Knowledge Factory Festival in M’luru on Friday

From a celebrity cancer survivor speaking on how to keep one’s spirit alive to a supermodel and an entrepreneur discussing sustainable fashion; theatre addicts celebrating memories of Girish Karnad to a history quiz digging nuggets from the past, the fourth edition of the Knowledge Factory festival (#KF2020) scheduled in Mangaluru for Friday is set to unveil a wide range of insights to enrich minds.

With Deccan Herald as the media partner for the second successive year, the festival with the tagline, “Mind, Mischief, More” made its debut in 2017 in New Delhi.

‘Build intelligent citizens’

It is now looking beyond its metropolitan origins to a smaller city as part of a mission to spread an eclectic pursuit of knowledge to build intelligent citizens.

The festival (https://knowledgefactory.co.in/) of “insights, ideas and trivia” is special this year as it kick-starts the centenary celebrations of south India’s first all-women college, St Agnes, in their brand-new auditorium, marking a departure from being hosted at upscale hotels till now.

Knowledge Factory has attracted star speakers in all its editions, including former environment minister Jairam Ramesh, BJP leader Varun Gandhi, actors Swara Bhasker and Richa Chadda, philanthropist Rohini Nilekani and corporate leaders Vijay Shekhar, Raj Nayak and Suresh Narayanan to name a few.

Aiming to blend the light with the serious, the festival also features slices of entertainment.

Stand-up comedian Papa CJ and rebel singer Rahul Ram have been among those who have enthralled citizens at previous KF editions.

Indo-Canadian actor and fashion queen Lisa Rani Ray, a cancer survivor, kicks off #KF2020 speaking on “Broken And More Beautiful” followed by supermodel Dipannita Sarma in conversation with Kriti Tula, founder of sustainable fashion startup, Doodlage.

Ace shooter Heena Sidhu, who has been shooting from her heart against the subjugation of women, will speak on her mind and journey, while
Dr A Velumani will speak on success secrets drawing from his humble origins to founding the Thyrocare diagnostics chain.

Other topics include composer and singer Nandini Srikar speaking on how to make ad jingles to media leaders; Sunil Buch and Anuradha Kedia on how careers will change for youngsters in the 21st Century.

Vignettes

Actor Prakash Belawadi will recall vignettes from the life and times of Girish Karnad, arguably the tallest intellectual produced by Karnataka in recent years.

Emceed by celebrated television anchor Rini Simon Khanna, Knowledge Factory successfully hosted its first three editions in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

“Though targeted at young urban professionals, Knowledge Factory retains its motive to be an event beyond age or other barriers to encourage the free pursuit of knowledge, celebrate robust inter-disciplinary thinking and generate cutting-edge ideas,” said Madhavan Narayanan, senior journalist who co-created the event with Amith Prabhu, a Mangaluru native who went on to become a public relations entrepreneur and Meena Vaidyanathan, a senior corporate communicator and social entrepreneur.

Quizmaster Gaurava Yadav will wind up this year’s Knowledge Factory, with cash prizes to be won in a history quiz.