First-of-a-kind litfest for diplomats from October 25 to 27

The litfest is a brainchild of (left) Dnyaneshwar Mulay; (Centre) Ruchi Ghanshyam and Navdeep Suri will conduct some sessions at the event. (Express photo)

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In a first, a dedicated literature festival will be held for diplomats in New Delhi from October 25 to 27. Ambassadors and senior diplomats from Ukraine, Turkiye, the United States, Italy, France and Germany are expected to be in attendance.

The only condition for participating in ‘Words Beyond Borders’ is that each of them has to be a published author.

So far, over 80 speakers from 30 countries have confirmed their participation at the three-day event to be held in Neemrana. Backed by the Ministry of External Affairs and Rajasthan government, the event will see over 65 foreign diplomats and around 20 Indian foreign service officers – who are retired or presently deployed in various missions.

The initiative is a brainchild of Dnyaneshwar Mulay, who is a 1983 batch foreign service officer. Dubbed as the ‘Passport Man of India’ for radically transforming and expanding India’s passport ecosystem during his tenure as Secretary to the MEA, Mulay has served in prominent assignments in New York, Maldives and Russia.

Talking to The Indian Express, Mulay — who has written over a dozen books in Hindi and Marathi — said, “I come from a small village and while writing has been my passion, I have always felt that there was a huge gap in people’s understanding of how foreign policy is conducted. For instance, my mother had no idea of the work her son does. So, I brought out my books in Marathi language for her and others in my village to understand the intricacies.”

According to Mulay, the festival’s focus is on bringing students and youngsters together as participants share their work and lives in an informal setting. So, students from various universities across the country have been invited to attend sessions over three days, and interact with diplomats on the sidelines.

“Let students think: why are diplomats needed at all,” Mulay said. While sessions have been curated to focus on words and literary experiences, certain  sessions will discuss India’s ties with ASEAN and East Asia — Why Europe is at Crossroads; and Why non-alignment is a way forward for the Global South.

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Ambassador Navdeep Suri will chair a discussion on ‘Foreigner in Translation’ with Gonchig Ganbold of Mongolia and Egypt’s Mohamed Tawfik. Sreeram Chaulia will analyse India’s ties with Pakistan, along with former TCA Raghavan, Ruchi Ghanashyam and Ajay Bisaria, who have served on the Indian mission in Pakistan.

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More