Speakers - 2026
Smita Agarwal is an Indian English poet. She is the author of three collections of poems: Wish-granting Words (Ravi Dayal, 2002), Mofussil Notebook (Brown Critique/Sampark, 2016), and Speak, Woman! (Red River, 2021), which has been shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Prize, 2025. She is the editor of Marginalized: Indian Poetry in English (Rodopi, 2014). She is a trained singer who has performed on radio, television and various government sponsored cultural festivals. Her songs are available on YouTube. @smita251158
Landour-born Surbhi Agarwal is an Independent Art and History Researcher, Curator, Designer, Collector, Antiquarian, Social Entrepreneur, Social Activist, and Environmental enthusiast. She runs the Mussoorie Heritage Centre, VR Landour Art Space, Landour Lecture Series and is the Co-convenor of INTACH Mussoorie Chapter. She is a co-organizer of the Landour Literature and Arts Festival. @mussoorieheritagecentre.
Jamie Alter is a sports journalist, actor, author and YouTuber who has covered multiple cricket World Cups and other major sporting events while working with ESPNcricinfo, Cricbuzz, Network18, the Zee Group and as Digital Sports Editor of the Times of India. He has written two books on cricket and has been a columnist for several Indian and international publications. As an actor, he has featured in Indian web series for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and SonyLIV and as well as Hindi and regional language films. @jamie.alter
Stephen Alter is the author of more than 25 books of fiction and non-fiction. He was born in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, and much of his writing focuses on the Himalaya. His books have received various prizes, including the Banff Mountain Book Award, the Kekoo Naoroji Award, the Green Book of the Year Award and the Radisson/Mountain Echoes Nature Writing Prize. He has written extensively on natural history, folklore and mountain culture. His most recent non-fiction book is The Fragrance of Rain: A Brief History of the Monsoon and his most recent novel is The Greatest Game: Being the Further Adventures of Kimball O’Hara. @stephen.alter.161
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M. Yousuf Ansari was born and raised in Landour. He has taught Hindi and Urdu at the Landour Language School for over 15 years, and has been teaching Hindi at Woodstock School, Mussoorie for the past 16 years. @mohammad.yusuf.77128
Martand Badoni is a contemporary-folk musician who sings and composes songs in Garhwali, Hindi, and English, and plays guitar & the Dotara (a Bengali folk instrument). Martand’s love affair with music started while growing up in Mussoorie in the early 2000s. His songs are raw, folky, and straight from the heart. @chasingfolksounds
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Narayani Basu is the bestselling author of V.P. Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India (Simon & Schuster India, 2020), Allegiance: Azaadi & the End of Empire (Fifty Two Publications, 2022) and A Man for All Seasons: The Life of K.M. Panikkar (Context, 2025). A historian and foreign policy analyst, her current area of interest focuses on highlighting the less-known but key players behind the story of Indian independence. She lives in New Delhi. @narayanibasu
Kiran Bhat is an Indian-American author, traveller, and polyglot. He is the author of we of the forsaken world, Speaking in Tongues, and Girar. He has published books in five languages, and his work has appeared in The Caravan, The Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, The Brooklyn Rail, The Colorado Review, 3:AM Magazine, Cordite Poetry Review, SOFTBLOW, and more. He won the 2026 International Writer of the Year People's Award, making him the first Indian from outside of the United Kingdom to be recognised by the British House of Commons. @originalsin_0421
Raj Bijalwan is a poet and content writer from Landour. He is the author of The Echoes of Landour: A Resonant Longing (2025), Longings of Landour (2022), and Devotion Through The Darkness (2018). His poetry explores Mussoorie, memory, and the everyday rhythms of life in the hills. He is passionate about Indian Knowledge Systems and their role in shaping place and identity. @rajbijalwan20
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Rupleena Bose is an Associate Professor of English Literature at Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi. Her acclaimed debut novel Summer of Then (Penguin Random House) was published in 2024. She has a doctorate in Urban New Wave Bangla Music of the Nineties. She has written fiction and non fiction screenplays which has shown in film festivals across the world and has won several awards including the National Film Award. She has also directed a short documentary Black Humour under the PSBT flm fellowship. She writes for The Hindu, The Hindu Blink, HT, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), Open, Biblio, The Print and others. She is currently working on her non fiction book on urban music. @rupleena
Mukti Datta has worked with the community around Uttarakhand's Binsar and Almora for many decades, including launching a livelihood enterprise for rural women, Panchachuli Women Weavers of Kumaon, where hundreds of women were taught to weave exquisite handlooms. In recent years, she helped rebuild the weavers' enterprise in Kumaon in the form of a cooperative called Himadri handlooms. Mukti also worked with Tharu women communities in the Khatima area, upgrading their skills in weaving of reed ( moonj ) grass. Currently she is based in Dehradun and has just finished writing her memoir, "In the Shadow of the Mountains".
