The Tata Steel Kolkata literary Meet-2015 concluded on a buoyant note with a record turnout during its five-day journey of exchange of ideas and thoughts, and panel discussions that traversed a wide range of subjects covering education, literature, music and films. The literary Meet showcased some of the best minds and personalities from the field of literature, music, journalism and academics. The Meet promised to be back next year with a larger canvas of ideas, thoughts and narratives.
The concluding session of the literary Meet witnessed a discussion with noted author, Amitav Ghosh, in conversation with film actor and theatre personality, Rahul Bose. The session was preceded by an address by Anand Sen, president, TQM & steel business Tata Steel. In his address, Sen said: “We have had five extremely exciting days of exposure to intellectual thought and exchange of ideas, and what better locale than Victoria Memorial and what better city than Kolkata, where the passion for reading still survives. I am sure all of us will carry back lingering memories which will create an urge to read more and to wait for the Tata Steel Kolkata literary Meet next year. We shall continue to support the Kolkata literary Meet and will come back next year on a bigger scale than it was this year”.
The Tata Steel Kolkata literary Meet-2015 was inaugurated by the by the Governor of West Bengal, Kesari Nath Tripathi, and the legendary author Ruskin Bond along with Koushik Chatterjee, Group Executive Director (Corporate and Finance), Tata Steel, on January 23. TV Narendran, Managing Director, Tata Steel India & SEA, was present in the meet on the Republic Day where he introduced a session lovely, Dark and Deep — Ruskin Bond and Jeet Thayil in conversation with Sandip Roy.
The Meet witnessed a galaxy of stars from various fields. Some of the luminaries present during the five-day literary festival included Aliette Armel, literary critic, biographer, novelist and a specialist on Indian literature, Rudrangshu Mukherjee, eminent historian and Founding Vice Chancellor, Ashoka University, Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at MIT, Saswata Chatterjee and Abir Chatterjee, noted actors, Dibakar Banerjee, film director, Shubha Mudgal, noted classical vocalist, Aatish Taseer, author, Daman Singh, noted author and daughter of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan, noted actors, Raj Kamal Jha, chief editor of Indian Express, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, Jeet Thayil, poet, novelist and musician, Raghu Rai, veteran photographer and photojournalist, and author, researcher and a teacher Malavika Karlekar.