Aug 23 2025 to Aug 23 2025 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Maya Jayapal’s book, Kaveri: The Journey of a River, traces the author’s journey down the Kaveri river, with her father in the first half, and alone in the second half, after he passed. With charming illustrations by Rohit Bhasi, the book takes the reader from Talakaveri to Poompuhar with historical and religious sites, people, culture, flora and fauna, and much more along the way.

The author of two books on Bangalore, one on Djakarta and one on Singapore, cities where she has lived, she says, “I chose to write my story of a river as I got tired of writing about cities. I had just finished writing about Bangalore which is changing too rapidly for my liking. I wanted to discover something more natural, something more ancient, something that had been an inspiration for civilisations, something that embodied life eternal, life giving and life sustaining. And so, I chose a river, a river that flows in my own backyard, so to speak.”

Image Credit
Book cover illustration by Rohit Bhasi. 

Presented by the Jayapal family

Speakers

Maya Jayapal
Author and Urban Historian
Maya Jayapal is an urban historian well known for her perceptive books on the cities where she has lived. Among them are volumes on Jakarta, Singapore and Bangalore. Her publications include Bangalore, Roots and Beyond (Niyogi Books, 2014), Bangalore: The Story of a City (East West Books, 1997), Old Jakarta (Oxford University Press, 1993), and Old Singapore (Oxford University Press, 1992). Her books on Bangalore provide a portrait of the city of yesterday and of today. With rare photographs and extensive research, she turns her historical lens on the diverse communities that breathe life into the city. 

A prolific contributor to newspapers and magazines in three countries, India, Singapore and Indonesia, Maya has also taught English in Jakarta and Singapore, and is a practising counsellor. She is an avid traveller with a keen eye and an ability to evoke a sense of the history and people of the places she visits, as seen in her most recent book on her journey along the Kaveri river.

Pramila Jayapal
Congresswoman, Representing Washington’s 7th Congressional District
A former Washington State Senator and a lifelong organizer for immigrant, civil, and human rights, Representative Pramila Jayapal is currently serving her fifth term in Congress for WA-07, which encompasses Seattle and surrounding communities. In 2016, she became the first South Asian American woman ever elected to the House. She came to the United States alone at the age of 16 and went on to start the largest immigrant rights organization in Washington state before becoming one of only two dozen naturalized citizens serving in Congress today. Representative Jayapal is the lead sponsor of multiple landmark progressive bills including the Medicare for All Act, the College for All Act, the Housing is a Human Right Act, the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, and the Roadmap to Freedom immigration resolution. She currently serves on the Judiciary Committee, where she is also Ranking Member of the Immigration Subcommittee, as well as the Budget and Foreign Affairs Committees. She is a Chair Emerita of the nearly 100-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, having led the caucus for six years and establishing term limits. Congresswoman Jayapal lives in Seattle with her husband Steve and dog Otis, and most importantly is the daughter of respected author, Maya Jayapal!

Prateeti Punja Ballal
Scholar and Curator
Prateeti Punja Ballal grew up in Bangalore and did her postgraduate work in the US. She taught Literature at various universities there, and earlier worked in the software industry for fifteen years. She has curated art exhibitions and is part of the curating team of the Bangalore Literature Festival. A musician and dancer, she has a sustaining interest in the arts and has co-authored a book, Celebrating the Arts.