November 2025 I Nainital, Uttarakhand
DAY 1 - 30.10.2026
FESTIVAL OPENS WITH CONCH SHELL BLOWING
FOUNDER'S ADDRESS
10:15 am - 10:20 am
WELCOME ADDRESS BY FESTIVAL FOUNDER
Janhavi Prasada
KEY NOTE ADDRESS
10:20 am - 10:30 am
INAUGURAL ADDRESS: KEY NOTE ADDRESS
10:31 am - 10:32 am
INTRODUCTION BY PRESENTING SPONSOR
Dr Rajesh Ranjan, Deputy Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
SESSION 1
10:33 am - 11:06 am
Story-time of Poems, Tales and Fables
Chador Wangmo & Sunita Pant Bansal in conversation with Malvika Talukedar
SESSION 2
11:07 am - 11:40 am
OUR PLANET OUR UNIVERSE
Priyanka Rajkakati in conversation with Sudeep Sen
SESSION 3
11:41 am - 12:14 pm
Radha - the Wrath of the Maeju
Rishi Amatya in conversation with Shahena Khan
SESSION 4
12:15 pm - 1:03 pm
IMMORTAL STORIES
Amish Tripathi in conversation with Anurradha Prasad
SESSION 5
1:04 pm - 1:37 pm
CHUTNEYFICATION
Rusinha Munshaw Ghildiyal in conversation with Amin Ali
SESSION 6
1:40 pm - 2:00 pm
WHERE FREEDOM LIVES
Vandita Dubey in conversation with Aditi Singh
LUNCH
2:00 pm
FESTIVAL CLOSED FOR THE DAY
evening At Namah | Radission Hotel
SESSION 7
6.00 pm - 6.30 pm
HIMALAYAN PANORAMA
Vladimir Zaitsev on the masters of the Himalayan landscapes
SESSION 8
6.35 pm -7.05 pm
Natures Way
Mridula Ramesh in conversation with Nikhil Sharma
7.15 pm
MUSIC PERFORMANCE
By Sanjeeta Bhattacharya from the Berkely School of Music
8.00 pm
Dinner Hosted at Namah | Radisson Hotel
DAY 2 - 31.10.2026
SESSION 1
10:30 am - 10:45 am
THE ART OF WRITING RETREATS
A talk by Chetan Mahajan
SESSION 2
10:45 am - 11:18 am
​PATHS OF FAITH
Benjamin Viatte in conversation with Uday Singh
SESSION 3
11:18 am - 11:51 am
BUSY WOMEN
Shinjani Kumar in conversation with Kavita Singh
SESSION 4
11:51 am - 12:24 pm
Fearless Stories
Paro Anand in conversation with Shiveshwar Raj Singh
SESSION 5
12:24 pm - 1:04 pm
Ghosts on the Peepal Tree
​Peepal Baba in conversation with Aditya Pratap Singh
SESSION 6
1:04 pm - 1:35 pm
Red tooth, A Himalayan Horror Story
Satyajit Sarna in conversation with Ambreen Khan
LUNCH
2:00 pm
FESTIVAL CLOSED FOR THE DAY
evening At ARIF CASTLE
7.00 pm
MUSIC PERFORMANCE
By India's first Rock Band Parikrama Featuring a surprise musician.
Music Sponsors : AAHANA Resort and Spa, Jim Corbett.
7.45 pm
CLOSING GALA DINNER HOSTED AT ARIF CASTLE HOTEL