The Writers Bar Soirée At Raffles Udaipur 

Raffles Udaipur held its first ever literati confluence, called The Writers Bar Soirée, bringing together some of the most celebrated Indian authors across genres. This 2-day event, held on July 30 and 31 at The Writers Bar at Raffles Udaipur, was a whirlwind of invigorating conversations and ideas, making The Writers Bar Soirée one for the books – no pun intended.  
 
The weekend commenced with a welcome high tea at The Writers Bar, which with its expansive collection of books and cocktails curated from the heart, sets the perfect stage for the literati confluence. Ms. Mita Kapur, Founder and CEO of Siyahi and Literary Director for the JCB Prize for Literature, who helped curate the 2-day event shares her inspiration behind The Writers Bar. She said, "The Writers Bar at Raffles Udaipur lends itself to conversations around books, storytelling, a sharing of ideas and creative energies. The Writers Bar Soiree brings together diverse and vibrant voices from a new generation of writers who have written about partition stories, contemporary fiction, food, emotional wellbeing in an attempt by Siyahi to give our audiences a fulfilling and memorable experience." 
 
The Writers Bar Soirée began with a scintillating conversation between Anuja Chauhan and Devapriya Roy. “Advertising has taught me that people don’t want to be bored. That’s why I try to write something sparkly on every page,” said Chauhan, talking about the lessons her advertising career has lent to her career as an author. The session titled The Anuja Factor: Yeh Dil Maange More To Dil Bekaraar also led to the revelation that Chauhan is working on an OTT series next. 
 
The next session, titled The Language of Remembering, touched on the topics of the Partition and its tremors that can still be felt now. In conversation for this session were Aanchal Malhotra and Swati Vashishtha, “I write history out of necessity because there needs to be someone who writes history for young people in a language that they understand,” said Malhotra, talking about her writing and upcoming new book in December.  
 
The last session for the day, titled Food, Flavours And Family: A Story With Every Recipe, witnesses' cookery legend Anahita Dhondy in conversation with Mita Kapur, talking about The Parsi Kitchen, food and family. The session was not only educational but also got everyone’s tummy growling, seamlessly leading everyone into a lovely sit-down dinner at Raffles Udaipur’s Sawai Kitchen, where day 1 culminated with mouthwatering food by Chef Deepak Sarkar. 
 
Day 2 kicked off with the concluding session titled Emotional Well-Being 101. Pragati Sureka and Ruchika Mehta, talking about how emotional and mental health issues are finally being destigmatized in our society, and why it is important to talk about our emotions. “Mental and emotional wellbeing is something you need to work on every single day,” said Sureka, talking about the small ways in which we can be more mindful in our daily life.  
 
The Writers Bar Soirée was wrapped up with an afternoon cooking masterclass by Anahita Dhondy. She demonstrated the recipes of Patra Ni Machhi and Mawa Cakes, while she shared innovative tips and tricks for the kitchen, bringing the exciting weekend to a wholesome end. 
 
Literature and art are a founding pillar for Raffles Udaipur. The Writers Bar Soirée serves as the perfect event to catapult Raffles Udaipur into August, the month of its first anniversary. This August, Raffles Udaipur completes one year since it first opened its doors in 2021, and to express gratitude for the overwhelming love and response the property has received, Raffles Udaipur presents A Royal Escape Package. Book your stay and embark on this mystical sojourn today!