How would you feel going from strolling across campus one day to sitting in a room with social entrepreneur Gitanjali J Angmo, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, and poet Satinder Sartaj the next?
Twenty-two students from Shoolini University and nine from Shoolini Institute of Life Sciences and Business Management (SILB) volunteered at the 15th Khushwant Singh Literature Festival (KSLF) 2026 in Kasauli.
The volunteers got hands-on experience in event management and team coordination. Five of them, from the School of Media and Journalism, joined the festival's official media team. They wrote reports and interviewed speakers, including authors, doctors, lawyers, and a former Army chief. The festival was held from October 23 to 25 at the Kasauli Club.
Working with the Official Media Team
For students of the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication (BAJMC), it was a chance to use their classroom learning at a national event. The festival featured conversations on military history in Kashmir and Manipur, gender rights, mental health, and tributes to British journalist Mark Tully and painter Satish Gujral. Watching working journalists up close, the students learnt that reporting is more than recording what a speaker says. It takes attention to detail and the ability to adapt.
One of the media volunteers, Divyanshi Thakur, a third-year BAJMC student, said, "I think you learn better when you do the field work and working with these senior journalists is truly enriching. My favourite part was interviewing General Manoj M Naravane, former chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, and I also got his latest novel 'The Cantonment Conspiracy' autographed!"
Engaging with Prominent Voices
The speakers also included Dr Arvind Lal, Executive Chairman of Dr Lal PathLabs, and former R&AW chief AS Dulat, among others. Some students volunteered with the technical team and event management, while others accompanied the speakers throughout the event.
The theme was 'The Art of Disagreement', and the students saw it play out. Speakers with very different views on politics, security, health, and business shared a stage and argued their case in front of an audience, on topics that included entrepreneurship and political accountability.
Long-Standing Partnership with KSLF
Shoolini University has been an institutional partner of the Khushwant Singh Literature Festival for years, and sending student volunteers is part of that partnership each time. This year, 31 of them worked with the official media team, the technical team, and event management, and some accompanied speakers throughout the festival.
The university will host the seventh Shoolini Literature Festival from March 12 to 14, 2027, on its own campus. These volunteers now know how a festival of this size runs from the inside.
5 November 2026