Festival Director Kumaar Bagrodia and Matthew Spaice at Day 2 of the festival.

Festival Director Kumaar Bagrodia and Matthew Spacie at Day 2 of the festival.

The second day at the India Non Fiction Festival was riding the wave of euphoria from the first and was replete with interesting and rewarding sessions.

The session on ‘Bold Workouts. Real Goals’, with fitness guru, writer and author Ms. Madhuri Ruia, spoke about the need for a workout for the purpose of wellness, avoiding sickness and the need for various health checkups to deal with the modern sedentary lifestyle. Whereas a parallel session on ‘The Diet Doctor: the scientifically proven way to lose weight’ by clinical nutritionist, diet consultant and bestselling author, Ms. Ishi Khosla addressed the baggage which comes with excess weight, while practicing medical nutritional therapy.

Author and Professor Vijay Santhanam’s inspirational book ‘A Stroke of Luck’ was launched by Mr. Gautam Kiyawat, CEO Madison Media and Mr. Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan, Neo Sports, recounting the harrowing experience of Mr. Vijay’s ordeal, on not taking things for granted and to be prepared to do what is necessary to become healthy. During ‘Bold Professionals to Entrepreneurs’, Mr. Tamal Bandyopadhyay deputy managing editor, Mint and bestselling author engaged in a passionate conversation with Mr. Paresh Sukthankar, ED, HDFC Bank, Mr. Nirmal Jain, Founder and CMD, IIFL and Mr. Rasesh Shah, Co-founder and Chairman, Edelweiss talking about their initial days and the challenges they have faced while recounting humbling experiences that have helped in the building of successful institutions.

An informative session on the ‘Myths and Facts about Homeopathy’ by Dr. Mukesh Batra addressed the benefits of homeopathy stating that it may be perceived as slow but it is not true as it is quick to cure acute problems. An exhaustive session on ‘The role of individuals, government and corporates in promoting philanthropy’ took place with an active participation from Mr. Indrajit Gupta, founding Editor, Forbes India with Dr. Lalit Kumar, Adviser, Voluntary Action and Youth Affairs at Planning Commission, Government of India, Mr. Matthew Spacie, Founder, Magic Bus, Ms. Shaheen Mistry, Founder, Teach For India as well as Mr. K Ram Kumar, ED, ICICI Bank who discussed about the various philanthropic programmes that they have created & their journey towards achieving them.

A breathtaking session with India’s top Gay activists, titled ‘Being Queer: Boldly Out Of The Closet’ saw Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, chairperson and Co-founder of Lakshya Trust, Professor R Raj Rao, writer and teacher of literature, Mr. Ashok Row Kavi the founder of Bombay Dost, Mr. Roy Wadia, Executive Director of Heroes Project in Bombay along with writer director Mr. Sridhar Rangayan indulge in an interesting conversation.

‘Legacy: the legacy we should leave behind for our children’ was a touching sitting by author and journalist Ms. Sudha Menon in conversation with Master Chef and parent Mr. Sanjeev Kapoor,  talking about the chef’s journey. Other sessions in the day included ‘Cricket: Then and Now’ with Mr. Makarand Waingankar, cricket columnist and author of Yuvi and sports editor and author Mr. Clayton Murzello. ‘We are like that only – Business Sutras’ a session on Indian management, market and society was held by Mythologist, writer and bestselling author Mr. Devdutt Pattanaik. The final session of this exciting day packed with activities was a freewheeling chat with Rashmi Bansal the bestselling author, writer and person.

Amidst the revelry, with over halfway of the festival underway, the approaching closing day consisting of spectacular sessions and inspiring speakers is on everyone’s mind.