From its inception in 2010, the unique, homegrown, volunteer-driven and non-profit Goa Arts and Literature Festival (GALF) has slowly emerged as one of the premier cultural showcases of India. GALF was founded to celebrate the margins, taking inspiration from an idea developed by the late Eunice de Souza, a renowned poet of Goan origin, that there are ‘different ways of belonging’. For GALF, this has translated into a consistent emphasis on writers and artists from Goa, from India’s North-East and Kashmir, as well as from countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. GALF has also devoted substantial attention to themes such as Dalit writing, poetry, graphic novels, and translations.
GALF is held annually at The International Centre Goa, or ICG as it is commonly known as, in the first half of December. This year GALF 2019 was held from 5 – 7 December.
Dr. Janki Santoke, renowned Vedanta scholar launched her maiden book entitled – How Do You Know What You Know? – on the last day of the Fest, where she talked about the ideas contained in the book with Patricia Pereira Sethi, an award-winning international journalist who worked for two decades as correspondent, editor and the United Nations Bureau Chief for Newsweek magazine in New York.
In their half an hour rendezvous, they discussed the main idea of the book – thinking and its effect on one’s life.
