Aaku Srivastava

His passion for diving deep into the socio-political fabric of states of India prevailed made him a widely discerned face at various news channels as Expert Panellist, impartial and balanced conferment of his opinion being at the core. Currently in Delhi with eminent group Punjab Kesri/Navodaya Times, is author to four books. The recent one ‘Sensex of Regional Parties’ (English ) and 'Sensex Kshetriya dalon ka ' (Hindi) being acclaimed best sellers in recent times. Currently ‘ Uttar udarikaran ke aandolan ’ is under print. Having accomplished so much in life, is paying back to society through his ‘Boond’ Foundation.

Abhishek Shukla

Abhishek Shukla is one of the most promising Urdu poets of the contemporary generation. He has travelled to Dubai, Pakistan, Bahrain and Qatar reciting his soulful poetry. His book "Harf-e-awara" published by Rajkamal Prakashan has also got enthusiastic welcome in contemporary poetry circle of India.Abhishek teaches Urdu language and is also an avid scholar of "Arooz". Undoubtedly,he is one of the truest successors of the rich composite culture and legacy of Lucknow. Many senior Urdu poets have showered immense love and blessings on him. Apart from his signature style poetry, this multi-faceted man enjoys popularity for his quick wit and amusing sense of humour as well.

Ajay Jain

After graduating from IIT Kanpur in 1984, Ajay Jain— a visionary first-generation entrepreneur—founded Microlit, with the mission of creating world-class import-substitute scientific instruments. Under his dynamic leadership, Microlit has not only established a global presence across 65+ countries, but has also earned prestigious accolades, including recognition by CII as one of the Top 5 Most Innovative Companies in India, along with Design & Innovation Awards from Japan and Germany.

Beyond his entrepreneurial success, Ajay Jain is a passionate connoisseur of poetry, literature, and music—art forms that remain integral to his life. To celebrate and preserve this cultural heritage, he founded “Lucknow Nawabs” two decades ago, an organization dedicated to bringing music, literature, and legendary artists to the city of Lucknow. Over the years, the stage of Lucknow Nawabs has been graced by stalwarts such as Pankaj Udhas, Kavita Seth, Gulzar Saheb, Wasim Bareilvy, Javed Akhtar, and Manna Dey, among many others.

A rare blend of entrepreneurial brilliance and artistic devotion, Ajay Jain continues to inspire both the worlds of innovation and culture alike.

Akhilesh

Akhilesh is the editor of the Hindi periodical Tadbhav. He has also edited ten volumes of Ek Kahani Ek Kitab and Eleven volumes of Kahaniyan Rishton Ki as well as Das Bemisal Prem Kahaniyan.

Born in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh in 1960, Akhilesh is an MA in Hindi Literature from Allahabad University. He is the author of several short story anthologies, including Aadmi Nahin Tootataa,Mukti,Shapgrast and Andhera, as well as the novels Anweshan and Nirvasan. His stories have been adapted for the stage and into movies by Doordarshan, and feature films. He is also a dialogue and screenplay writer. Many of his works have been translated into several languages. He has also written books of non-fiction work, Vah Jo Yathartha Tha and Aks.

Anand Neelakantan

Anand Neelakantan is an Indian Author, Columnist, Screenwriter, And Public Speaker. He is known for writing mythological fictions and has authored eleven books in English and one in Malayalam.  Anand Neelakantan wrote the official prequel series trilogy for the Bahubali film series titled Bahubali: Before the Beginning, it is a three-book series which acts as a prequel to the films. He has also written screenpalys for popular television series including Siya Ke Ram, Chakravarthy Ashoka, Mahabali Hanuman, Adaalar, Sarfarosh for Netflix and Swaraj for DD National.

