Literati 2025 festival celebrates ideas in Chandigarh

The Chandigarh Lit Fest, known as Literati 2025, took place on Saturday at the CII headquarters in Sector 31. The theme for this year's event was "A festival of ideas." It brought together authors, artists, and intellectuals from all over India. During the festival, several new books were launched. These included "Career Heist," "I am a Soldier’s Wife - The Life and Love of Toni Lidder," "Bravest of the Brave - The Inspiring Story of Naib Subedar Chunni Lal," and "A Bejewelled Tiara" by Lily Swarn. The event featured a variety of sessions. One of the first discussions focused on emotional intelligence, titled “Tears, cheers & fears: The emotional intelligence survival kit.” Speakers such as Aanchal Bedi and Col Sunil Prem talked about its importance today. Another session explored storytelling through metaphors. Authors Manju Jaidka and Neelkamal Puri discussed how metaphors enhance writing. There was also a session called “She-E-O: Leading with grit & grace,” where Lochan Narayanan and Amrita Tripathi shared insights on women CEOs breaking barriers. Additionally, the festival featured a session called “Naghme aur nazm – Voices of the soul,” which focused on poetry. Kasturika Mishra, Gurdeep Kaur Gul, and Prem Vij participated in captivating discussions. One of the moving conversations of the day was about life as a soldier's family. Geetika Lidder and her daughter Aashna spoke about their experiences after the death of Brigadier Lidder, who passed away in a tragic crash in 2021. Lastly, acclaimed photographer Raghu Rai talked about his journey in visual storytelling and the evolving art world in a session with Rachana Singh. The day was filled with rich discussions and creative exchanges.