Stories by the Lake Season 2

Jerry Pinto is a well-known poet, writer, editor and translator. He has an LLB from Government Law College, Mumbai, and a degree in the humanities from Elphinstone College. He has written Em and the Big Hoom, a novel that won him the Crossword Prize, the Hindu Lit for Life Award and the Sahitya Akademi Award. In 2016, he was awarded the Windham-Campbell Award for Fiction from Yale, USA. His next novel, Murder in Mahim, won the Valley of Words Award for Fiction. His third novel, The Education of Yuri, has been published to near-universal acclaim.

He has edited several anthologies, including Bombay Meri Jaan: Writings on Mumbai; Reflected in Water: Writings on Goa; The Greatest Show on Earth: Writing on Bollywood; and, with Shanta Gokhale, a collection of stories on Bombay-Mumbai, Maya Nagari.

Mr Pinto is also a translator. He has translated Daya Pawar's path-breaking autobiography, Baluta; Sachin Kundalkar's debut novel, Cobalt Blue; Mallika Amar Sheikh's I Want To Destroy Myself; Ganesh Matkari's Half-Opened Windows; Baburao Bagul's When I Hid My Caste; Eknath Awad's Strike A Blow to Change the World; and Vandana Mishra's I The Salt Doll, among others. With Neela Bhagwat, he has translated the women poet-saints of the Warkari tradition, collected in a book called The Ant Who Swallowed the Sun. Shanta Gokhale and Pinto have produced a set of parallel translations of the poet Sant Tukaram, Behold! The Word is God. He has also translated the poetry of Narayan Surve: In That Mill I Too Was Forged. His translation from Hindi of Swadesh Deepak's I Have Not Seen Mandu has been acclaimed. He has also translated some of Deepak's plays and edited and introduced A Bouquet of Dead Flowers: The Best of Swadesh Deepak's Short Stories and a book of Deepak's plays. His first Konkani translation was Boy, Unloved, by Jnanpith Award winner Damodar Mauzo.

His work in nonfiction is equally illustrious. He has won the National Award for the Best Writing in Cinema for his analysis of Helen, The Life and Times of a Bollywood H-Bomb. He has also written a biography of Chemould Art Gallery, Citizen Gallery: The Gandhys of Chemould and the Birth of Modern Art in Bombay. Most recently, he has written a book on palliative care in India: A Good Life.

He has also written books for children. Anya and Her Baby Brother and My Daddy and the Well were on the Parag Honours List. Mr Pinto has two books of poetry, Asylum and I Want a Poem and Other Poems.

Between 2002 and 2024, Mr Pinto sat on the board of MelJol, which works in the sphere of child rights. He is now on the board of the People's Free Reading Room and Library and the women's archive, SPARROW.

He has taught journalism at the postgraduate Social Communications Media course of Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai, for more than thirty years.

Vaishali BK is a children’s author, educator and literacy advocate who believes deeply in the power of stories to help children understand themselves and the world around them.

An educator for over 14 years, Vaishali continues to work across schools, teacher education and inclusive learning spaces. She is the author of Amma’s Magic Handbag, Anger: From Storm to Calm, Mammas in the Wild, Pappas in the Wild and Vendhu Thanindhadu Kovam, with The Nine forthcoming. At the heart of her work is a simple belief: a good story can help children feel seen, invite difficult questions and leave room for wonder.

Shabnam is a Mumbaiholic, an ardent saree shopper, and a murder-mystery buff. She’s spent all her life with words – working as a journalist with The Times of India, writing non-fiction about Mumbai and fiction for children and young adults. Her popular books include Zen, Saira Zariwala is Afraid, Murder at Daisy Apartments and When Jiya Met Urmila. She has won numerous awards, including the Crossword Book Award, the AutHer Award, the Neev Book Award, the Valley of Words Award, the Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Prize and the Binod Kanoria Award.

Shabnam teaches creative writing in a Mumbai college and has conducted workshops in schools around the country. Her new book, Death Comes to Matheran, is a book about the games that memory often plays.

Jaini Nisar is a Senior Sports and Performance Psychologist with the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS) Olympic Sports Program. She holds an MSc in Sports & Exercise Psychology from Loughborough University, UK. Her mental coaching spans grassroots development to elite high-performance, having trained athletes who represented India at the Paris Olympics 2024, Asian Games 2026, and various World Cups and World Championships.

Neha J Hiranandani has spent the last two decades working on development issues, with a focus on gender equity in various organisations, including the United Nations. She completed her undergraduate degree with honours in International Relations and English Literature from Wellesley College and has a master’s in education policy from Harvard University.

Neha’s insightful columns on social and economic issues have appeared in several prominent publications. She is also the author of three books: The Padmas: Fifty Stories of Perseverance and iParent: Embracing Parenting in the Digital Age, both published by Penguin Random House India, and Girl Power! Indian Women Who Broke the Rules, published by Scholastic India.