Arif Mohammad Khan

Arif Mohammad Khan has been the serving Governor of Kerala since September 2019. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Kanpur in 1980, then from Bahraich in 1984 and 1998. Also, he has discharged various ministerial responsibilities during his illustrious political career, starting with Union Deputy Minister, Information & Broadcasting in 1982-83 to Union Cabinet Minister, Energy & Civil Aviation in 1989-90.  An alumnus of Jamia Millia School, Delhi, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh and the Shia College, Lucknow, Khan started his political career as a student leader.  He is also an enthusiastic writer and a long-time supporter of reforms within the Muslim community, credited with authoring “Text and Context: Quran and Contemporary Challenges,” an acclaimed bestseller published by Rupa & Co in 2010.

Ashwin Sanghi

Ashwin Sanghi is counted among India’s highest-selling English fiction authors having sold over two million books globally with over a million copies sold in his Bharat Series alone. He has written several bestsellers in his Bharat Series that include The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key, The Sialkot Saga, Keepers of the Kalachakra, The Vault of Vishnu and The Magicians of Mazda. Many of these books have been #1 Bestsellers in India and have been acquired or optioned for movies, television, or web series.

Ashwin has been included by Forbes India in their Celebrity-100 and by the New Indian Express in their Culture Power List. He is a winner of the Crossword Popular Choice Award 2012, Atta Galatta Popular Choice Award 2018, WBR Iconic Achievers Award 2018, the Litofest Literature Legend Award 2018 and the Kalinga Popular Choice Award 2021.

Asma hussain

Asma Hussain is a Fashion Designer with a difference. She is a Social Activist, Educationist, Curator, Revivalist, Promoter, Writer and a Designer. She started working to promote the Handicrafts, Handloom, Art & Culture of Awadh (Uttar Pradesh) in 1992.

She trained artisans free of cost, learning about their problems and hardships on the way, facing a lot of challenges as there was no organized fashion or handicraft industry. She tried to resolve the problems of the artisans in the area of health, education, awareness and exposure to the world. Thus began the journey of not just designing clothes and a life of glamour, but designing lives, of those who were left to fend for themselves in poverty and illiteracy. She recognised the talent and hidden treasures of their nimble fingers.

She has been covered by FTV, Star World, Discovery Travel & Living, BBC, Zee, ETV, NDTV, Sahara TV, etc. She is renowned for reviving traditional crafts of Awadh & has won several prestigious awards.

Chandra Shekhar Varma

Chandra Shekhar Varma is a Behavioural Scientist and a Motivational Speaker by profession and a Writer by passion. He has inherited literature from his illustrious Grandfather Padma Bhushan Shri Bhagwati Charan Varma who is an icon of Hindi literature and also from his father Shri Dhirendra Varma who is also a well known Hindi Author. His debut book ‘Corners of a Straight line’ (English novel) was published by Rupa. His second book Chaudah left Chaudah Right, published by Rajkamal, is a collection of stories in Hindi. His Urdu ghazals are published on Rekhta.

A Post Graduate In Management and Psychology from Lucknow University, Chandra Shekhar did his schooling from Colvin Taluqdars’ College in Lucknow and has worked with major corporate houses like BCCL and Reliance. At present, Chandra Shekhar Varma works as the Head of PR and Communication department of Amity University Lucknow Campus. He lives in Lucknow with his family.

Deepa Agarwal

Author, Poet and Translator, Deepa Agarwal writes for both children and adults and has over 60 books published. A frequent contributor to magazines and journals in India and abroad, she has edited and compiled several anthologies. Gender equality, social injustice and the environment are some of the main themes in her writing.

She received the N.C.E.R.T. National Award for Children’s Literature for Ashok’s New Friends, Caravan to Tibet was on the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List 2008, Journey to the Forbidden City on the Parag Honour List 2020 and shortlisted for the Neev Book Award while her poetry collection Forgotten Kaleidoscopes was shortlisted for the PVLF Best Poetry Award. Her work has been translated into several Indian and foreign languages. The Begum (Penguin Random House India), Blessed (Hachette India), Kashmir!Kashmir! (Scholastic India) and Forgotten Kaleidoscopes (Authorspress) are among her latest titles.

