India non-fiction festival kicks off with book launches, discussions

The second edition of the India Non-Fiction Festival kicked off with a packed inaugural session chaired by filmmaker Kiran Rao and business writers Subroto Bagchi and Ajit Balakrishnan.
Bagchi said, “It’s heartening to see so many people here today to attend a non-fiction festival,” before joining the discussion about India and being Indian with the other two panellists.

“We’re a country with multiple identities and its difficult to think of India as one entity. But, I believe, diversity is our strength. The idea of inclusion is important,” said Rao.

Balakrishnan said, “In the new India, education is re-defining who constitutes the elites.”

Four books were released on the first day of the festival. The New Clash of Civilizations: How the Contest Between America, China, India and Islam will Shape Our Century by Minhaz Merchant; Idlis, Orchid and Will Power by Vithal Kamat; and Konjo the Fighting Spirit — a rip-roaring account of a career in the ad world by renowned adman Sandeep Goyal.

Merchant underlined how India was a power waiting to be unleashed. “We have suffered repeated setbacks because of those in power,” he charged and cited the last decade as an example. “The rapid decline over the last 10 years is to do with creating a duality where those who wield power have no accountability, those who are held accountable have no power to do anything.”

He said the Chinese incursions or the more recent Khobragade imbroglio in the US are all the result of a weakened India. “If India can stand up to the US over something as simple as the Khobragade episode, why hasn’t the UPA government stood up to Pakistan?” he asked and rubbished the argument that a nuclearised Pakistan made India wary.

“They already had nuclear weapons for a year and a half when India responded to the attack on our Parliament. But that didn’t make the then NDA government shy from taking a tough stand.” He, however, felt using the US and Japan to counter the Chinese was a good move. “In a world where everyone is looking at their own interests, why shouldn’t India do so?” he asked.

Kamat, the entrepreneur who moved from a single, family-style restaurant to create a chain known across the nation, had the audience charmed with his grass-root humour and style.

“You have to dream big and be willing to think out of the box to achieve your dream,” he said.