Latest news with #BanuMushtaq
The Hindu
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
9th edition of Mysuru Literature Festival to be held on July 5 and 6; to dish out food for thought, ideas for reflection
The 9th edition of the Mysuru Literature Festival will be held in the city on July 5 and 6 and will serve food for thought and ideas for reflection on a wide gamut of issues germane to the contemporary times. The annual festival is organised by the Mysuru Literary Forum Charitable Trust and Mysuru Book Clubs Charitable Trust, and will be held at Hoel Southern Star. Shubha Sanjay Urs, founder and director of the Mysuru Literature Festival, said on Tuesday that the event will be inaugurated by Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the erstwhile royal family of Mysore. International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq and former scientist at the Defence Research and Development Organisation Prahalada Rama Rao will be the guests of honour. The inauguration will be followed by panel discussions and sessions featuring a veritable 'Who's Who' from the field of arts, culture, media, etc., and the programme will open with 'Lighting the Way: Kannada, Women, and the Booker's International State', featuring Ms. Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi in conversation with Bharath Diwakar. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, will speak on legacy in 'A Name Inherited, A Voice Earned', while Ranjit Hoskote, Arundhathi Nath, and Deepti Navaratna will discuss translation and global reach in 'Transcending the Barriers of the Dialect and Reaching Out to the World'. Anita Nair and Mark Abott will explore crime fiction, while Romulus Whitaker, Janaki Lenin, and Ishan Shanavas will discuss issues related to conservation. On the first day, there will be a session on 'Battles and Bloodbaths of Yore', which will feature Anirudh Kanisetti and Arun Krishnan who will discuss historical storytelling. On the second day, Mani Shankar Aiyar of the Congress will be in discussion with Aroon Raman on 'Decades of Diplomacy, Democracy, and Political Developments', while the environmental themes will continue with Stephen Alter, Susheel Gyanchad, and Priya Davidar. Ms. Urs said the two-day event features both Kannada and English panels, and it will have almost 20 conferences or discussions in English and as many in Kananda, including engagement with publishers and literary agents. There will also be book releases by new and upcoming authors among others. The poster for the literary festival was released.
Hans India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hans India
Booker winner to preside over 88th All India Kannada Literary Meet
Ballari: Acclaimed Kannada writer and Booker Prize laureate Banu Mushtaq has been unanimously chosen to preside over the 88th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana (All India Kannada Literary Meet), which is set to be held in Ballari later this year. The announcement was made by Kannada Sahitya Parishat President Mahesh Joshi following a meeting of the Parishat's executive committee held in Ballari on Sunday. Banu Mushtaq, known for her powerful literary voice and commitment to social issues, has made an indelible mark in contemporary Kannada literature. As a writer, translator, and educationist, her works often explore themes of identity, gender, and justice. Her recognition with the Booker Prize — a rare feat for an Indian regional language writer — brought unprecedented global attention to Kannada literature. Her appointment as president of the prestigious literary conclave has been widely welcomed by the literary fraternity. The Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, a major cultural event in Karnataka's literary calendar, brings together writers, scholars, and readers from across the country to celebrate and deliberate on Kannada literature and its evolving role in society. This year's Sammelana is expected to focus on expanding the reach of Kannada literature in a multilingual and digital India, and Mushtaq's leadership is likely to add renewed critical insight and global perspective to the event.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Writer Banu Mushtaq to chair 88th Kannada literary meet in Ballari
Kannada writer and International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq has been unanimously chosen as president of the 88th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelan scheduled to be held in Ballari in December 2025. The decision was announced by president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat (KSP) Mahesh Joshi at a press conference following an executive committee meeting of the parishat at a private hotel there on Sunday. Mr. Joshi said that it was a matter of great pride that a senior woman writer has been chosen to preside over the literary conclave. 'Among the 87 sammelans so far, only four have been chaired by women writers. Now, Banu Mushtaq becomes the fifth to receive this honour,' he said. 'The executive committee also considered the names of senior writers Veena Shanteshwari and Malati Pattanashetti, but eventually finalised Banu Mushtaq,' Mr. Joshi said and added that Ms. Mushtaq has accepted the invitation. 'The decision of the executive committee was communicated to Ms. Mushtaq and she has accepted it. She responded positively saying that it is an honour and serving Kannada is her duty,' Mr. Joshi said. The committee also resolved to specially felicitate journalist and writer Deepa Bhasthi during the sammelan, in recognition of her contribution in bringing Banu Mushtaq's literary work to the global audience. 'I have held preliminary discussions regarding the sammelan with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister for Kannada and Culture Shivaraj Tangadagi. They have all welcomed the decision and congratulated Banu Mushtaq,' he said. A brief moment of drama unfolded during the press conference when after announcing Ms. Mushtaq's name as the president of the sahitya sammelan, Mr. Joshi walked off the dais midway as journalists began asking questions about the selection of the executive committee meeting venue, the constitution of the reception committee for the event and the way the Sahitya Parishat is functioning under him. With this appointment, Banu Mushtaq joins a distinguished group of women who have previously presided over the sahitya sammelan: Jayadevi Tai Ligade in Mandya (1971), Shantadevi Malawad in Bagalkot (2000), Kamala Hampana in Moodbidri (2003) and Geeta Nagabhushana in Gadag (2010).