Dr. Shubha Vilas is a lifestyle coach, storyteller and author. He studied patent law after completing his engineering degree but finally chose the path of a spiritual seeker. He has completed his PhD in leadership from Valmiki Ramayana, and his thesis is considered path-breaking in the field of leadership studies from ancient texts. In addition to all this, he is also a Master in Psychology and counsels people from all walks of life, connecting his understanding of modern psychology with ancient wisdom.

Ramayana: The Game of Life is his bestselling series. He’s also the author of Open-Eyed Meditations, Mystical Tales for a Magical Life and 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationships. He has authored more than 40 thought-provoking books. The focus of his work is the application of scriptural wisdom to day-to-day life and addressing the needs of corporates and the youth through power-packed seminars. He has delivered more than 6,500 talks, inspiring more than 7,00,000 people across twenty countries in the last ten years. He is a popular guest speaker at prestigious universities – Stanford, Princeton and Oxford University, to name a few – apart from several centres of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in India. He has also spoken at Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Samsung at their world headquarters in the USA.

Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a biographer, reading coach and convenor of Bharat Padho Abhiyaan. She has started a nationwide reading movement that empowers children, parents, schools, libraries and book clubs to build a stronger reading culture across India.

She is Asia’s first Reading Coach, helping children, parents, educators and professionals develop reading habits, improve comprehension and unlock lifelong growth through books. She believes there is a book for every problem, much like a doctor prescribes medicine after diagnosing an ailment.

As a leading biographer, she has written about the lives of Savitribai Phule, the first woman educationist, the late Sanjeev Kumar, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra and Murari Rao Ghorpade, whose story she describes as that of an accidental catalyst in Robert Clive’s march to India.

In response to the distractions of the digital age, she has also written Read More, Scroll Less: Win the Battle of Your Mind.

Neil D'Silva is one of India’s leading voices in horror fiction, with 17 published books spanning adult, young adult, and non-fiction horror. Known for cult titles like Maya's New Husband, Yakshini, Pishacha and Playthings, his works have consistently topped Amazon charts and been published by houses such as Penguin, Rupa, Hachette, and HarperCollins.

As a pioneer of Indian folklore horror in English, Neil has helped reshape the genre in India since 2015. He has served as President of the India Chapter of the Horror Writers Association and was the Jury Chair for the Short Stories category at the Bram Stoker® Awards, 2022–23.

His talks and workshops at institutions like IITs and noted colleges and universities have inspired countless young writers. He has spoken at prominent lit fests across the country and given TEDx Talks. Neil is also a passionate mentor and educator, having co-founded the Litventure inter-school festival, and mentors emerging authors through Scholastic Writers Academy.

His insights on horror and writing have reached millions via popular podcasts like The Ranveer Show, Khooni Monday’s Ankhon Dekhi, Astro Arun Pandit Show, Hindi Rush, and others.

Beyond writing, Neil is an advocate of holistic wellness. A former teacher and now also a marathon runner, he speaks often about the synergy between body, mind, and creativity.

Tanvi Bhat is a children’s book illustrator who spends her days drawing, painting and daydreaming. She has illustrated 35+ books over 15 years, working in watercolour and gouache, and conducts art sessions for children and grown-ups.

Archana Garodia Gupta is an author, historian, and quizzer with a lifelong passion for books, travel, and history. She has authored The Women Who Ruled India and co-authored the bestselling two-volume A History of India for Children, and writes on history and women's issues for The Hindu and The Indian Express. A recognised quizzing expert seen on Kaun Banega Crorepati and winner of BBC Mastermind India's 'Champion of Champions' title, she holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and runs the jewellery business Touchstone.

Charuhas Pandit is a cartoonist and illustrator, and the co-creator of the much-loved Marathi comic strip Chintoo, which he created with Prabhakar Wadekar. First published in the daily newspaper Sakal on 21 November 1991, the strip has completed 34 years and grown into a much-loved series.

A graduate in Commercial Art (G.D. Arts), Charuhas illustrated the English textbooks published by the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research (Balbharati) between 1993 and 2003. He also founded Srujan Art Gallery and creates artwork in the traditional medium of wood art. His works have been presented to distinguished personalities including Ratan Tata, Sachin Tendulkar, Vivian Richards, Amitabh Bachchan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chintoo has been published in 38 books—16 black-and-white and 22 in colour—with more than 6,000 comic strips to date. Two compilations of the comic strip have also been published. The cartoons have been translated into Sanskrit, with a book published by Samskrita Bharati, Goa, and have featured in publications created by the University of Mumbai’s Department of German to teach Marathi to non-native speakers.

His honours include the Maharashtra Bhasha Sanvardhan Samiti’s Marathi Ratna Award (2002), the Cosmos Award (2005), the Young Cartoonist Award (2010), the Puneyabhushan Award (2010), Rotary vocational excellence awards (2017 and 2025), and the Gunijan Kala Award from the Ravi Paranjape Foundation (2023). He served as president of the All India Cartoonists’ Combine from 2015 to 2017.