CHENNAI: Since the lockdown of 2020, there’s been no dearth of virtual webinars, panel discussions, live interactions and lectures. The frequency has just grown multifold.
A new addition to the existing list is a conversation series, The Write Circle, an initiative of Prabha Khaitan Foundation, a Kolkata-based non-profit trust. A cross-country platform for writers, The Write Circle launched its Chennai Chapter on Friday. “The Write Circle strives to bring together authors and their readers in an informal and engaging setting.
The sessions are structured around the life and works of the author featured in that particular session, followed by an interaction with the audience. Starting its journey from Jaipur, the platform now has sessions across India, and even overseas, in Oxford, Birmingham, New York and Oslo. We have plenty of authors in our portfolio and will be having one session every alternate month,” said Anindita Chatterjee, executive trustee of the foundation.
The debut session of the series featured author Amish Tripathi in conversation with blogger Vidya Gajapathi Raju. The hour-long session briefly captured his decade-long journey, his creative process and his reverence for Indian mythology. “When I wrote my first book, I was doubtful if it would even get published. There were general remarks, saying it was intense and a long-read. Today, having published nine books, I can confidently say that a major chunk of my readers constitute youngsters and they love mythology. I believe that every story has to convey a philosophy and that’s the driving force behind my writing. I want to impart cultural wisdom to readers,” he said.
Amish also spoke about the unsung heroes in mythology and promised to bring them to life in his stories. “There’s so much that’s documented by our ancestors but we have so little access to it. The more we unearth, the more stories we can discover and take it to people. My book on Suheldev, and the battle of Bahraich is one such. I’m currently working on the fourth book of the Ram Chandra series, tentatively titled War of Lanka. I will also be writing about King Rajendra Chola,” he shared. The foundation also plans to bring Kalam a platform to discuss Hindi literature, in Chennai. The conversation culminated in an interactive session with literature lovers and his fans. Follow Prabha Khaitan Foundation on YouTube.