Devdutt Pattanaik

Dr. Nishi Pandey

Professor Nishi Pandey is a noted educationist, a social activist and an invaluable part of some prominent institutions working to uplift the marginalized and underprivileged sections of concurrent society, specially the girl child and women. Deeply interested in literature, theatre, films and all forms f performing arts, Nishi has made innumerable contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of Lucknow.  She has travelled to the University of Oxford, the London University and the University of Louisville, USA,teaching, working collaboratively, delivering lectures, studying and attending conferences and seminars. Also, she has worked with the faculty of certain institutions of great prominence, namely the University of Berkeley, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Columbia, Maryland, Philadelphia, etc.

Farhat Ehsas

Farhat Ehsas is one of the most prominent post-modern Urdu poets in India. Though steeped in the classical Persian and Urdu poetic tradition, he has over the years mastered a poetic idiom which while drawing freely from the classical aesthetics is able to express the yearnings, pains and sufferings and also joys of the common man living amidst the devastations created by the political decadence, economic exploitation and social chaos, and the moral and spiritual hollowness.

Ehsas's poetry attempts to achieve the rare combination of the simplicity of poetic expression and the intricacies of experience. While taking blind nights into the uncharted spaces of imagination and experience he never loses touch with the ground, where he really belongs. The Sahitya Akademi has published a selection of his poetry entitled Main Rona Chaahta Hoon (2003). Another collection has been published titled as 'Shayari Nahin Hai Yeh' (2011). A new book of his poem titled as 'Ye Jism Ka Tasawwuf will soon be published.

Himanshu Bajpai

Himanshu Bajpai is a leading Qissago of the country. He has performed more than 300 shows in several countries viz. Singapore, UAE, Turkey, etc. Moreover, he has been honoured by the Hon'ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind for storytelling. Himanshu and Pragya’s Qissagoi on Rani Durgavati was appreciated by PM Modi in Mann ki Baat. Shri Rajnath Singh applauded him for the same. He was invited by the prestigious Harvard University to performin the Harvard Worldwide Week.

He has been a part of Netflix show “Sacred Games Season 2”. His book “Qissa Qissa Lucknowa” published by Rajkamal Prakashan has been a bestseller and he won Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2021 for it. He has a PhD on the historic Naval Kishore Press in Lucknow from Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya in Wardha. He writes a lot on the society and culture of Lucknow.

Hindol Sengupta

Hindol Sengupta is a multiple award winning author of 10 books. He has been a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, a Chevening Scholar at Oxford, and has a doctorate in International Relations from the Geneva School of Diplomacy. He is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Jaideep Karnik

When Jaideep Karnik started "Udhghosh Prayas," a Hindi daily he managed with a bunch of his friends, he was still a university student. The brief but enjoyable stint in journalism, however, awakened within him a lifelong passion for writing and literature.

Eventually, Karnik experimented with Corporate Communication and Marketing, before moving on to become a full-time writer. He has been active as a public speaker, a literature enthusiast and a journalist since.

As the Chief Editor of the Network 18-run IBN Live, IBN Khabar, and Pradesh 18, as well as an Editor for the online Hindi journal Webdunia, Karnik has contributed his editorial expertise to a variety of publications and news platforms. He currently serves as the Editor of Amar Ujala's online publication.

Jayant Krishna

Jayant Krishna is the CEO of Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology, based out of New Delhi and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington DC. Jayant had previously served in leadership roles in Prime Minister’s Skill India Mission at National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), including Chief Executive Officer, and Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer.

He was the first Indian to be appointed as the Group CEO of UK India Business Council (UKIBC). He has been the Executive Director, Public Policy at WF, a leading Silicon Velley non-profit; and worked on economic reforms that trigger job creation in India. Most of his diverse experience of over 36 years, spanning government, industry, and consulting, was with the Tata Group in key roles at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), including Director, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Regional Director.

