts administrator, and a former civil servant. He was chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi India's National Academy of Arts, Ministry of Culture, Govt of India, 2008–2011.

Manisha Kulshreshtha is a known Hindi novelist and has written six well received novels and eight short story collections. Her latest novel Mallika is a bestseller and it has been already signed for a film series by a renowned production group of Bollywood. Some of her most popular works are Shigaf, Shalbhanjika and Panchkanya. Her work has also been published in many Indian and Foreign languages.

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Ira Pande started her career as a University lecturer and later started writing and editing in various capacities. She worked as the Managing Editor of Dorling-Kindersley, as Chief Editor of Roli Books, and as the Chief Editor of the Publications Division of the India International Centre. Her book on her mother, the famous Hindi writer Shivani, was published by Penguin-India in 2005. Her latest work, another translation - Amader Shantiniketan, is a memoir on Tagore's famous Ashram by her mother Shivani. She also writes a regular column for the Tribune.

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Vivek Sachdeva! He is a professor at the University School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India. Apart from being a translator, he is the author of books like Fiction to Film: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's The Householder and Heat and Dust; he also co-edited Identities in South Asia: Conflicts and Assertions.

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Kalyan Mankoti! He is an English teacher at NSW, Department of Education, Almora. He has helped and made eduction available to children during the pandemic. Till date, the kids learn a lot from each other and Kalyan Mankoti’s effort today symbolises integrity and brings together various people to achieve a common purpose. For him, inspiring change is more important than merely imparting knowledge. 

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Meet Nilotpal Mrinal! He is an Indian author, poet, socio-political activist and social media influencer. He is known for his books Dark Horse, Aughad and upcoming novel Yaar Jadugar. In 2016, he was awarded India's Sahitya Akademi Award.

Ambar Kharbanda is an Urdu poet and writer who seeks expression through Urdu Ghazal poetry. Being a poet of many moods, his writings bring novel meanings to the reader in addition to which, many of them have also been adapted as songs! 

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Afzal Manglori is an Urdu poet and a lecturer from Roorkie, Uttarakhand. Apart from being the Vice Chairman of the Uttarakhand Urdu Academy, he also runs a YouTube channel. His Mehfils are one for the books and bring out the best of Urdu Poetry. 

Dr. Rahul Awasthi works for communal harmony, nation-building, awakening of youth-consciousness and environment-protection, is an expose of anti-social conspiracies. His poetry openly challenges the forces that break the country. He is a modern inspiration-symbol for the youth. One of his collections, 'Hume Tum Gungunaoge' has been published by Niharikanjali Publication, Kanpur on behalf of All India Sarvabhasha-Culture Coordination Committee.

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Priyadarshan is a renowned writer and journalist at NDTV India. He is a visionary with various collections of stories, translations and articles. He has done the translations for 7 books in addition to authoring 17 books. He won the Delhi Hindi Academy’s award for TV Journalism in 2015 as well! 

Himanshu Joshi is a renowned singer, music composer, poet, writer, photographer and a filmmaker. Influenced by folk theatre and music, he started training in Hindustani classical music at a very young age. He is the lead singer of Indian Ocean, one of India's most popular bands, known for its unique compositions. His remarkable talents include poetry and story-writing with Hindi as his language of creative expression.

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Ranu Uniyal is a university professor and a poet, whose work has been translated into several languages. Her two volumes of poetry – Across the Divide and December Poems offer an experience that is thoughtful and meditative. She’s also one of the strongest women poetic voices of contemporary writings in Indian English. Her poetry is a feminine voice of strong protests against the patriarchal domination and domestic and marital violence. 

Shrawan Sharma! He is a professor of English at Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar. He’s also a Ph.D supervisor, researcher and above all a learner! His research interests include Indian and Western Dalit Aesthetics, Modern Poetry and Drama in English (Indian and Canadian) 19th Century British Poetry. 

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Madhu Raghavendra! He is a Guwahati-based poet, curator and founder of Poetry Couture, a movement that has created free spaces for poetry in many cities of India, including the North East. He has authored four books of poetry Make Me Some Love To Eat, Stick No Bills, and Being Non-essential and Going Home.

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Deepak Ramola, the visionary Founder and Artistic Director of Project FUEL. A TED talk luminary, UN Action Plan Executor, and UNESCO MGIEP's Kindness Ambassador. He is a multi-talented artist, excelling as a lyricist, storyteller, poet, and writer. His latest book, "50 Toughest Questions of Life," achieved a reprint just two weeks after its release.

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Bhaskar Bhauryal is engaged in conservation and promotion along with folk songs, folk culture and folk instruments. He has an equal contribution in the upliftment of Kumaoni language. In addition to which he is a great painter and an artist as well. His contribution to cultural traditions through programs have also been presented on Doordarshan and have been honored on many forums.