BENGALURU: Business book writers have very few platforms unlike fiction writers. Most literature fests in India are heavily fiction driven and in the non-fiction category, the prominence is given to politics. “Business writers get a raw deal, unless they are already superstars,” says Benedict Paramanand, co-founder and curator, Bangalore BizLitFest, ahead of the two-day event on Oct. 30 and 31.
While Netflix series Bad Boy Billionaires has been at the centre of much talk, the section – The Fugitives’ Saga – will hear the stories of businessmen through K Giriprakash, author of The Vijay Mallya Story; Pavan C Lall, author of Flawed: The Rise and Fall of India’s Diamond Mogul Nirav Modi; and Tamal Bandyopadhyay, author of Sahara: The Untold Story.
Writing on the Wall will look into how authors are influencing the climate change and sustainability discourse, where Navi Radjou, co-author of Do Better With Less – Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Growth; Meghaa Gupta, author of Unearthed – An Environmental History of Independent India; and Harini Nagendra, author of Cities and Canopies, faculty member at Azim Premji University, will comprise the panel.
Other segments include ‘Indian Start-Ups – Adventures and Lessons from the Trenches’ and ‘Social Entrepreneurship – How to Get the Best of the Two Worlds’. Much has changed since last year’s fest, admits Paramanand, pointing out that the charm of a literature festival is listening to your favourite author in flesh and blood, easy conversations and the opportunity to make connections.
“For attendees to a business literature fest, it’s like learning from the masters. Since we use a story-telling approach, a business fest doesn’t turn out to be dreary. But virtual is a new world altogether. The biggest challenge is choosing the best virtual platform. While the popular ones are good for a simple meeting, the new-age ones offer dynamic and creative ways of engaging with the audience,” says Paramanand, who tied up with airmeet.com, a Bengaluru-based start-up.
The other challenge they are concerned about is the uncertainty about the number who will really register and watch. With a sense of virtual communication fatigue having set in, and work from home having enhanced workload, Paramanand feels assumptions of having a big audience because it is virtual, is foolish. “We had to make sessions sharper and more interesting to attract people. Pricing is another big challenge. Since BBLF is a business litfest, we are sure of running it like a business. The free webinar culture is making our effort to raise some revenue from tickets very difficult,” he says, adding that platform costs are significant as well. For details, visit bangalorebizlitfest.com
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The BBLF has announced Mihir Dalal as the choice for the 2020 BBLF CK Prahalad Best Business Book Award for his work Big Billion Startup – The Flipkart Story. The award, instituted in memory of late management guru, Prof. C K Prahalad, carries a citation and a cash prize of `1 lakh. Dalal’s book was among the five shortlisted from 35 business books published in 2019.