Engaging Conversations & Learning: Day 1 At Women Writers' Fest Mumbai

The SheThePeople.TV Women Writers' Fest opened to an enthusiastic audience at 10 am on Friday, February 24. Kiran Manral, Ideas Editor at SheThePeople.TV, introduced the festival to the crowd.

She announced the first panel which discussed how to bring up a generation of readers. Panellists Payal Kapadia, Preeti Vyas, Lubaina Tyeb Bandukwala and Dr. Swati Popat Vats were in conversation with Ruchita Dar Shah.

From which age to begin reading to your child, to talking about the advantages and disadvantages of the role of technology in reading, and finding a balance in leaving choice to the kids, they discussed it all

You can read more about the panel here .

Then it was Sagarika Ghose's turn to wow the audience with her recounting of how she re-discovered Indira Gandhi. She said how by the end of it, she had become obsessed with the character. Though she disagreed with her politics, she couldn’t help but be in awe of her personality.

The third panel of the WWF discussed “The Business of Blogging: How they created Breakthrough Blogs". This panel was an informative and insightful one with responses from panellists across the spectrum of fashion, beauty, parenting and writing. We had Prerna Sinha, Aanam Chashmawala, Kavya D’souza and Ila Johari talk about the difficulties of blogging and what it takes to be a successful blogger. The panel was moderated by Anjali Kirpalani. From how to start as a blogger and how to invest in your journey and self, they spoke about it all. 

Abhijeet Kilni, Priyanka Paul and Neelam Kumar left the audience in splits on their discussion of graphic novels and visual storytelling.

Kilni is the creator of the 'Angry Maushi' character and spoke about how the demand for homegrown Indian graphic novels is growing. Who knows, we may see an Indian superhero capture the world's imagination soon

Neelam Kumar spoke about how she translated her story of surviving cancer into a graphic which is now funded by Amitabh Bachchan!

Miss Malini ended the day by generously giving her blogging tips to aspiring writers. She said that when it comes to making money from brands, bloggers are expected to have more integrity. “If I say something is amazing, I better think it is,” she said.

She said that you have to be consistent on your blog. If you build up a loyal reader base, you have to keep them engaged. You are only as relevant as what you last posted, she said. Also think about your differentiator. What makes what you are saying different? she asked.

All in all, it was a day of engaging conversations, learning and friendship.

Also Read: Chronicling Success Stories: Women Writers' Fest