Mint
4 days ago
- Business
- Mint
We are all stuck in a pyramid scheme fuelled by AI FOMO
Gift this article Here is what I recently read about a company called and perhaps you did too? Here was a $1.5 billion company that had promised to make app designing as simple as 'ordering a pizza" using an AI environment called Natasha. Apparently, the company began to fall apart in 2025 because of a revelation that Natasha was not AI at all and was actually 700 Indian engineers madly typing away. This made me laugh only because it dug up a memory of a video or a cartoon in which we go to the ATM, press buttons expecting high-tech delivery of cash but meanwhile there is someone behind the wall in a safari suit whose manly arm comes out of the slot. You know, low-tech silliness. Not that bad decisions leading to the loss of employment and well-being of innocent parties is otherwise funny in any way. Here is what I recently read about a company called and perhaps you did too? Here was a $1.5 billion company that had promised to make app designing as simple as 'ordering a pizza" using an AI environment called Natasha. Apparently, the company began to fall apart in 2025 because of a revelation that Natasha was not AI at all and was actually 700 Indian engineers madly typing away. This made me laugh only because it dug up a memory of a video or a cartoon in which we go to the ATM, press buttons expecting high-tech delivery of cash but meanwhile there is someone behind the wall in a safari suit whose manly arm comes out of the slot. You know, low-tech silliness. Not that bad decisions leading to the loss of employment and well-being of innocent parties is otherwise funny in any way. Also read: Banu Mushtaq's recipe for Gobi Manchurian Life can be full of hard-to-believe-is-this-true comedy but apparently in the case of I hear that this story wasn't quite it. The truth about collapse was reportedly more about investors finding out about sketchy accounting. was allegedly not making as much money as it was telling its investors it was. You can see why someone wanted the other story to be true. The idea of Natasha on the outside being Nitesh on the inside with a BE and not just one Nitesh with a BE but many Niteshes with many BEs, is irresistible. Financial investment is also about wanting stories to be true. It might sound rational but often it is about finding some stories irresistible. When I was a girl living in a Malayali world, the news from my parents' hometowns in Kerala came in steady waves that made patterns easily discernible. One year, everyone was enthusiastically planting manjiyam to get rich, manjiyam being a kind of acacia tree. Another year we heard, everyone was into teak. I don't remember what was special about these goats but one year was Peak Goat. Emus came along much later but they did. The special feature about these get-rich-quick schemes is that it feels very democratic. It is the opposite of your uncle from the Gulf going into the forest in Wayanad with his two brand-new friends who know exactly where to find a secret cobra with a jewel on its forehead. A goat in hand is better than a snake in Kalpetta. No one got rich with manjiyam. All of last year, watchdogs of financial markets, institutional investors and other folks who are in the long game have been warning the world of 'AI washing". This can be confused with AI washing machines which promise to dissolve detergent in water before the wash cycle starts but let's not get distracted. AI washing is not so terribly exciting as technology sold as AI to excite investors who are looking for a new high. A good 69% of Indian CEOs are hopping with their legs crossed, investing in AI even though they don't quite know what it can do One of the most honest stories I have read in this context was in an Outlook Business report about IBM's 2025 CEO study. The study reportedly showed that FOMO was pushing investment in AI and that Indian CEOs were stressed because the revenue was not rolling in yet. In case that was one acronym too many, FOMO is the fear of missing out and the reason why small children hop about with their legs crossed rather than go to the bathroom. A good 69% of Indian CEOs are hopping with their legs crossed, the report says, investing in AI even though they don't quite know what it can do because they are afraid of missing out. I recently wrote a set of at-home exams and my 16-year-old nephew asked me what is stopping me from using ChatGPT. On WhatsApp I am hindered from climbing on to my soapbox and becoming a bore about how thrilling it is to be able to study in my old age. So instead I just said that in these exams, it was not about getting correct answers from texts, it is about being able to say something new. Of course, folks working in education are constantly having to warn students that generative AI can get things wrong too. And that it skips the steps of knowledge creation where humans first get things wrong, then right, then they get wonderfully inventive. Also read: When we mock the working class, the joke is on us Casey Fiesler, an information science professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, has an excellent explanation for why ChatGPT is not a search engine. Large Language Models, she says, is not searching for data, it only has a 'statistical echo" of data. ChatGPT gets things wrong, Fiesler says, because it is 'statistically probable, linguistically fluent not verifiably accurate." I heard this explanation and felt a deep sense of déjà vu—an echo of tech bro desire that doesn't mind being wrong as long as it happens fast and sounds smooth. The being wrong part is a problem, of course. It is the fast part that I think is a bigger problem. Why is everyone dying to be so fast? Why have big companies transferred their FOMO to not letting their employees go to the bathroom? Why do CEOs not want their employees to stay at home and look at their husbands or wives? People who already have a crazy amount of money feel like it isn't enough. And like the people who worked for the pharaohs, we are stuck in their pyramid scheme. With the disclaimer that I find a hand sticking out of the ATM slot funny, I want to say, my friends, AI is beginning to feel a wee bit manjiyam. Nisha Susan is the author of The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories. ChatGPT gets things wrong because it is statistically probable, linguistically fluent not verifiably accurate. 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Nikkei Asia
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Nikkei Asia
Books: Kannada Booker triumph 'to boost Indian regional writing'
Books Prizewinning translator Deepa Bhasthi celebrates international award Translator Deepa Bhasthi, left, and writer Banu Mushtaq pose with their trophies after winning the International Booker Prize for the short story collection "Heart Lamp," on May 20 in London. (© David Parry for the Booker Prize Foundation) MYTHILY RAMACHANDRAN CHENNAI -- Global interest in literature written in Kannada and other Indian regional languages is likely to rise significantly following this year's International Booker Prize win for the English translation of Banu Mushtaq's "Heart Lamp," according to translator Deepa Bhasthi. "Heart Lamp" -- a collection of 12 stories originally published in Kannada between 1990 and 2023 -- was the only work on the shortlist that was not a novel and was not expected to win the award, presented in London on May 20, despite warm notices from critics.
