Nepal, June 5 -- border cultural initiatives in South Asia have rarely been simple affairs. In a region tightly bound by shared histories but deeply fractured by contemporary geopolitics, artistic exchanges often carry the heavy baggage of diplomatic posturing. When the Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF)-fundamentally rooted in Odisha, India-established its footprint in Nepal, it was met with a familiar undercurrent of scepticism.

Yet, as the festival gears up for its latest iteration under the theme 'Beyond Borders,' its organisers argue that the initiative is designed to dismantle, rather than reinforce, these very hierarchies.

The Post's Biken K Dawadi caught up with Rashmi Ranjan Parida, the founder and director of the Kalinga Literary...