Overview
- Day 1 began with a welcome by festival director Sumita Misra and an inaugural address by Madhav Kaushik, president of the Rashtriya Sahitya Akademi.
- The program featured Prahlad Kakkar on advertising, followed by a democracy discussion with Shahid Siddiqui, Rasheed Kidwai and Neerja Chowdhury in conversation with Ramesh Vinayak.
- A Bangladesh-focused session with Deep Halder and Rami Desai launched Halder’s new book, Inshallah Bangladesh.
- Further highlights included the releases of The Silent Brave by Mehak Grover and The Legend of Sanjhi-Giri by Manju Jaidka, a conversation with Sandhya Mridul, and an evening Bharatanatyam presentation at Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan.
- A Friday curtain-raiser showcased ‘Saaz Au Awaaz’ with Sufi singer Bhuvan Sharma, while Sunday’s finale is scheduled to feature IPS author Amit Lodha and the CLF Literati Awards 2025.