Kena Shree

Kena Shree is an HR, Storyteller as well as an Author. She has conducted numerous sessions reaching over one lakh participants, including prestigious B-schools such as IIM Lucknow and IIM Shillong. She is an artist with All India Radio. As an author, she writes stories, poetry, and HR/OB narratives. She is a columnist at Huffington Post, Times of India web besides writing for Cox & Kings, Hindustan Times, and runs a personal blog which has 1.4 lakh plus views. She is a co-contributor to books published by Times Group, Readomania while her debut novel is a work-in-progress.

Madhavi Kuckreja

Madhavi Kuckreja is a heritage evangelist and an activist working to empower marginalized women in the remotest areas of Uttar Pradesh. She has created venues that enable collaboration among women, be it upper caste women or those who are less fortunate, making it easier to identify issues that plague the fairer gender and facilitating collective action to solve them. In 2004, Madhavi was nominated to the Ashoka Fellowship.

Malavika Banerjee

Malavika Banerjee is the director of the Kolkata Literary Meet, the city’s annual tryst with literature and the arts. She also runs literature festivals in Ranchi and Bhubneswar. Malavika is also passionate about the handloom traditions of India and is a partner at Byloom, one of Kolkata’s foremost handloom destinations. Malavika is also director Gameplan, one of India’s oldest sports marketing companies

Malini Awasthi

Malini Awasthi is an Indian singer best known for singing folk songs predominantly in Hindi and Awadhi dialects. Semi-classical forms of music such as Sohar, Banna, Holi, Kajri, Jhoola, Vivaah, Nirgun, and Chaiti are her few other genres of singing. The government of Uttar Pradesh honoured her with the Yash Bharti award in 2006 for her exceptional contribution to classical music. She was honoured by the government of India in 2016 with the 'Padma Shri', which is the fourth-highest civilian award in India. She is a regular performer at the famous classical music festival, Jahan-e-Khusrau.

Manish Shukla

Manish Shukla born in 1971, is a poet of national and international repute. He was born in Sitapur, India. Manish Shukla is a Post Graduate from the University of Lucknow, India in Anthropology. He is a Civil Service Officer in state of Uttar Pradesh, India and presently holds the post of Joint Chief Electoral Officer. He has worked as Director, Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Lucknow, U.P.

Manish is regularly participating in all Indian and international mushaera for last 20 years. His poetry recitations are being aired regularly from All India Radio and different television channels.

Manish Tewari

Manish Tewari is a Member of Parliament Representing the Sri Anandpur Sahib Constituency in Punjab in the House of the People - Lok Sabha. He also serves on the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Finance and the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Defense. He served on the Joint Committee of Parliament that conceptualised the Law on Data Protection. Manish Tewari practices Law at the Supreme Court of India, and served as Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

He was Elected as a Member of Parliament from Ludhiana for 2009-2014. He was a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC from 2017-19 He currently is the Senior National Spokesperson of Indian National Congress (INC) and Secretary General of the Foreign Affairs Department of All India Congress Committee.

Muzaffar Ali

Muzaffar Ali is a versatile and multi-faceted Filmmaker, Fashion Designer, Poet, Artist, Revivalist and Social Worker. After working in advertising, he turned to movies, producing, directing and acting in films like Jaanisaar, Anjuman, Aagaman, Umrao Jaan and Gaman, which went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Director in 1981. He was also conferred with the coveted Padma Shri for his contributions to art in 2005. Later, he became a fashion designer and co-created a fashion label.

