Author: Prakruti Maniar

Prakruti Maniar is founder and editor of Purple Pencil Project. She likes to call herself, an ist-er-preneur, as there are many roles and titles she's held through the years. Many ists: Journalist. Cultural Theorist. Humanist. Digital Humanist, Communication and Content Strategist. Hobbyist. Many ers: Writer, Editor, Researcher, Observer, Maker, Creator, Doer, Learner Some preneur: Entrepreneur / Mediapreneur / Culturepreneur She is deeply invested in cultural heritage, especially stories, and is committed to saving the literary heritage of India. She has a Master of Arts in Digital Humanities from Loyola University Chicago.

5 Ways Literature Festivals in India Can Transform Audience Experiences

A personal essays about how literature festivals in India could change with the times.

Singham Again, but never again

Here’s a heads up. This is not about how brainless or even forcefully nationalistic Singham Again (dir. Rohit Shetty), is. Masala movies are meant to be larger than life, have a simplified plot, defy logic and science in the favour of theatrics, have dialogues, walk, styles that we might not actually adopt in real life, […]

Our Bones in Your Throat by Megha Rao: A YA Book That Needed a Better Editor

Prakruti Maniar reviews Our Bones in Your Throat by Megha Rao (published by Simon & Schuster India, 2024). Our Bones in Your Throat is Megha Rao’s debut novel, a magical realism story about a girl’s quest for revenge and how faith, determination, words and poetry can have the power to bring justice. The plot follows […]

The Relevance and Benefits of Reading in the 21st Century

Prakruti Maniar writes about the personal and societal benefits of reading and its impact on cognitive development, time management, and well-being amidst a plethora of modern digital distractions. I cannot tell what drew me to reading or where I got my interest in reading from. Perhaps it was my grandfather, who had a fascinating library […]

Why Translation and Localisation Efforts are Great Economic Strategies for Your Company

Localisation, the practice of adapting content or information in the cultural context of the target audience, is an inclusive choice with enormous economic benefits. This includes not only language but also tone, imagery, visuals, UI and more. Translation is just one part of this process. English is the most popular language on the web, used […]

Art versus artist: New perspectives enrich this old question at The Purple Corner

Over the last month, two prominent names got embroiled in the now prominent, often discussed, but forever inconclusive debate around the art versus artist – the globally beloved Alice Munro and Neil Gaiman. This brought back a question that has been discussed, most prominently since the #meToo movement. If you like a piece of work, […]

“My life as a writer has been full of coincidences, and I’ve been very fortunate.”: Jigs Ashar

Prakruti Maniar from Team P3 was in conversation with Jigs Ashar, a bestselling author with works like Insomnia, Brutal Hand, and The Cabinet Conspiracy. Jigs Ashar is a banker-turned-author who deftly balances several roles. In this conversation, he shares his journey of becoming an author, from his inspirations and writing processes to his creative processes. […]

“There is a need to simplify legal language, legal awareness, awareness about our rights, and how our institutions function because judgments are not the only thing.”: Aparna Chandra

‘Prakruti Maniar from Team P3 was in conversation with Aparna Chandra and Sital Kalantry, the author duo behind the must-read title Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India (Penguin Random House, 2023) at the Jaipur Literature Festival, 2023. Aparna Chandra, an expert in Indian constitutional law, and Sita Kalantry, an […]

“There’s nothing called international. The regional naturally becomes international.” Jeyamohan

Prakruti Maniar was in conversation with Jeyamohan and Suchitra Ramachandran, the author-translator duo behind the brilliant book, The Abyss. Translated from Ezham Ulagam, The Abyss is as funny as it’s vulnerable, as simple as it’s extraordinary. One of Jeyamohan’s most acclaimed works, it fictionalises his personal experiences and was also the source behind the 2009 […]

There are no inherent words for descriptions of smell. You always borrow from your other senses to describe it: Divrina Dhingra

Team P3 is in conversation with author and journalist Divrina Dhingra, author of The Perfume Project. Divrina Dhingra is a journalist and has previously worked at Elle, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar magazines. She lives in New Delhi. She is the author of The Perfume Project: Journeys through Indian Fragrance (Published by Westland, 2023). Prakruti Maniar from Team P3 was […]