Author, columnist, creative writing teacher, blogger, and freelance journalist, Rachna wears many hats. She is a freelancer for the Deccan Chronicle, The Asian Age, Young World, Open Sesame, Tele Kids, and Deccan Herald Student Edition newspapers.

Hailed from Kolkata, Prasun Roy is an entrepreneur and a proli?c author. Besides researching and writing about our forgotten heroes, he has also written books for children.

Dr. Geeta Malhotra is the Country Director of Read India. She comes from Gurgaon. She has set up eight community libraries in Uttar Pradesh, two in Lucknow

She is the author of the book titled 'Unbroken', now available in both English and Marathi and translated into Dutch as 'Herborn'. 'Unbroken' delves into her remarkable journey and the invaluable lessons she has gathered along the way, exploring themes of grit, willpower, humanity, peace and womanhood.

Shantanu Gupta is an Indian author and political analyst. He is also the founder of The Ramayana School. Gupta has authored six books including Bharatiya Janata Party: Past, Present and Future— Story of World's Largest Political Party and The Monk Who Became Chief Minister which is biography of the 22nd and current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh - Yogi Adityanath

Mohit Gupta, conceptualized the idea of FROB-friends of books, a social app around books as a pure passion to chase his love for reading books and feeding his curiosity. He often lends his strategic expertise to startups and social sector organizations in the ?eld of learning and education

Police of?cer, Rajesh Pandey was among the founding members of the UPSTF (Special Ta s k F o r c e ) . H i s b o o k , 'Operation Bazooka', co-written with Rakesh Goswami, gives a detailed account of the country’s ?rst electronic surveillance unit developed by Pandey and how the STF nabbed the gangster.

Dr. Rakesh Goswami is a renowned journalist, currently teaching at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi. He has worked with notable news and media houses like Hindustan Times, Times Now and IBN7.

Ravi Bhatt is a renowned historian and wellknown for his book titled ‘The Life and Times of the Nawabs of Lucknow’. He writes weekly columns for the esteemed newspapers and appears frequently on popular channels on subjects related to history.

Atma Prakash Misra has been associated with Doordarshan and All India Radio for more than three decades. He has also worked with many international institutions including BBC, European Union, and Asia Paci?c Broadcast Union. He has received many national and international accolades and awards including Yash Bharati and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

Koral has published an eclectic range of books, which can be found in university libraries across the world, including Harvard, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Wales, Duke, North Carolina and Texas. Her work is widely discussed in the context of gender studies, art and mythology. Her works include 'Ahalya', 'Kunti: The Sati Series II', 'Draupadi: The Sati Series III', 'The Dance of Desire', 'Mandodri: The Sati Series IV' and many more.

Antar Atreya, an economics graduate wrote his ?rst book at the age of 14. He was a co-author with Durjoy Datta in the book, 'Pocketful O' Stories'. He has featured on leading national media like the Asian Age, Deccan Chronicle, New Indian Express, Business World, The Sentinel, Daily Hunt, Telly Buzz and others.

Kevin wrote his ?rst book at the age of 14, and at 22, the St. Stephens graduate was a bestselling author with the ?rst two books in his Kalki series which were runaway successes. Kevin loves fantasy ?ction and has always been a fan of mythology

Dr. Hari Om is a man of many great talents a writer, composer, singer and an of?cer who belongs from Uttar Pradesh. He has performed and shared stages with many popular singers of the country like Kailash Kher, Shreya Ghoshal, Ghulam Ali and many more. He is a popular artist in Lucknow, known for prominent publishing.

Badri Narayan, a Sahitya Akademi Awardee, is a Professor in the Centre for the Study of Discrimination and Exclusion at the School of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

He is working for Sangat Hindwi (fganoh) along with being a Podcastor and a Poet. He has also worked for AAJ Tak Radio, All India Radio and Doordarshan.

One of Lucknow's most notable personalities, Shri Chander Prakash is the proud owner of Uni ver sal Booksellers, Lucknow, the city's oldest chain of bookstores. He is the President of the Ex-Chief Warden Civil Defence and Connect Lucknow. He has also supported the Gomti Book Festival since the release of its ?rst edition. He actively participates in promoting Lucknow's rich cultural legacy.

Bhoopesh Rai is the founder of the Repertwahr Foundation, which has been working to promote performing arts in g e n e r a l a n d t h e a tr e i n particular, in the smaller towns of the country, with a special focus on the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Sheelwant Singh is faculty member at Brainz IAS Institute, Lucknow and Mantra Institute, Kanpur. He teaches various subjects like Reasoning, Polity, and Environment to students of Civil Services, Banking, SSC and UGC NET exam and have extensive experience of 15-20 years in teaching their respective subjects.

Zaheer Abbass Dardistani is a ?lmmaker who graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. He is an activist for mountain tribal culture who works to protect the Dardic shinya way of life, the Aryan tribe, and the Ladakh language.

T.N. Sinha is a textile engineer by profession. He has 45 years of experience working in the country and abroad. He is a wellknown humorist, satirist and his articles are regularly published in various reputed newspapers and magazines of the country

Radiant radio luminary, Prateek Bharadwaj, famously known as RJ Prateek, is illuminating Uttar Pradesh with his mesmerizing radio ?nesse. Starting in 2013 at All India Radio, his journey evolved, entwining hearts through his distinct voice. Crowned the best RJ in Uttar Pradesh, he’s an indelible mark on radio broadcasting, lighting up the airwaves.

