The very first literary festival of Mumbai, India Non-Fiction Festival (INFF) took place over the weekend from January 24th to January 26th. The festival took off on a high note with profound discussions on politics, entrepreneurship, and the future of our country. The thoughts and ideas discussed were inspiring and thought provoking which kept the audiences engrossed. The festival took place at Nehru Centre, Worli.
On Day 1, INFF was inaugurated by Kiran Rao, Subroto Bagchi and Ajit Balakrishnan followed by their discussions about India and being Indian. A bunch of books were launched at the event as well.
The launch of Minhaz Merchant’s ‘The New Clash of Civilizations: How the Contest Between America, China, India and Islam will Shape Our Century’ led to an insightful exchange of thoughts and ideas with Amit Tripathi, Sabira Merchant and Zeenat Shaukat.
The launch of Vithal Kamat’s book called ‘Idlis, Orchid and Willpower’ was attended by his friends Farzana Contractor and Kumar Ketkar. The trio had many enriching discussions and shared anecdotes about Kamat.
‘Get Booked’ was a session in the festival which motivated young writers and encouraged them to sell their ideas to publishers. The aspiring writers garnered a lot of appreciation from the publishers as well as the audiences. Naresh Fernandes and Rana Dasgupta very efficiently threw light upon the good, bad and ugly of the two major cities – Mumbai and Delhi.
Another book that was released was ‘Konjo the Fighting Spirit’ by Sandeep Goyal, where he beautifully tells the story of a man who decides to test fate right before he is turning forty.
The festival earned a lot of appreciation and was especially loved by those who have an interest in writing and literature.