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Literature binds life’s fragile threads, says India Today chief
NEW DELHI: Life’s unpredictability demands stronger bonds—and literature provides the glue. That was the message from Kalli Purie, vice chairperson and executive editor-in-chief of the India Today Group, as she inaugurated the eighth edition of Sahitya Aaj Tak in Delhi.
The annual gathering of literary luminaries, artists and musicians took on added poignancy as Purie reflected on 2025’s darkest moments. She cited the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 tourists in the Baisaran Valley, and the Air India crash in Ahmedabad two months later, when flight 171 ploughed into a medical college building en route to London, claiming 260 lives.
“Zindagi ek safar hai suhana, yahaan kal kya ho kisne jaana,” Purie said, quoting the Kishore Kumar classic. Life is a beautiful journey—but who knows what tomorrow holds?
Against such fragility, literature offers something permanent. It transforms fleeting connections into lasting relationships, turning individual experiences into collective memory. In a year marked by loss, the written word endures.