Nawab Jafar Mir Abdullah

A revivalist promoting Lucknow’s culture and heritage, Nawab Jafar Mir Abdullah has been a member of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural heritage since 1978. By and large, considered a connoisseur of traditional Awadhi cuisine, Nawab Jafar Mir Abdullah is also an advisor to the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Lucknow, and was awarded the coveted Yash Bharti by the Uttar Pradesh government in 2016

Neetu Singh

Professor and Head, Department of Anthropology, Vidyant Hindu P.G. College, University of Lucknow. She had been adviser for opening up new gallery and research centre on ‘Awadhi Culture, Language and Architecture’ in Folk Art Museum, Lucknow. She did her D.Phil from the University of Allahabad. She currently pursuing D.Litt from the Sambalpur University and awarded post-doctoral fellowship from ICSSR for carrying a research in naxal area.

She has been associated with various national/international academic bodies and been through several countries across world to present her extensive research work. Through her academic journey which is about 20 years, she has been in the panel of examiners for- M.P. PSC, U.P. PSC. She was selected in U.P. PSC in 2001 and 2002 but chose to be in academic line. She has convened several conferences, have authored couple of books. Many of her research papers are published in Scopus indexed journals and UGC-CARE listed journals. She has completed five research projects fully funded by department of culture. Currently working on in U.P. Govt’s prestigious project ‘Global Encyclopaedia of Ramayana’.

Pragya Sharma

Pragya Sharma has performed several shows in different parts of the country. 'Qissa Jhansi ki Rani ka' was her premier Qissagoi along with Himanshu Bajpai. A series of this Qissa was organised by UP Police - 112 Emergency Services in different districts of Uttar Pradesh under the Mission Shakti Abhiyan. Her Dastangoi on Rani Durgavati, Tulsidas and Ganga is widely popular and loved by the people. Himanshu and Pragya's Qissagoi on Rani Durgavati has been appreciated by PM Modi. She has a PhD in Economics on the issue of Groundwater Sustainability in India’s Agriculture Sector. She is presently working with National Green Tribunal and has keen interest in working on environmental issues. She has published multiple research papers and book chapters on different aspects related to environment.

Pratyaksha

Pratyaksha writes both in English and Hindi and has published eleven books from major publishers like Harper, Juggernaut, Rajkamal, Aadhar, Bynge and Gyanpeeth. Her books have won critical acclaim and love from readers as well as senior writers. She has won a number of awards, among them the Indo Norwegian Award, Sonbhadra Katha Samman, Hans Katha Samman, Krishna Baldev Vaid Fellowship and has also been a resident of Sangam House.

She also paints and is passionately into music when she gets time after working five and sometimes six days a week as Chief General Manager at Powergrid Corporation of India ltd. She lives currently in Gurgaon. She shares her home with her husband, two wonderful grown up children, a cockatoo and a darling dog.

Preety Chaudhary

Over the years, poems, articles and reviews by Preety Chaudhary have been a regular feature in numerous significant Hindi publications and magazines like the Hindustan, Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala and the Jansandesh Times.

Her first short story, Reshmi Lal Gamcha was published in one of the most reputable Hindi magazines, Tadbhav. Later, in October 2022, the magazine went on to feature another story by Preety.

In 2005, she was awarded the coveted Harikrishna Dwivedi Writer’s Award, followed by the Sahitya Award in 2016.

Preety is also the author of Deh Dhare ko Dand, a Hindi novel revolving around women-centric issues.

Recently, a research paper by her was published in the London-based Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance.

Also, in 2018, Preety was nominated for a Lok Sabha fellowship, wherein she diagnosed the role of elects in the development of Indian foreign policy.

Priyanka Pradhan

Priyanka Pradhan is a Dubai-based journalist with experience of 13 years in television, print and electronic media, across India and the UAE. Specializing in Business and Lifestyle genres, she reported for CNBC Network 18 (Storyboard) and Economic Times Now (Brand Equity) as correspondent and assistant producer in Mumbai.

She is the recipient of the ‘Ruskin Bond Promising Writer Award 2019’ at the Dehradun Literature Festival held in October 2019, which was awarded on the basis of the unpublished manuscript for ‘Tales from the Himalayas’ by Mr. Ruskin Bond. She is also runner-up for the Montegrappa Writing Prize 2020 at the Emirates Literature Festival 2020 for a short story called, ‘Postcard’, which is part of the book, ‘Tales from the Himalayas’.

