The festival, to be held from January 21 to 25, with William Darlymple and Namita Gokhale as creative directors, is an initiative of the Jaipur Virasat Foundation, an NGO which works with Rajasthan’s musicians and craftspeople, and has acquired an elite status in the literary circles.

Navdeep Suri, grandson of legendary novelist Nanak Singh, will read extracts from his translation of Nanak’s novel Pavitar Paapi. The novel has been published by Penguin India as The Watchmaker. He will be in conversation with writer and journalist Nirupama Dutt. “I was coaxed by my mother to translate Pavitar Paapi into English and I enjoyed every moment of it,” says Suri, who is the Consul General of India in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Nirupama, who has conceived the session, says, “It will begin with a rendition of Bulle Shah’ poetry and songs by Ustad Nile Khan of Dera Bassi, followed by a presentation on Punjabi literature and a conversation with Suri, which will be followed by a brief open session.” Besides Bulle Shah, Nile Khan will sing excerpts from ‘Heer’ by Waris Shan and also a song by Shiv Kumar Batalvi.