HYDERABAD: Commemorating Ajay Gandhi, the festival director and trustee of the Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF), renowned vocalist TM Krishna will perform at the festival’s 12th edition on January 28, 29 and 30.
Ajay, who passed away in September 2021 after battling cancer, was known for promoting intellectual debate through HLF and Manthan -- he used to hold discussions on shaping the city’s literary image. A member of the working group team, Siddiqua Fatima said, “The entire committee and the attendees of the lit fest will miss the founder.
Ajay sir was more than just a founder -- he was the man who had brought this platform of debates and discussions to Hyderabad. He was the man who made HLF different from Jaipur, Delhi and Bengaluru lit festivals. Today, HLF is the fourth most popular lit fest in India, thanks to him.”
IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, who is part of the organising committee, also had said recently that he would miss Ajay. “He is the man behind the literary festival and we are going to miss him. On the opening day of HLF 2022, renowned vocalist TM Krishna will perform virtually to pay a tribute to Ajay,” he had said.
This year, the lit fest is going to be entirely virtual. But authors and artists such as Divya Dutta, Kaverec Bamzai, Kavery Nambisan, Nandana Dev Sen, Remo Fernandes, Rita Menon, Ruth Vanita, Samir Soni, Siddharth Mallya and Sridala Swami would speak on the themes of Bollywood, diaspora, fiction, food writing, gender, Kashmir, literature of 1984, mental health, spoken word, poetry, and women in medicine.
HLF on opening day January 29