Rakhshanda Jalil

Rakhshanda Jalil is a multi-award-winning Translator, Writer, and Literary Historian. She has published over 25 books and written over 50 academic papers and essays. Some of her books include: Liking Progress, Loving Change: A Literary History of the Progressive Writers Movement in Urdu (OUP, 2014); a biography of Urdu feminist writer Dr Rashid Jahan: A Rebel and her Cause (Women Unlimited, 2014); a translation of The Sea Lies Ahead, Intizar Husain's seminal novel on Karachi (Harper Collins, 2015) and Krishan Chandar's partition novel Ghaddar (Westland, 2017), among others. She runs an organization called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularization of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture.

Ratan Mani Lal

Ratan Mani Lal is a prominent columnist and TV commentator. He has been an active journalist for over 46 years and has worked as Editor in The Times of India, Hindustan Times and The Bhaskar Group. He also headed the Jaipuria Institute of Mass Communication for several years. He learnt the basics under the legendary M. Chalapathi Rau and S.N. Ghosh. His expertise now includes media academics and content management across platforms.

Ravi Bhatt

Ravi Bhatt is an internationally acclaimed historian working on the history of Awadh, India. He had been the visiting faculty at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, American Institute of Indian Studies and University of Lucknow. His research findings are widely quoted all over the world.

His mastery of narrating interesting incidents of legendary Nawabs of Lucknow and their lifestyle in a short, crisp and lucid style has raised the expectations of general readers. As a result, he has written a complete and comprehensive book, The Life and Times of The Nawabs of Lucknow, covering all aspects of Nawabi Lucknow, like royal romances, courtesans, court intrigues, life in harems, royal hunting parties, superstitions, typical language, literature, cuisines, rites and rituals and the impact these things have had on the people.

Rohit Gandhi

Rohit Gandhi is an Indian Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker. He was the Editor-in-Chief of World is One News (WION) and DNA India. His documentary on Afghanistan won an Emmy Award in the editing category. He has spent 3 decades in first being a frontline journalist covering war zones and then managing newsrooms and innovating technologies to make the life of journalists safe.

He works on reducing global conflict by using journalism, and good communication plays a positive role. Rohit is an award winning journalist with some of the highest honours like the Edward R. Murrow, DuPont Award, Golden Cine Eagle, Healiner Award, Webby Award, multiple Emmy nominations for investigative journalism, just to name a few. He uses AI for helping organization's look at open intelligence.

Santosh Valmiki

Born in a very poor scavenger family. Mother cleaned the utensils and worked in different house and so brought us up. For better upbringing admitted in the school with the help of government scholarship and the mother's struggle studied. To help mother did sweeping on the road and collected dirt from gutters. Thereafter did High school and Intermediate with second division as pavement dweller and worked as hawker. In the mean time interest in writing. Stories and poems for children had beer published in the weekly magazine of "Swatantra Bharat", "Navjeevan and "Amrit Prabhat" Stories and poems have been broadcast and telecas from AIR and Doordarshan.

Graduated from Lucknow University and then Indian institute of Mass Communication New Delhi in the year 1989 as the best trainee in Hindi Journalism Diploma Course Awarded "Indian Institute of Mass Communication Awarded* by Union Minister K R Narayan research by bureau of parliamentary Studies and training. Lok Sabha Secretary New Delhi practical training in Hindi news unit of Navbharat times New Delhi and All India Radio in the workshop of trainee Journalist based on parliamentary procedure held by 28 April 1989 to 28 April 1989.

