THE TALK
For an Indian, Japan can be both confoundingly strange and comfortingly familiar. Pallavi Aiyar will discuss her encounters – aesthetic, political and epidemiological – with the country, from where she has reported for Indian and international publications for 4 years. From the philosophical importance of the tea ceremony to the history of mask-wearing, the talk will give a sneak peak into her book, Orienting, which will be published in the summer.
Pallavi Aiyar, Journalist, Author
PALLAVI AIYAR
An award winning journalist, Pallavi Aiyar has worked as a foreign correspondent for two decades, reporting from China, Europe, Indonesia and Japan. She is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and also served on the WEF’s Global Council on the Future of Media and Entertainment. She is the author of several books including the China-memoir, Smoke and Mirrors, the novel, Chinese Whiskers, and an exploration of contemporary Europe’s challenges, Punjabi Parmesan. Her latest books are Jakarta Tails and A Thousand Cranes for India: Reclaiming Plurality Amid Hatred. Her book on Japan, Orienting: An Indian in Japan is forthcoming with Harper Collins India. Pallavi was a Reuters Fellow at Oxford University and is the youngest winner of the Prem Bhatia memorial prize for political reporting for her dispatches from China. Until recently Pallavi was based in Tokyo, from where she wrote about Japan for Indian and international publications. She is fresh-off-the-boat in Madrid, Spain.
