Author: TheSeer Team

Voyage of Words – Translators Set Sail

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Mini Krishnan, a well-known publisher, drove the session with Kannan Sundaram, a publisher in Tamil and MS Asha Devi and Subhashree Krishnaswamy, prominent literary translators to emphasize the dynamics and challenges of the literary translation, an art that often goes unacknowledged. The translators discussed theoretical and practical aspects of their translation experience, and critical statements on the extent, quality, consistency, and impact of the translator’s work. The publishers shared their views on choosing the right books to publish.

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Antara Gange

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Women who have been through the toughest of times that life has thrown at them, Indira Lankesh and Dr. Vijaya opened in this interaction with M S Asha Devi about what makes them the strong women they are. Indira Lankesh is the wife of Late P Lankesh and author of , ‘Sour Mango and I’ (autobiography), and Dr. Vijaya, the first woman journalist in Kannada, was the one who brought the International Film Festival to Bangalore.  She also launched the intellectual magazine for women, ‘Namma Manasa’. M S Asha Devi, a feminist writer elicits the working of the minds of these women who embodied strength.

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History of the Kannada Script and Language

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Pulling in a 1600-year timeline of the evolution of a language so dear to its folk in its homeland into a half an hour slot is a task that could very well be passed off as a herculean task. Yet, Dr S. Settar brought in the history of Kannada, with the clearest of details with ease. Dr Settar is a prolific writer in two languages- English and Kannada- and his themes pan across languages, art-history, religions, and the likes.

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This Is My Story

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Good writing or Good marketing? Ask Savi Sharma & Varun Agarwal.The session had both Savi Sharma and Varun Agarwal and was a treat not to be missed. Ying and Yang, they definitely do not fall under the same stars. Savi Sharma, India’s first successful female self-published author navigated the audience through the journey of her success. It was astonishing to hear about her writing flight which started through Facebook and ended in Amazon.

Her love of writing took Savi Sharma from her C.A. pursuit. The first novel she wrote took about 4 years to complete and was discarded by her as it did not feel right. Ironically. her second book, ‘Everyone has a story’ took about just 3 months, and that is now the sensation. In the session, Savi Sharma’s love for writing and her belief that good content can always garner an audience was evident. It was a juxtaposition to what Mr Varun Agarwal of Anu Aunty fame felt.

Varun Agarwal’s claim that anyone can become an author if they can pen down 60,000 words might have raised some eyebrows in the audience. But he charmed the audience when he himself admitted that his debut novel, How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-founded a Million Dollar Company’ required quite many spell checks and was grammatically wailing. After all, who doesn’t love self- depreciation?

The importance of marketing was stressed upon by both the authors. However both the authors had different views on the same. While Savi Sharma admits that it is a necessary evil, Varun Agarwal expressed that marketing is what that can make or break a book. It was quite inspiring to hear how Savi Sharma used social media to market her book by posting quotes and extracts from her book. This eventually garnered her enough audience that she felt quite confident to sell her books on Amazon.

The session thus provided the aspiring authors’ different takes on the path to success.

About the Author – Vibhuthi Viswanathan is a Potterhead and chocoholic.Curling up with the ‘Balabhumi’ and spinning out tales from its illustrations to her little brother was her first interactions with a book. Although she has moved on from good old BalaBhumi, she still hasn’t stopped twirling words and pauses. She currently writes for Bookstalkist.