Shantanu Gupta

Shantanu Gupta is the founder of The Ramayana School, an Indian Author, TEDx Speaker and Political Analyst. He is a published author with renowned publications like Sage, Bloomsbury, Garuda, Prabhat and Rupa Publications. He is the biographer of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, with his book titled ‘The Monk Who Became Chief Minister’ – the Biography of Yogi Adityanath listed as the ‘Most memorable Non-Fiction Books of 2017’ by Amazon India.

Shantanu wrote a sequel to this book with the title – ‘The Monk Who Transformed Uttar Pradesh’. His another Book – ‘BJP – Past, Present & Future’ is now available in four Indian languages. Shantanu has an engineering degree from GB Pant University (India), Management education from XLRI, Jamshedpur (India) and did his Masters in Policy and Politics from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex (United Kingdom).

Shobhaa De

Shobhaa De, voted by Reader's Digest as one of India's Most Trusted People and by Daily News and Analysis as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in India is a bestselling author and a popular social commentator. Her works, both fiction and non-fiction, have been featured in comparative literature courses at universities in India and abroad. Her writing has been translated into French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish, among other languages.

Tigmanshu Dhulia

Tigmanshu Dhulia is a film dialogue writer, director, actor, screenwriter, producer and casting director known for his works in Hindi cinema and television. He wrote the dialogue for the 1998 film Dil Se, the first Bollywood film to chart in the UK top ten, and screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. His directing career has also garnered international recognition with the biographical film Paan Singh Tomar, which premiered at the 2010 BFI London Film Festival and the thriller drama Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster. Paan Singh Tomar eventually went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 2012. He is also known for his role as Ramadhir Singh in Anurag Kashyap's modern cult film Gangs of Wasseypur.

Toolika Rani

Squadron Leader Toolika Rani has served in Indian Air Force for ten years and as Outdoor Training Instructor, has trained several officers in outdoor military training, including India’s first three female fighter pilots. With 24 mountaineering and trekking expeditions in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Iran, Africa and Russia, she is the first woman from the state of Uttar Pradesh to climb Mt. Everest in 2012, and is the first Indian woman to climb Asia’s highest volcano Mt. Damavand in Iran.

A phenomenal speaker, she has delivered over 200 talks and interviews in India, USA, UK, Bulgaria, Italy and Malaysia on forums such as TEDx, Rotary International, Shri Ram College of Commerce Delhi, Lucknow University, Manipal University Jaipur, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Vadodara etc. She is the Ambassador of India, Women Empowerment Committee, in World Leader Summit ecosystem, and was the Brand Ambassador, SVEEP program of Election Commission of India, with Uttar Pradesh govt, in 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections.

Uday Mahurkar

Uday Mahurkar is an Author, Historian and the former Senior Deputy Editor of India Today. He has authored two books on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Centrestage and Marching with a Billion. His latest book, Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition features a foreword by RSS chief, Dr Mohan Bhagwat. He currently functions as the Central Information Commissioner for the Government of India.

Urmila Singh

The author of “Bisra Chulha Bisrey Swad- Awadh Key Lok Vyanjan,” Urmila Singh has, over the years, closely observed the traditional folk foods prevalent across Awadh. She has spent a good part of the last few decades visiting the remotest regions of the province, understanding the concepts surrounding folk cuisines, and how seasonal and traditional foods cure the body and mind. Eventually, she documented these recipes and compiled them into a book, ensuring that the generations to come benefit from her culinary experiences

Vidya Shah

Vidya Shah is a Singer and Musician from New Delhi, India. She was initially trained in Carnatic music, and later received guidance in the North Indian genres of Khayal (from Shubha Mudgal and Mujahid Hussain Khan) and Thumri Dadra, and Ghazal (from Shanti Hiranand). She has performed at national and international forums, including the Tansen Samaroh in Gwalior, the Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C, the Asia Society in New York and the Bode Museum in Berlin. A popular performer and a prolific composer, she is a recipient of the Charles Wallace Award and a Senior Fellowship from the Government of India for her project "Women on Record", a performance highlighting the contributions of the forgotten women performers in the Gramophone era. She writes and speaks on music and is the Author of Jalsa: Indian Women's Journey from the Salon to the Studio (Tulika Books). She was the Nana Shirgaokar Chair Professor for Indian Music at Goa University for 2016-20.

