Author Gregory David Roberts & Rahul Bose at the concluding day of the India Non Fiction Festival

Author Gregory David Roberts & Actor Rahul Bose at the concluding day of the India Non Fiction Festival

The last day of the India Non Fiction Festival kicked off with dual sessions, the first session being a wellness session with celebrity yoga guru and author Ms. Payal Gidwani Tiwari based on the theme ‘Healthy Weight loss not a Fad’. Renowned nutritionist, fitness consultant and author Ms. Suman Agarwal conducted an informative assembly on healthy lifestyle, titled ‘Unjunked-Healthy Eating for Weight Loss’.

‘Spirited Women. Spirited Relationships’ was a moving session where authors and women achievers Ms. Gopika Kapoor, Ms. Rinki Bhattacharya and Ms. Janaki Krishnan discussed the many facets, relationships surrounding the fairer sex along with women empowerment with a difference. Author and coach Ms. Anita Bhogle moderated a session, ‘Be Bold. Stay Aware: Lead and Win’ with inspirational speaker and author Mr. Azim Jamal alongside author and coach Mr. Ankur Gupta which raised questions about success and what it takes to be fulfilled.

The energy packed event named ‘Heal Yourself’ was a fascinating impromptu session with holistic health and wellness coach Mr. Mickey Mehta subscribing to the timeless quotient in making an individual ageless and philosophizing about understanding the different elements of life, enabling creativity. During the delicious session ‘India: Food, People and Cultures’, renowned foodie and writer, Mr. Kunal Vijayakar was in passionate conversation with Ms. Tara Deshpande, author of A Sense For Spice talking about dishes of different cultures and customs which invariably show different versions and techniques.

Shri Swami Swatmananand of Chinmaya Mission was in deep meditative conversation with spiritualist, author and journalist Mr. R Sridhar around the topic ‘Spiritualism for Real’ conversing about inner strength, facing challenges of life and moving away from the unreal to the real. ‘Fact is stranger (and so much more fun) than Fiction’, a fun filled session where actor Mr. Rahul Bose in conversation with Australian author Mr. Gregory David Roberts discussed the context of facts being stranger than fiction due to the fact that the world is bursting at its seams, as well as an interesting account on how fiction is getting factified and facts are getting fictionalized.

Following the events closely was a thrilling and informative ‘Google Hangout’ session with Mr. Ravi Venkatesan, former chairman Microsoft India and author of Conquering the Chaos: Win in India, Win Everywhere; addressing the issues of corruption and beaurocracy and why multinational companies are not taking India seriously, as well as the need for MNC’s to learn to adapt to India’s chaotic environment.

The non-fiction extravaganza sessions were trailed by a meet titled ‘Unleashing the leader within’ with bestselling leadership author, Mr. Prakash Iyer, MD Kimberley Clark India joined by Mr. Kumaar Bagrodia, Festival Director, India Non Fiction Festival in a psychological discussion about finding a winner inside all of us and spending our lives focusing on our strengths. The festival concluded with a rib-tickling event titled ‘Standup Comedy: Bold and Real’ with writer, columnist and standup comedian Mr. Rohan Joshi.

The event wrapped up, leaving the myriad of non-fiction fans with an immense feeling of satisfaction from finally getting their fix from the varied panel discussions, keynotes, speaker addresses and book launches; promising to come back with their favorite non-fiction literature.