Aug 31 2025 to Aug 31 2025 10:30 a.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Around the World in 50 Sundays is a journey that begins this Sunday, Aug 31st, not with a ticket, but with opening a book. In a city like Bangalore where families are always in motion, the BIC Library hopes to offer stillness and a quiet, welcoming space for both parents and children where reading becomes a shared way of being and not a task.

Every Sunday, we open our doors to invite you into a library that listens; building a rhythm of return, a habit of joy and a new community bound not just by books, but by the weekly ritual of reading together.

Schedule:

10:30am – 11:00am | A New Chapter Opens
Meet the New Sunday Avatar of the BIC Library
Short inaugural hello to launch Around the World in 50 Sundays. All ages.

11:00am – 12:30pm | Meet Petu Pumpkin and the Awesome Foursome
Petu’s Adventures Take Over Your Imagination | Arundhati Venkatesh
Reading and interaction with the Petu Pumpkin series, full of humour and schoolyard mischief. Best for ages 5–9.

(12:30pm – 1:30pm | Lunch Break)

1:30pm – 2:30pm | Quizzy Does It
A Whirlwind of Trivia Around Words, Worlds, and Wonder | Berty Ashley
A big, energetic post-lunch quiz using books from the new library list. Recommended ages 7+ (families welcome).

2:45pm – 4:00pm | Booked for a Break
Quiet Quests and Story Discoveries Await | Self-guided
Open book browsing, tinkering and art exploration corners to get to know the BIC Library. All ages.

4:00pm – 5:00pm | Passepartout, Is That You?
Travel, Teamwork, and Tales of Responsible Pet Ownership | Menaka Raman
Interactive reading and discussion around Menaka Raman’s adventure-mystery Passepartout, Is That You? A story of friendship, travel, and solving clues. Perfect for ages 5–9 and above.

5:00pm – 6:30pm | The Court Jester
The Tales of Tenali Rama | Vijay Padaki & Sujatha Balakrishnan (Bangalore Little Theatre)
Interactive performance blending theatre, history, and humour. Great for ages 8+, families encouraged.

Supported by:

In collaboration with:

Facilitators

Arundhati Venkatesh
Author
Arundhati Venkatesh is one of India’s most-loved children’s authors. Her books have won several awards, including the Comic Con India Best Publication for Children Award and the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award for India, Middle East and Asia, and are listed on Amazon’s ‘100 Children’s Books to Read in a Lifetime’.

Her three latest releases all happen to be hilarious books for kids 10+ about deadly serious subjects like the Constitution, Math and Science: PETU PUMPKIN: Freedom Fighter, RAMANUJAN: From Zero to Infinity, RAMAN & CHANDRASEKHAR: Lighting Up the Stars.

Berty Ashley
Quizmaster
Berty Ashley was born and brought up in the ancient Tamil city of Madurai. From the day started to speak, he was known for his insatiable curiosity and inexpendable energy. An alumnus of Vikaasa school and The American College, he followed his dreams of becoming a scientist.

He is now a Molecular Geneticist at the Dystrophy Annihilation Research Trust (a.k.a DART). When he is not busy doing his research or write grants he can be usually seen at a concert or at a quiz. Berty is an avid lover of music who not only collects vinyl records but plays with 3 bands. He plays the guitar, keyboards and drums. He listens to everything from Hindustani to Heavy Metal.

Berty has been taking part and conducting quizzes since his school days. The love for trivia and funda made him develop his own characteristic quizzing style in which he infuses his trademark humour and pop-culture references.

He is the author of the popular Easy Like Sunday Morning quiz in The Hindu Sunday Magazine which is renowned for the work-out-ability factor. It is currently on a run of unbroken weekly quizzes for seven years. In early 2018 Rupa Publications published a collection of 42 of these quizzes under the name Quizzes for Quirky Minds which in 1 week became best-seller in its category on Amazon. The book not only contains the quizzes but also his own jokes, anecdotes from his life and some random information such as recipes! Berty and his partner Akhila Phadnis have gone on to co-author a series of 7 quiz books on various themes for Rupa Publications. Berty Ashley puts the ‘fun’ in ‘funda’.

Menaka Raman
Author
Menaka Raman is a children’s book author and podcast producer. She has written picture books, chapter books and two novels. Her book Loki Takes Guard won the Valley of Words Award for Writing for Young Adults in 2020 and her book How to Win an Election, A Most Unreliable Guide Won the AG BLF Book Prize 2024 in the Fiction (Children) category. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies published by Penguin, Speaking Tiger and Scholastic India. She has written about parenting and children’s books for The Hindu, New Indian Express, Vogue and other publications.

Vijay Padaki
Theatre Practitioner
Vijay Padaki has worn many caps all his life. One of them is in management, with a special interest in organization and institutional development. He was part of the founding faculty of IIM Bangalore and a tenured Professor there. The other cap has been in the theatre, being associated with Bangalore Little Theatre (BLT) from its inception in 1960. He is particularly committed to dissemination in the Theatre, which is reflected in his long track record in writing and training. He is an internationally recognised Theatre Educator with over sixty years of experience as an actor, director, designer and administrator. Vijay was responsible for several long term thrusts of BLT. He is currently Trustee Emeritus at BLT.

Sujatha Balakrishnan
Theatre Practitioner
As an actor, she firmly believes any art form must go beyond entertainment and engage the audience in becoming agents of change.The purpose of any art form is defeated if there is no underlying social criticism or political activism. As a special educator, she is appalled the way in which the differently abled children are isolated from the main stream schools and caged in the so-called special schools. Ageing which is a natural process has become a social problem. She decided to use the powerful medium of theatre art to address social issues which plague society. Thus began the journey of Theatre for Change, a not for profit initiative in 2015. She says there is no dearth for “Isms” across the globe! Ableism, ageism, classism, racism and sexism are some of the culturally stigmatized topics addressed.