Vijai Trivedi

Vijai Trivedi is best known for his Political reporting, Parliamentary coverage, and his unique style of interviewing top politicians, bureaucrats, and celebrities. With a more than 35-year-long stint in political reporting and deep understanding of the Indian political arena, he softly puts the hardest of questions to his subjects without being shrill and unnecessarily loud. He is Editor-in-Chief at News India 24x7, a national satellite news channel. He has written 4 books focussing on how BJP evolved from the days of Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath. His latest book - Sangham Sharnam Gachchhami on the journey of RSS and BJP: Kal, Aaj Aur Kal drew a lot of attention. Herein, he thoroughly analyzed the rise of BJP and its place and future in Indian Politics. His other two books are Yada Yada hi Yogi on the emergence of Yogi Adityanath in BJP and Haar Nahi Manunga on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the founding architect of the BJP.

Vikram Sampath

Bangalore- based historian, Vikram Sampath is the author of eight acclaimed books: “Splendours of Royal Mysore: the Untold Story of the Wodeyars”; “My Name Is Gauhar Jaan: The Life and Times of a Musician”; “Voice of the Veena: S Balachander, A Biography”; “Women of the Records”; “Indian Classical Music and the Gramophone: 1900-1930” and “Bravehearts of Bharat.” His two-volume biography-“Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past” and “Savarkar: A Contested Legacy” went on to become National Bestsellers and were acclaimed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dr. Sampath was recently conferred the honour of being elected as a Fellow of UK's prestigious Royal Historical Society. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi's first Yuva Puraskar in English Literature and the ARSC International Award for Excellence in Historical research in New York for his book on Gauhar Jaan. The book has also been adapted to theatre as a play "Gauhar" by Lillette Dubey and is being adapted into a Bollywood film by Ashutosh Gowariker.

Virendra Sarang

Virendra Sarang is a multi-faceted Hindi author and poet. He published his first anthology of poems, Kon Se Kate Huye in 1993. Since then, Sarang has authored another five collections, including Hawao! Laut Jao, Apne Paas Hona, Chalo Kavi Se Poochhte Hain and Katha Ka Prishth.

Sarang has also penned as many as five Hindi works of fiction so far, namely Aryagaatha, Haata-Rahim, Baanjh Sapooti, Jananayak Krishna and Algani Par Samay.

He has, over the years, won numerous awards and recognitions for his writing prowess, the Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi Samman, the Vijaydev Narayan Sahi Samman (UP Hindi Sansthan), Bhojpuri Shiromani and the Balkrishna Bhatt Samman, to name a few.

Yatindra Mishra

Yatindra Mishra is a celebrated Hindi Poet, and Music and Cinema Scholar. He has four collections of poetry to his credit- Yada-Kada, Ayodhya Tatha Anya Kavitayein, Dyorhi Par Aalaap and Vibhas. He has several well received books on Indian Classical Music and Cinema, including 'Girija' (Based on Thumri Singer Girija Devi), 'Devpriya' (Dialogue with danseuse Sonal Mansingh), 'Sur Ki Baradari' (Life & Times of Shehnai Maestro Bismillah Khan) and 'Akhtari: Soz Aur Saaz Ka Afsana'(Based on Thumri and Ghazal Queen Begum Akhtar). He is the editor of a cultural gazetteer of Faizabad titled 'Shahernama Faizabad'. His book 'Lata : Sur-Gatha' (Musical Journey of legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar) won a total of Seven Awards in 2017 including the prestigious 64th National Film Award for Best Writing on Cinema (Swarna Kamal) and MAMI Mumbai Film Festival Award for Best Writing on Cinema, Mumbai, 2016-17.