As we write this on World Gratitude Day, 21st September, we realize how thank yous can be so fleeting. So it is deep gratitude that we express to you.
Why gratitude? Simply because so many have given with so much grace and without any expectation of return. It is Brigadier Lamba and Harleen, his wife, the Kasauli Club Patron, Lt Gen K.J. Singh, AVSM, Executive Committee Members, Mr Madhukar Malhotra, Col R.N. Bali, Col J.S. Dhanoa, Col N.S. Gulia, Mr Gurpreet Singh, Col (Retd) H.S. Kapur, Mr Balbir Singh Mangat, Mr Pankaj Sahgal, Executive Secretary, Col Devinder Singh, the always smiling staff of Kasauli Club, and the cantonment of Kasauli and Dagshai who have brought KSLF to you in this centenary year of Khushwant Singh.
Gratitude to our patron, the Zee Group, Mr Subhash Chandra Goyal, Bobby and Varsha Bedi and the team at Zee, Maitreyee Das, Samir, Pooja Gupta and others; our supporters, The Times Group, with Rahul Kansal and his team, Arjun Khanna, Madhur Kishore; co-patrons Bir and Trilochan Sahney, Le Meridien, Padma Shri Vikramjeet Sahney and the Sun Group, Kim Lalli who has been with us from the year dot, our other supporters and friends whose efforts made sure we saw the light of day. Geeta Gopalkrishnan, always ready to lend many hands.
Our stars are our authors and speakers who have repeatedly shown so much affection for Khushwant Singh. Especially our friends from Pakistan, UK and abroad who have undertaken such a long journey. His family, Mala and Naina Dayal, friends, Nandini Mehta, Syeda Hameed, Kalpana Sahni. Our friends from all the media who write so beautifully year after year. Our creative partners, HarperCollins India, especially Karthika V.K., Bonita Shimray and Amrita Talwar. Our photographer Ajay Bhatia who volunteered his time and talent. Puja, Poonam and the team from Full Circle who put up such a great show. David Davidar and Vasundhara from Aleph, thank you for the film on KS.
The people of Kasauli who have responded with such enthusiasm. Our hosts who have stood by us, Jag and Neelam Luthra, Bunty and Shiela Pasricha, Renu Chahil-Graf, Manju Deshbir, Satjiv Chahil, Mr Tiwana of Baba Resorts. Deepa Raghavan Sethi and Lila Kutty who run our Youth programs every year, supported by Dilip and Bharati Thakore of Education World and Bulbul Sharma of Sannidhi; Meera Bajaj, Rishma Gill, Romi Gill, Ludlow Castle and Vikram Bakshi and others who open their homes to us every year. Leela Lean, who so graciously judged our art events.
Our wonderful audience who come in from Kasauli and Himachal, from Chandigarh and Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad, MP and places too numerous to mention. Our dear comperes, Bhaichand Patel, Usha Alberqueque, Bachi Karkaria, who said yes without any ado. Razi Ahmed and the Lahore Litfest, ever ready to respond instantly to any request; our dearest friends from Lahore, Rati and Perin Cooper, whom we call the Mother Teresa sisters; Namita Gokhale of JLF who helped us so graciously.
Our friends who are there to support us year after year, Harinder and Kirandeep, the always willing Nina and Kishie Singh, Mahi Mehra, Bob Pupani, Rajesh, Priti and Veda Dogar, Ashima, Iknam and Ananya Bath, Sherry and Rahman, Poonam and K.B.S. Sidhu, Sonu Bhasin, our special experience creator, Reva and Bunty Singh, Naazneen Karmali, Robin Gupta, Vijai Vardhan, Fawzia Madni, Meher Bijlani, Sabi G.
Our event coordinator, Mihir Manker and his team, our travel partners Amar Bindra and Gazal Kwatra. And the trustees of the Khushwant Singh Foundation who support us all through the year. Purshottam Dhir and Varun Kathuria are indispensible. So also Ashok Chopra, Suneet Vir Singh, Anand and Deepa Sethi, Charanjit Singh. And before we end, the people without whom KSLF would have still been a dream: Brigadier Anantha Narayan and his wife Aparna. Our eternal gratitude.
