Key takeaways

• In the stories of Menaka and Rambha, Vishvamitra is tested twice. Attraction distracts him the first time; anger gets the better of him the second.
• Jensen Huang initially described his interactions with Alice Huang as ordinary business dealings. He later acknowledged infidelity, and Nvidia opened an independent inquiry. The public record does not establish that he was honeytrapped or that company secrets were compromised.
• Intelligence helps us solve problems we recognise. In a relationship that feels genuine, we may see no problem to solve.
• A company can protect its decisions through confidential disclosure, recusal and independent review, even when it cannot establish anyone’s private intentions.

Menaka Succeeds, Rambha Fails, Vishvamitra Is Tested Both Times

Lord Indra is worried. The sage Vishvamitra’s tapasya has grown so formidable that Indra fears the sage could displace him one day. It is told in the Mahabharata, that he summons Menaka and asks her to interrupt the penance. Menaka is fearful of Vishvamitra’s power but proceeds on the assignment. She finally succeeds in drawing him away from his austerities and a daughter is born to them. Shakuntala!

In the Valmiki Ramayana, Indra sends another apsara, Rambha. Vishvamitra sees what is happening and curses her to become stone. Afterwards he recognises that he has resisted the temptation Indra put before him, only to give way to anger. He then resolves to master that anger.

With Rambha Vishvamitra correctly reads the situation. Yet he is unable to control his own response. 

Why does Indra do this? Because he believes the encounter between the apsaras and the sage can affect who holds the power.

A modern board faces a different version of that question. When a private relationship overlaps with a business relationship, could it affect how a leader exercises the power vested?

The Jensen Huang Story 

The first trail, according to US media, ran through Megaspeed. The Singapore-based data centre company was an Nvidia customer, and US authorities were investigating whether it helped route advanced chips subject to export restrictions to China. It was reported that Megaspeed bought more than $4.8 billion worth of Nvidia chips over two years. That figure shows the scale of the business relationship. It does not establish yet that restricted chips were diverted.

US intelligence was reportedly monitoring Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive who is unrelated to Jensen Huang. According to US media, investigators found that she was in contact with an American whom they identified as the Nvidia chief executive. President Donald Trump was reportedly briefed in late 2025. In spring 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly oversaw the drafting of a classified memo that circulated ahead of Trump’s May trip to China. Media has reported that the memo described intelligence indicating that China’s Ministry of State Security had recruited Alice Huang to target Jensen Huang. Reuters could not independently verify the allegations about Alice Huang, and China rejected an earlier US media report.

The public account emerged in stages. After the media reports on the matter in October, Jensen Huang told Bloomberg that his interactions with Alice Huang were related to Megaspeed and were ‘completely normal and not unusual’. On 7 November, the US media cited people familiar with the classified memo, reported that US officials believed the relationship was romantic. The next day, Huang told Nvidia employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologised to his family. His email did not name Alice Huang. The media separately reported that he had acknowledged the intimate relationship with Nvidia’s board.

On 8 November, Nvidia announced an inquiry overseen by independent directors with outside counsel. Its board said it had no reason at that point to believe that national security or Nvidia secrets had been compromised and that it would examine the available information. The acknowledgement of infidelity and the reported intelligence assessment answer different questions. The public record is yet to establish that Jenson Huang was honeytrapped, disclosed secrets or allowed a relationship to influence a company decision.

Why Does the Public Account Change?

Why might someone initially describe a relationship in professional terms and later acknowledge something personal?

One reason is that a person can sincerely believe two parts of their life are separate. They may think, ‘What happened privately had no bearing on my work, so why should I discuss it publicly?’ Someone else might be protecting their family’s privacy, buying time for a difficult conversation or hoping that a narrowly worded answer will end the questions. 

Those are possible explanations for a human pattern. There could be more. The chronology only establishes what Huang said and when. It cannot establish why he chose either response. The distinction matters because in this case the stakeholders (the government, the board, the employees, the shareholders and others) have a legitimate interest in whether company decisions were affected. That does not mean every detail of someone’s private life is relevant.

Why Can Smart People Be Vulnerable to Honeytraps?

Intelligence helps a person solve the problem they recognise. A honeytrap makes them unable to see the problem, as it is a cultivated relationship. 

Someone showing an interest in a person beyond professional engagement can be sincere. But it can also be a lie. And it may be impossible to distinguish the two early on.

