Meeting the family behind Patna Litfest

Patna, Feb 15, 2014: Yesterday evening after the Patna Literature Festival 2014 I skipped the cultural programme but went for dinner at Dr Ajit Pradhan’s house. Dr Pradhan, a heart surgeon at Jeevak Heart Hospital, is the main brain behind the NGO founded in 2009 called Navras School of Performing Arts (NSPA) which promotes art and culture. I also met his wife Anvita Pradhan who is equally involved in promoting Patna Literature Festival and works tirelessly supported by Aradhna Pradhan.

He is also its director. Navras is the main organizing body of Patna Litfest.

The who’s who of Patna were there at the dinner including Shatrughan Sinha and many others.

I had one morning session at the PLF today on “Media and Markets” (Samaaj aur Bazaar ke Beech Media) with senior journalist and author, Shravan Garg, and Ravish Kumar, an NDTV anchor, associated with popular programmes like Prime Time, Ravish ki Report and Hum Log.

After my session, I went to the Raj Bhavan to meet His Excellency, Governor of Bihar, Sri Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil, and presented him with a copy of my book The Safari: A Diary on Ranthambore. I invited him to visit Kolkata which he very graciously accepted.

In the evening, I attended a dinner at the Maurya which was hosted by the Youth Affairs wing of the department of the state’s Cultural Affairs Ministry. Throughout the day the weather was heavy and gloomy with rains. I hope there would be some respite tomorrow.

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