No prisoner of any idea, Bengaluru lit fest embodied spirit of venue: Freedom Park

The Bangalore Literature Festival 2025 drew to a close Sunday with discussions revolving around female writers, poetry, art, language and travel. 

Over 50 sessions and panel discussions were held across two days. 

For the first time, the festival was held at Freedom Park, a venue earlier confined to hosting protests and much earlier than that, the city’s central prison. 

On the choice of venue, V Ravichandar, part of the organising team, said: “Our primary aim was to conduct a public event in a public place and by doing so, making Freedom Park a more prominent public space. Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) helped get the place ready in time”. 

The GBA was instrumental in fixing toilets, old barracks, amphitheatre and other spaces where the sessions were held, he said. 

The nearby multi-level parking facility and the proximity to the metro station made the venue more convenient, he added. 

“The park is huge and if we decide to scale up the festival in the coming years, we will have the space to do so. Additionally, the choice is cost effective as compared to previous venues,” said Ravichandar. 

Among the many who appreciated the choice of venue for its easy accessibility and sprawling space was Kannada author Vasudhendra. “It is also interesting that a former jail has now hosted a literature festival,” he said. 

Womanhood, female voices & revolt

At ‘Just Like a Woman’, novelists Gayathri Prabhu and Anita Nair discussed respective works — ‘A Genre of Her Own: Life Narratives and Feminist Literary Beginnings in Modern India’ and ‘Why I Killed My Husband’ — were discussed. It was moderated by journalist Diaa Hadid. 

Gayathri, a literary studies professor in Delhi, said she often wondered, “Who are my literary foremothers?” Her book, divided into three clusters, featuring Marathi, Bengali and Anglophone voices. 

About Anita’s short story, Diaa called it “a fun read”, and asked about its origins. Anita replied that the story involved extensive research. 

Another women-oriented Kannada session ‘Hosa Baraha’ — featuring Kannada women writers Bhagyajyoti Hiremath, Fathima Raliya, Sudha Adukala and Jayashree Kasaravalli — discussed the rise of women writers in Kannada and articulated the challenges they faced. 

The session titled ‘The Ghadar Movement: A Forgotten Struggle’ discussed the struggles of Punjabis’ return to India in the 20th century after Canada closed its doors and the Ghadar movement was discussed by author Rana Preet Gill with Karthik Venkatesh. 

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Cut-off box - Cancelled flights up budget 
As IndiGo flights continue to be cancelled the festival team was forced to come up with solutions. “Out of 285 speakers 20-22 could not make it. For others we made alternative arrangements and it scaled up our travel budget by over 25%” said Ravichandar. 
Film buffs were disappointed by the cancellation of a session titled ‘English Vinglish: Mother Tongue Other Tongue’ featuring noted film director Gauri Shinde. 
Some had extended their visit to Bengaluru to catch the session. 
Shreya K P a communications professional from Delhi said “I extended my stay because I wanted to attend a few sessions many of which got cancelled including Gauri’s. The session would have been relevant at a time when language discussions and Hindi imposition are hot topics. The film is about an Indian homemaker who feels disrespected in her own household for not being able to speak English”.