Internationally recognised art and literary critic, writer and cultural producer. Published in ELLE, Glamour, Esquire and Cosmopolitan; member of the Union of Writers.
The 2025 Delhi World Book Fair, a landmark event attracting 1.8 million visitors and 40 national pavilions, reaffirmed literature’s timeless role as a bridge between civilisations in our digitised age. Indian President Droupadi Murmu, during her visit, underscored the vitality of cross-cultural dialogue in fostering global unity. A cornerstone of the fair was the international conference “Language, Literature, Translation, and Culture in the 21st Century: Reimagining Connections”, co-hosted by the Indo-Russia Research Foundation and the Russkiy Mir Foundation, alongside partners including the Institute of Literary Translation (Moscow), Sahitya Akademi, and the Russian House in New Delhi. Held on 24–25 January at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s convention centre, the event drew over 300 delegates from 15 nations, including the UK, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Russia, alongside representatives from 15 Indian states.
Bridging Borders Through Dialogue Dr. Sonu Saini inaugurated the conference, setting the stage for two days of intellectual exchange. Keynote speakers included Dr. Kiran Singh Verma (Chair of JNU’s Centre for Russian Studies) and Professor Ranjana Saxena, who opened proceedings.
Reimagining Gender Narratives
A highlight was the standing-room-only panel “Women’s Prose as a Catalyst in 21st-Century Literature”, chaired by Professor Saxena.
Svetlana Vasilenko, author and head of the Russian Writers’ Union, traced the legacy of feminist literary collectives in challenging stereotypes.
Maria Bregman’s comparative analysis of writers across eras sparked debate, noting: “While men chronicled national epics, women mapped the psyche.” Data revealed 68% of Russian novels translated into Indian languages since 2010 were authored by women.
Contributions by scholars Nadezhda Azhgikhina and Valeria Pustovaya further dissected evolving literary trends.
Translation: Artistry and Ambiguity Sessions on translation ignited lively discourse. Boris Zakharin dissected the cultural dilution of terms like dharma into “duty,” while linguists grappled with adapting Pushkin’s verse into Malayalam’s rhythmic traditions.
Maxim Krongauz, a prominent linguist, noted: “Modern Russian absorbs global influences yet retains its classical DNA.” A workshop on Leonid Andreev’s prose revealed striking contrasts in its translatability across Indian scripts, underscoring the fragility of linguistic nuance.
AI and the Soul of Storytelling Tech-focused panels drew fervent crowds. Olga Donina (RUDN University) demonstrated AI’s analysis of avant-garde poetry, while Varvara Druzhinina showcased meme-driven language apps. Yet when Anupma Sharma (Punjab University) posited that GPT-5 could eclipse human translators, Svetlana Vasilenko countered: “Algorithms lack toska” – a nod to untranslatable cultural melancholia. In response, a collaborative AI project was announced, training models on hybrid dialects from Tamil Nadu’s trading communities to Volgograd’s multilingual engineers.
Unexpected Cultural Threads Historians unveiled surprising parallels: Bronze Age spiral settlements mirroring Harappan urban design. Young researcher Arseny Kroshkin traced cinematic influences between Soviet cinematography and Bollywood’s visual lexicon, while Indira Gazieva redefined culinary anthropology by linking global comfort foods like ghee and borscht.
The conference closed with a vibrant “Indo-Eurasian Fusion Dance” by Russian-language students, blending folk traditions with contemporary rhythms.
As delegates departed to the beats of “Indanza-Kalinka” – a hybrid of Cossack leaps and bharatanatyam – one question lingered: Can literature transcend diplomacy?
Event Details International Conference “Language, Literature, Translation, and Culture in the 21st Century: Reimagining Connections” 24–25 January 2025 | New Delhi, India Organisers: Indo-Russia Research Foundation, Russkiy Mir Foundation, Sahitya Akademi, Institute of Literary Translation, and partners. Attendees: 300+ delegates from 15 nations, including 90 in-person and 48 virtual presenters.
Roman Babushkin, Deputy Head of Russia’s diplomatic mission in India, highlighted how such initiatives “reinforce bonds forged over generations,” while Sahitya Akademi President Madhav Kaushik praised the “enduring kinship” between nations. Tatyana Shlychkova of the Russkiy Mir Foundation remarked, “Literature is the shared code uniting our peoples.”
This gathering marked a pivotal moment for global literary exchange, blending academic rigour with cultural celebration – a testament to creativity’s power in an interconnected world.
