The Seventh edition of the Khushwant Singh Litfest (KSLF) was held in Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) — the summer vacation hill station frequented by the late editor-author Khushwant Singh (1915- 2014) on October 12-14. The theme of KSLF 2018 was ‘Strength of a Naari— The Rise of Women in an Age of #MeToo’. Among the invitee speakers were politician-author Shashi Tharoor, cricketer-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu,  television interviewer Karan Thapar, politician Mani Shankar Aiyar, filmmakers Saeed Mirza and Sudhir Mishra, and newspaper columnist Manu Pillai.

Several ‘Joy of Learning’ contests were simultaneously conducted in 1,000 K-12 schools in Himachal and Punjab and winners from over 10,000 children who participated in drawing and essay writing contests were awarded prizes by eminent artiste Jaideep Mehrotra, film makers Saeed Mirza and Sudhir Mishra and author Anuja Chauhan. 

In the art competition, the winners were — Simran, Blossoms Sr Sec School, Patiala; Phurichaya Ruangthong, Auckland House, Shimla; Palakpreet Kamboj, Pinegrove School, Subathu; Sanjana, Blossoms Sr. Sec. School, Patiala. In the ‘Strength of a Naari in the age of #MeToo’ essay competition, the winners were: Prakriti, Auckland House, Shimla; Sharlene, Auckland House, Shimla; Ankur, Kasauli International Public School and Muskaan, St. Mary’s Convent School, Kasauli.

Cash prizes of Rs.1,000-4,000 were awarded to the winners of the arts and essay competitions by the Bangalore-based EducationWorld – The Human Development Magazine.