The Rotary Club of Thane Hills (RCTH), RID 3142, in collaboration with the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), recently hosted the first Thane Literature Festival (TLF).
The two-day festival featured 24 renowned authors and creative minds from across India, travelling from Mumbai, Vadodara, Bengaluru and Chennai — all attending without honorarium, purely for the love of literature and on the special invitation of RCTH.
The festival opened with industrialist-poet Nadir Godrej, the self-styled ‘Poet Laureate of India Inc’, having a tete-a-tete with Atul Bhide, TLF convenor and past president of the club. Godrej’s straight-from-the-heart answers and childlike purity thrilled the packed audience. His recitation of specially curated poems, ranging from those on the Parsi community to a ‘Vote of Thanks’, were greatly appreciated. His new poem on Ratan Tata, recited just a day ahead, served as a formal launch of the book Doing the Right Thing, Learning from Ratan Tata by Harish Bhat, former brand custodian of Tata Sons. In his address, he shared inspiring anecdotes on Ratan Tata. Veteran author, journalist and former editor of Femina Sathya Saran, and Sahitya Akademi awardee journalist, poet, and translator Jerry Pinto, enthralled everyone by their take on Bollywood in the session titled Films and Books.
Three inspiring corporate leaders — Anil Khandelwal (former chairman of Bank of Baroda), veteran ad-man Amby Parameswaran and renowned industrialist Rahul Mirchandani, who have all turned authors, shared their take on Why We Write.
The discussions went beyond traditional genres. Authors Vikrant and Subha Pande and poet Sampurna Chattarji discussed translation not as imitation but as a crucial act of recreation in The Art, Science and Business of Translation session. Retired IAS officer and Marathi author, and President of the 99th All India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan Vishwas Patil, spoke on the relevance of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in today’s era. A powerful session titled Stories that serve: Editors of Change featured Rasheeda Bhagat, Editor of Rotary News, along with Karon Shaiva. In this session, the moderator Seetha Raju quizzed them on how journalism can become a vital force for empathy and ethical service. The highlight of the first day was an inspiring talk by writer Devdutt Pattanaik, who spoke engagingly about his new book The Bakasura Effect.
On the second day veteran journalist and celebrated satirist Bachi Karkaria’s session Erratica and Beyond earned a spontaneous standing ovation from the packed audience. She was given the first TLF Life Time Achievement Award.
In the session Accidental Pilgrim, journalist and acclaimed author Namita Devidayal’s new book Tangerine: How to Read the Upanishads Without Giving Up Coffee was launched. This writer moderated a session with authors Charles Assisi and Dhamini Rathnam, on Why we write, exploring the core compulsion behind storytelling. They affirmed that in the age of AI, the authenticity and unique insight of the human writer — whether imposing an intellectual order on complex systems or archiving marginalised identity — remains the non-replicable value of the craft. The session titled Visual Stories gave an interesting take on the role and importance of images in literature— and celebrated diverse forms of storytelling from art, illustrations and photographs. Artists Kripa Bhatia, Sucharita, and renowned photographer Chirodeep, along with journalist Jane Borges, brought out this unique angle in literature.
During the two days of the lit fest, two performances stood out. Daastangoi, a deeply moving dramatic reading in Hindi, and Abhivachan in Marathi, by Dhanashree Karmarkar and Shrirang Khatavkar. They reminded the audience that storytelling began as a vibrant spoken art long before it was printed on paper.
Two performances stood out: Daastangoi, a deeply moving dramatic reading in Hindi, and Abhivachan in Marathi. They reminded the audience that storytelling began as a vibrant spoken art long before it was printed on paper.
Past president Atul Bhide, the prime mover behind the festival, provided visionary leadership and resilience despite recently undergoing a spine surgery. He was fully supported by club president Samir Limaye.
The lit festival was financially supported by corporates such as the Fortress Group, Yes Bank, Bio Zed and TJSB Sahakari Bank, thanks to help from Rtns A S Kumar, Jayant Nagavkar and P P Vijay Shetty. The association with the NCPA and the Hindustan Times got it good media coverage.
By organising this lit festival, RCTH has confirmed Rotary’s capacity to drive cultural change, demonstrating that when service and community engagement converge, words truly become a lasting force for good.
The writer is a past president of the Rotary Club of Thane Hills