Death by Litigation – The Perils of Business Reporting

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Paranjoy Guha Thakurta – a leading Indian journalist and a political analyst, quite amusingly quoted the abbreviation ‘SLAPP’, as if it were one of his favourite jargons from the Oxford dictionary. For a journalist like Guha, SLAPP or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation is no fun actually. Now globally prevalent, it is a lawsuit that is intended to silence and even harass critics, to the point when they withdraw their voice of dissent. Lawsuits come with burgeoning legal costs and journalists often have to fight them with their own money and this can take years in the court. To add, a journalist can also lose his or her job while all this happens. Continue reading “Death by Litigation – The Perils of Business Reporting” →

Writing Workshop

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Creative writing, that many would love to hone, brings in a certain kind of joy, and pride to the writer. Rajorshi Chakraborti’s session on a breezy Sunday morning was packed with exercises that not only helped budding writers develop skills but also experienced writers go back to the basics. Chakraborti was born in Kolkata and grew up in Mumbai. He currently lives in Wellington, New Zealand. He is the author of 4 books, two of which have been nominated in different categories for the Crossword Book Award. The fifth one is due in Australia and New Zealand in March 2018, and is titled ‘The Man Who Would Not See’.

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RBI, Government & Individuals: It’s Complicated

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While most expect a dry little discussion when it comes to economics or the Reserve Bank of India, the session with MS Sriram, YV Reddy, and TCS Srinivasa Raghavan broke all those assumptions hands down! With wit, humour, and extensive knowledge coming together, 45 minutes flew by in a bunch of laughs, and many, many head nods. YV Reddy served as the Governor of the RBI between September 2003 and 2008 and has also held various positions of high importance. He is also an eminent writer on economic issues, with his latest book being ‘Advice & Dissent: My Life in Public Service’. TCS Srinivasa Raghavan’s experience is also extremely vast. He’s the General Editor of RBI History, VOLUME 3, and a Consultant to RBI History, Volume 4.
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The Way I see It

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It has been barely two months since the journalist Gauri Lankesh died. Yet her murder still sends chills down our spines when we think of it. Gauri Lankesh was shot in cold blood by unknown assailants, presumably for taking on religious fundamentalists. In the spirit of remembering and celebrating all she stood for, ‘The Way I see It—A Gauri Lankesh Reader’ was launched at the Bangalore Literature Festival today. ‘The Way I see It—A Gauri Lankesh Reader’ is a compilation of her writings. The book has been edited by Chandan Gowda, and the foreword has been written by Paul Zacharia.

Chandan Gowda, Paul Zacharia, and Kanhaiya Kumar launched ‘The Way I see It—A Gauri Lankesh Reader.’ Each of them received a copy of the book from Gauri Lankesh’s mother, Mrs Indira Lankesh. Seeing her fight tears while presenting a copy of the book to each panelist was a painful sight to behold.

Chandan Gowda gave everyone a small brief about the book’s contents, which consists of her early essays and news articles. Then Paul Zacharia reminded us of the inclement conditions that journalists have to face while reporting the truth. Gauri paid with her life for being a decent human being. If such is the state of modern Indian society, then the India where one could be fearless is gone.

However, it was Kanhaiya Kumar’s rousing tribute to Gauri Lankesh that touched minds and hearts. Kanhaiya Kumar confessed that he had been approached to write for the book, but couldn’t because he found it extremely difficult, to sum up his friendship with Gauri Lankesh in a few words. It was Gauri who had been a genuine friend during the hard days he had faced in jail. Gauri had nurtured him and cared for him like a mother, and she often visited him in jail.

According to Kanhaiya, she was extremely dedicated to her work, yet happy and free-spirited. She loved her family and had deep respect for her parents. Kanhaiya was particularly touched by her acknowledgement of her mother’s contribution towards her upbringing.

Gauri was a journalist with great integrity. Her newspaper did not have any advertisements— such was her commitment to quality and impartiality. She was critical of various political ideologies, yet accommodative towards them at the same time. When asked if she was afraid, Gauri told Kanhaiya, “If my fear of death increases, my will to fight decreases.” Such was the strength of her fighting spirit

Kanhaiya urged us to keep Gauri’s memory alive by taking the fight forwards and being courageous. He urged us to derive strength for taking on the establishment, from our love and grief.

About the Author – Madhumati is an avid reader who dabbles in poetry every now and then.Her poems can be found at It Can get Verse. She currently writes for Bookstalkist.

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