A.M Gautam is the author of Indian Millennials: Who Are They, Really?. His fiction has appeared in prestigious anthologies like A Case of Indian Marvels, The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told, and 100 Indian Stories: A Feast of Remarkable Short Fiction from the 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries. His literary interests lie primarily in speculative fiction, cultural commentary, and personal essays. He moonlights as a columnist sometimes, and has written for Deccan Herald, Scroll, Hindustan Times, The Federal, and other publications in India and elsewhere. @ia.mgautam
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Isaac Gergan is an artist and facilitator from Ladakh and the executive director of Art for Change. After studies at Messiah College, PA (USA) and completing his BFA in Visual Arts from Emily Carr University in Vancouver, BC (Canada) Isaac moved back to his hometown Leh where he developed art programming as the Arts Officer of local arts NGO ‘Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation’ (LAMO). He has also worked as production manager at Bharti Kher Studios. Besides leading Art for Change, Isaac finds time to photograph, paint, exhibit, and publish his personal creative pursuits. @isaactsetan
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Lokesh Ghai is a researcher and design educator whose work engages with traditional Indian craft practices and underrepresented communities. He has been a resident artist at institutions including the Museum of Childhood, Gallery of Costume, Harris Museum, Tramway, and Conflictorum. In 2022, he received the Karun Thakar Research Grant from the Victoria and Albert Museum to work with the Gaddi community in the Himalayas, followed by a research grant from the India Foundation for the Arts to study the shoemakers of the Doon Valley. He is pursuing a PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University on an AHRC-funded scholarship. @ghailokesh
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Anmol Jain hails from one of Mussoorie’s oldest families, with roots in the town dating back to 1901. Deeply connected to the heritage and spirit of the hills, his work reflects both a personal and professional engagement with the region. Anmol has been contributing to prominent English dailies for more than twenty years and currently writes for The Times of India. His literary work is deeply inspired by Mussoorie and its legacy. He is the author of two acclaimed books: Wanderings in the Land of Mist: The Complete Story of Mussoorie and Ghost Stories from Mussoorie. He produced a documentary commemorating 200 years of Mussoorie, which has earned five national awards. @anmolj_75
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Siddharth Kapila is a lawyer turned writer, and the author of Tripping Down the Ganga: A Son's Exploration of Faith, which was longlisted for the Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award for Non-Fiction. He has written for The Wire, Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, among other publications. He holds a Legal Practice Course (LPC) postgraduate diploma from The University of Law, London, a BA in Law from Cardiff University, and a BA (Hons) in Economics from Delhi University. Born and raised in Delhi, he is presently based in the UK. He is currently at work on a book exploring queer love, migration, and the refugee experience. @kapila.siddharth
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Priya Kapoor is Editorial Director, Roli Books where she oversees the publishing list and the day to day functioning of the company. She has commissioned and edited bestselling books such as Dongri to Dubai by Hussain Zaidi, Taj Mahal Foxtrot by Naresh Fernandes, Black Warrant by Sunil Gupta, and Sunetra Choudhury and The RTI Story by Aruna Roy. She is also the co-founder of CMYK, India’s only chain of bookshops dedicated to art and illustrated books. She is on the Board of Woodstock School, India. @piyukapoor
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Meera Basant Kaur (formerly Cynthia Meera Frederick) is an author, historian, and seasonal resident of Mussoorie. Her forthcoming catalogue is Portrait Painters & Princes: European Artists and the Kapurthala Durbar 1879-1949. She conceived and co- wrote Prince Patron and Patriarch: Maharaja, Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala. She lectures and writes about India’s princely heritage and material culture pertaining to art, architecture, cuisine, and jewellery. She has also worked with film production teams from France, Germany, and the UK, and currently is consultant for a documentary film in development focusing on Kapurthala. @cynthiameerafrederick
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Alan Lightman is an American physicist and writer. He has served on the faculties of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was the first person at MIT to receive dual faculty appointments in science and in the humanities. He is currently professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT. Lightman is the author of numerous books, both nonfiction and fiction, including Einstein’s Dreams, an international bestseller, and The Diagnosis, a finalist for the US National Book Award in fiction. His most recent nonfiction book is The Miraculous from the Material. Lightman is the host of the public television series "SEARCHING: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science".
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Ady Manral is a bilingual singer-songwriter based in Landour, whose music and storytelling draw deeply from the mountains, nature and the rhythms of life in the hills. His latest project, Sketches from the Top of the Hills, is a visual EP and music documentary offering an intimate glimpse into his life as a musician in Landour and the landscape that continues to shape his creativity. Through music, film and storytelling, Ady hopes to inspire others to reconnect with nature and discover how that connection can nurture and elevate their own creativity. @adyindia
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Karan Madhok is a writer, journalist, and editor of The Chakkar. He is the author of MONKEY! (2026), Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis In India (2024) and A Beautiful Decay (2022), all published by the Aleph Book Company. His work has appeared in Epiphany, Sycamore Review, Gargoyle, Fifty Two, Scroll, The Plank, The Caravan, the anthology A Case of Indian Marvels and The Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English 2022. He is a co-organizer of the Landour Literature and Arts Festival. @karanmadhok
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Vivek Menezes is a widely published writer and photographer, and the co-founder and co-curator of Goa Arts + Literature Festival. He is also founding editor of The Peacock daily newspaper, columnist for the Mumbai Mirror and O Heraldo newspapers, and frequent contributor to leading publications in India and abroad. He was born in Bombay, attended high school in New York, and holds degrees from Wesleyan University and the London School of Economics. As three-time curator for the Serendipity Arts Festival, he was responsible for the large-scale group exhibitions Konkani Surrealism (2017), Panjim 175 (2018) and Mundo Goa (2019). @vmingoa
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Kishan Murena is a master shoemaker from Landour. Along with his team, he has handcrafted shoes for celebrity clients including Sachin Tendulkar, Tom Alter, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn. Kishan began his career at the age of ten, polishing shoes on Mall Road in Mussoorie, and learned shoemaking by observing his grandfather, an expert shoe repairer. After years of struggle, he opened his own shop with his brother in 1999 on Mullingar Hill.
