Feb 11 2026 to Feb 11 2026 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

A new dawn was breaking. And its light would reach far beyond its time.

Rebellion in Verse unfolds a journey that goes back to the sixth century CE; a time when many yearned for a reprieve from the constraints of Vedic orthodoxy and caste hierarchies. The Tamil Bhakti movement emerged as their clarion call, a grassroots surge of devotion that redefined spirituality and the social fabric itself. The saints of this movement were poets of the people, composing their hymns in Tamil and their verses, brimming with simplicity and profundity, wrestled divine wisdom from the elite grip of Sanskrit and handed it to the masses.

This conversation around Raghavan Srinivasan’s book Rebellion in Verse, explores how poetry has long served as a space of defiance: challenging hierarchy, authority, and inherited social orders. Drawing from Bhakti and other traditions, the discussion reflects on how verse carried ideas of equality, desire, and resistance, and why these voices continue to matter today. A Q&A with the audience will follow.

Speakers

Raghavan Srinivasan
Author
Raghavan Srinivasan is a historian and author whose work explores South Indian history, philosophy, and social movements. His writing brings together rigorous scholarship and accessible storytelling, with a focus on how ideas, labour, culture, and resistance have shaped societies across time.

Sharada Srinivasan
Archaeometallurgist
Sharada Srinivasan is an archaeometallurgist known for her interdisciplinary research on ancient materials, technologies, and cultural practices. Her work bridges archaeology, history, and science to uncover how material evidence deepens our understanding of the past and its continuing political and social meanings.

Karthik Venkatesh
Executive Editor, Penguin Random House India
Karthik Venkatesh is Executive Editor with Penguin Random House India where he commissions and edits non-fiction and fiction. He is the author of two books for young adults: 10 Indian Languages and How They Came to Be and 10 Makers of the Indian Constitution. Karthik grew up in Bangalore, speaking Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, English, Dakhani and Hindi. He tried to learn French but failed. He did learn Punjabi though, not in Bangalore, but in another galaxy far, far away. On weekday mornings, he often runs. On weekends, he naps.