India, March 11 -- In December 2024, my friend of many years, Pankaj Dixit, spoke to me about the Dibrugarh University International Literature Festival (DUILF). He invited me to attend, assuming that my husband, a writer, might also be interested in participating. The proposal did not come to fruition. However, early this year, Pankaj renewed his invitation based on his experience of DUILF in 2025. I started feeling a little more inclined. The organizers were planning to include Hindi writers for the first time, which made the invitation even more special. Although my husband initially accepted the invite from the curator, he later had to decline due to professional commitments. Now, I had to decide whether to attend.

I felt somewhat he...