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Ashok Pande is a Hindi writer, translator, editor, and independent researcher based in Uttarakhand. His published works include the acclaimed novel Lapoojhanna, the short-story collection Babban Carbonate, the travelogue Jitni Mitti Utna Sona, and the nonfiction work Tareekh Mein Aurat. He has translated a diverse range of international authors to Hindi, including Pablo Neruda, Gabriel García Márquez, Mahmoud Darwish, Yehuda Amichai, Fernando Pessoa, Laura Esquivel, and more. Pande has also been involved in documenting the cultural heritage of the Himalaya through research-based projects on subjects such as the Nanda Devi Raj Jat, Tibetan culture, Kumbh traditions, and the social history of Uttarakhand. @ashokpande_official
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Janhavi Prasada is a journalist, author and cultural entrepreneur based in Nainital, Uttarakhand. She is the fourth-generation custodian of Abbotsford Estate, a 150-year-old heritage homestay on the Deopatta hillside, built in 1876. She is the author of Nainital: Through Memory, Stories & History, and the founder of Himalayan Echoes, one of India's most respected mountain literary festivals. Her work across hospitality, writing and culture is united by a single conviction: The preservation of memory, place and heritage. @jprasada
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Prerna Raturi has been a journalist and now focuses on her writing and editing projects, including issues concerning the Uttarakhand and threats of climate crisis. She is a textbook example of reverse migration, after she returned to Uttarakhand after working in Delhi and Kolkata. She is also committed to her doctoral thesis on Uttarakhand folk tales. Along with Anoop Nautiyal, she has edited three volumes of Molehills and Mountains, a book documenting disasters and climate crisis in Uttarakhand.
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Prateek Santram is an educator at Woodstock School, Mussoorie. He has been associated with The Chakkar since its inception. His many interests include music, films and pop culture, all of which he believes he has eclectic tastes in. Speaking of taste, he hails from Lucknow, so food too is a subject of fandom. @instasantram
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Atul Sethi heads The Times of India's editorial bureau in Uttarakhand. A journalist with almost 30 years of experience, he has worked in a range of roles within The Times of India Group as well as with other media outlets like India Today, Hindustan Times, and Sify. He is the recipient of the 2010 Charles Wallace Fellowship for research studies in the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies, UK, awarded by the British Council and has also been awarded the 2013 Jefferson Media Fellowship by the US government think-tank, East-West Center. His writing projects include Magic in Mussoorie’(Penguin Random House, 2017), as well as two upcoming novellas: Riddle of Rajpur Road and Joy for Jetsunma.
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Akshay Shah joined Hanifl Centre, Woodstock School in the summer of 2015 to provide operational & programming support and is currently the Director of the centre. With more than two decades of experience in the outdoors including trekking across high passes in the Kumaon Himalaya, Akshay is an experienced and passionate trek leader, fond of simple mountain life and its rewards.
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Sanyukta Sharma is a graduate of Film and Television Institute of India, where she specialised in Film Direction. She is a filmmaker and audio-visual artist working out of Kempty, Mussoorie. @frozengreenwater
Saurabh Sharma (they) is a nonbinary, queer writer, essayist, and culture critic. They were co-juror for the Feature Category — Rainbow Awards for Literature and Journalism 2026. @writerlylife.
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Mansi Thapliyal is a documentary photographer born and raised in Rishikesh. She has worked with Reuters and the BBC, with her work appearing in The New York Times, TIME, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, among others. She is a recipient of the Françoise Demulder Photography Grant, and has shown her work at Unseen Amsterdam, Angkor Photo Festival, Egaro Photo Festival, and Delhi Photo Festival. Alongside her photography, Mansi has worked as a Waldorf educator, engaging children through classroom teaching and workshops. She is currently based in New Delhi. @mansipictures
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Dr Sejal Worah is a resident of Mussoorie and Delhi. As Programme Director of WWF India in New Delhi, she manages and provides strategic direction to a large multi-disciplinary team of professionals working on various facets of environmental conservation and sustainable development. Prior to this role, she spent over a decade working at the interface of conservation and sustainable development in South and Southeast Asia and in East Africa. After migrating back to Mussoorie, she has been instrumental in setting up Uttarakhand’s first Private Nature Reserve at Jabarkhet to help protect a special corner of our hillside and demonstrate how forest restoration and conservation can be linked with sustainable tourism.