Jan 26 2025 to Jan 26 2025 4 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

India has a unique relationship with the mango. It is all over our cultural life and festivals. Our emotional life and our social existence. Our markets and our countryside. It is the only fruit that is a festival unto itself. Each year, cities organize their own mango festivals that are extremely popular events. No other fruit seems to have a comparable role anywhere else. The mango seems intimately familiar to almost all Indians, nay, all residents of South Asia. Yet we are unaware of the wider role of the mango fruit, leaves, flowers, trees, orchards and groves in almost every facet of our lives through our known and unknown history. In politics, economics, land ownership, infrastructure, ecological (and psychological) health, propaganda, diplomacy, ecology, festivities, funerals, weddings, seduction, poetry, the arts, architecture…

Drawing from the recently published bestseller Mangifera indica: A Biography of the Mango, this discussion will join the ubiquitous excitement around mangoes to look towards avenues untrodden, histories unconsidered, festivals abandoned. The event will take place close to the time that marked India’s myriad spring festivals, the symbol of which was the mango flower. The known mango is a bridge to a lot about us that is either unknown or goes unacknowledged.

The author, Sopan Joshi will be in conversation with Venu Madhav Govindu which will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
Speakers
Sopan Joshi
Author

Born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh in 1973, Sopan Joshi grew up in Delhi, Chandigarh, and Dehradun, and went on to earn his Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of Delhi. With a career spanning over two decades, Sopan has worked with English newspapers, magazines, and as a freelancer, writing in both English and Hindi. His work has taken him to various parts of India and the world, and he has reported on a wide range of topics, including agriculture, environment, science, technology, and social issues. Sopan’s passion for storytelling and his commitment to understanding the complexities of Indian society are driven by the values of India’s freedom movement. He is a sought-after speaker and has conducted workshops on journalism, communication, and education. As an accomplished author, Sopan has written six non-fiction books, with two more in the pipeline.
Venu Madhav Govindu

Venu Madhav Govindu is on the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science. His area of professional research is geometric estimation in computer vision. He also has an interest in the history of modern India, especially the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi. He has co-authored a biography of the Gandhian economic philosopher and constructive worker, J. C. Kumarappa. He shares with millions of fellow Indians a love for mangoes.