When does cultural exchange end and cultural appropriation begin? Are you offended by Lady Gaga in a neon-pink burkha at London Fashion Week? Could Rudyard Kipling be accused of the sin? Are non-Dalits using Dalit characters in fiction not quite ‘authentic’? Kathryn Stockett admitted in the afterword to her novel, The Help, that she was worried she would “cross a terrible line writing in the voice of a black person.” But does the fear of cultural appropriation go against the very nature of fiction?

Panelists : Kannan Sundaram, Monica Ali, Perumal Murugan

Chair : Deepanjana Pal

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  Kannan Sundaram

  India

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  Monica Ali

  Bangladesh

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  Perumal Murugan

  India

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  Deepanjana Pal

  India