Nilotpal MrinalNilotpal Mrinal is an Indian author, poet, socio-pol itical activist and social media in?uencer. He is known for hi s book s ‘Dar k Horse’, and ‘Aughad’. In 2016, he was awarded India's Sahitya Akademi Award.

Programme Head at All India Radio, Dr. Anamika Srivastava has published more than 500 articles in various newspapers, magazines and journals. Linguistically diverse, she had her ? r s t poetr y ' K a d a m b i n i ' w a s published in 1983.

Apart from being a social worker, Amit Tiwari is also a young entrepreneur. Amit's interest is abundant in philosophy and literature. Amit's previously published book 'Maya Mari Na Man Mara' was well known, which was given a place in big magazines of literature.

Shri Ashok Kumar is one of the most popular DGPs Uttarakhand has had. An IPS of?cer of the 1989 batch and alumnus of IIT-Delhi, Kumar is known for his sheer determination and courage when it comes to serving the state and the country. He loves working for people and enjoys contributing towards the eradication of the evils of society.

Amit Dubey is a well-known Cyber Crime Investigator and author of several books including Return of the Trojan Horse, Hidden Files, Hidden Files Unlock & Atharva. He hosts the radio show “Hidden Files” on 93.5 Red FM.

Kalpana Swaminathan is an Indian writer from Mumbai. She also writes with Ishrat Syed as Kalpish Ratna. Swaminathan and Syed are both surgeons. She has won the 2009 Vodafone Crossword Book Award (Fiction) for Venus Crossing: Twelve Stories of Transit.

Ishrat Syed trained as a general and pediatric surgeon in Grant Medical College, Bombay. His photography draws its inspiration from the Sahyadris where he roamed as a boy in Panchgani. Words are travelers, and he loves the stories they contain.

Currently serving as the State Editor at Dainik Jagran, Ashutosh Shukla is actively working in the capacity of Uttar Pradesh's editor. He has published four books and four translations. He wrote the screenplay for a documentary on ‘Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya’ for Doordarshan. Alongside these endeavors, he continues his journalism work.

Dr. Rajesh Kumar Vyas is a renowned cultural poet, art critic and travelogue writer of India. Honoured with the highest honour of the Central Sahitya Akademi, the travelogues of Dr. Vyas, published by National Book Trust, India, such as ‘Kashmir se Kanyakumari’, ‘Narmade Har’ and ‘Aankh Bhar Umang’ have been much talked about and acclaimed.

Ex H.O.D. Lucknow University

An Indian theatre, TV and ?lm actor

Assistant Programming Head, Red FM

Radio Jockey & Creative Content Manager

Discover the tales of a brother duo handling a long legacy of business. Founders of Gyan Dairy take the stage to talk a b o u t r e t a i n i n g l o n g withstanding family business and expanding it your way at the same time.

Sanjeev Paliwal is considered to be one of the pioneering Hindi TV journalists. He has been in the industry for 30 years and has worked with many prestigious Hindi newspapers such as Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala and Aaj as well as leading channels l i k e Do o r d a r s h a n , BITV, IBN7/News18 and TV Today group. He currently works at Aaj Tak as a senior executive editor. Naina is his ?rst novel in Hindi.

Chandrachur Ghose is a writer on economics, environment, history and politics. He has had a multidisciplinary career spanning over two decades, having worked with one of the most wel l-known environmental organisations in India, an academic institute of global excellence and an economic research ?rm that is a trusted brand among Indian businesses.

Anuj Dhar is an Indian author and former journalist. He has published several books around the locus of death of Subhas Chandra Bose that propound theories about his living for several years after the purported plane crash, thus contradicting the current consensus.

Anand is co-author of Quest: Leading Tr a n s f o r m a t i o n J o u r n e y s , a b o o k summarizing IMD faculty’s research on corporate transformations, which won the 2015 Axiom Business Books International Business Gold Medal. He is currently working on a book on the unconscious dynamics of teams as an underappreciated factor in corporate governance failures.

Sandeep Dutt is an explorer and storyteller who has dedicated himself to capturing the narratives of life. He is an avid traveler, an artist, and a lover of music and poetry. In his exploration so far, he has learned six languages, written poems & songs, traveled to many places and met different types of people. He has also founded an Indo-Pak oral history project, an NGO for artists, an artistic travel company, coauthored ‘The Speaking Window- Tales From A Bloodied Timeline’ published by Oxford University Press and his journey continues.

Sheelwant Singh is faculty member at Brainz IAS Institute, Lucknow and Mantra Institute, Kanpur. He teaches various subjects like Reasoning, Polity, and Environment to students of Civil Services, Banking, SSC and UGC NET exam and have extensive experience of 15-20 years in teaching their respective subjects.

Amit Singh is an educationist, a soc ial entrepreneur and a philanthropist. He is the Editor-inChief of 'Current Review', a monthly magazine on current affairs. He is the author of the book “ The Great Lockdown”.