Imagine a chief executive hearing from someone who has been supportive earlier. They ask for an introduction to a colleague. Such a favour takes a minute. In another setting, the chief executive might ask why the introduction is needed.  

Attraction can matter. So can the relief of being understood, the pleasure of being admired or the ease of speaking to someone who seems to have no demands on you. None of this tells us what happened in the Nvidia case. It explains why the possibility deserves a more serious response than ridicule.

A person can be disciplined, perceptive and accustomed to power. They might still misjudge what a particular encounter is asking of them.

Can Leaders Build a Firewall Against Temptation?

A leader can set boundaries in advance. A board can do something more concrete: when a leader’s personal relationship overlaps with a company decision, it can ask someone independent to step in even when the leader believes they can be impartial. Here the CEO needs to make a disclosure about such a relationship. 

The board needs enough information to understand what the relationship could affect. It needs the independence to act on that information and the discretion to protect the people involved. A confidential disclosure should make it easier to protect the company, not turn someone’s personal life into an exhibit.

Musings from Shadow Play: Love And Blackmail

In my novel Shadow Play: Love And Blackmail, published in January 2026, an Indian CEO of a Singapore-based company is honeytrapped by a Chinese agent in Turkey. This sets in motion a series of events affecting people who had no part in the relationship. The subplot shrinks the distance between getting close to a person and gaining access to what their position controls. The first can happen in private. The consequences of the second, well the novel explains it all. 

As a novelist, I know why the agent approaches the CEO. In the Nvidia story, intent of the honeytrap will emerge as the investigation proceeds. 

I would like to return to Vishvamitra after he curses Rambha. He saw the scheme and still discovered a limit to his self-control. A board can take that lesson seriously without expecting its leaders to be sages. It can make sure that when one person’s judgement is under pressure, the company has someone else who can make the call. Provided the board knows. Provided the leader informs the board.

FAQs

Was Jensen Huang honeytrapped?

That has not been established publicly. The US media reported a US intelligence assessment that he had been targeted, and Nvidia opened an independent inquiry. Huang’s acknowledgement of infidelity does not establish an intelligence operation or a security compromise.

What was Marco Rubio’s reported role?

According to media reports, Rubio oversaw the drafting of a classified memo in spring 2026 that circulated ahead of Trump’s May trip to China. The surveillance that reportedly brought Jensen Huang’s contact with Alice Huang to US officials’ attention preceded that memo.

Did Jensen Huang initially deny the relationship?

He initially characterised his interactions with Alice Huang as ordinary business dealings related to Megaspeed. He later acknowledged infidelity in an employee message that did not name her. US media separately reported that he acknowledged the intimate relationship to Nvidia’s board.

How can a company manage a CEO’s conflict of interest?

Give the CEO a confidential route to disclose the overlap, have them step aside from affected decisions and appoint someone independent with the authority to decide. Apply those rules even when nobody’s intentions are in doubt.

Key takeaways

• A video call can provide useful information, but it cannot conclusively establish someone’s identity or intentions.
• AI can help offenders create convincing photographs, messages, voices and videos. Not every romance scam uses all these capabilities.
• Even an entirely genuine video call can involve someone lying about their circumstances or motives.
• Verification works better when it combines independent checks, time and boundaries rather than relying on one convincing interaction.
• Requests for money, secrecy or intimate material deserve scrutiny regardless of how reassuring the person looks.
• Someone facing deception or blackmail needs practical support without humiliation.

Can a Romance Scammer Fake a Video Call?

His eyes lit up when he saw that the face on the screen matched the photograph on WhatsApp and Instagram. And the voice sounded just about right. It was good enough for him to drop his guard. 

AI could have helped that offender to wear that face. But think of it: if the person you trust have deception in their heart, they do not require AI. A genuine face does not establish honest intentions. They could be exactly who they appear to be and yet keep lying about their intentions. 

Criminals are using AI-generated images in romance schemes, cloned audio in impersonation fraud and synthetic videos to make online contacts appear genuine. It also identifies real-time video impersonation in fraud involving apparent authority figures. These capabilities should not be read as evidence that every suspicious dating interaction uses them.

The practical answer is therefore qualified: a video call is one piece of information, rather than a certificate of trustworthiness.

You may see someone clearly, hear them respond and still know very little about their life or intentions.

What is an AI romance scam?

An AI romance scam uses artificial intelligence to support deception built around apparent romantic interest.

The technology may help create a fictional identity, sustain persuasive communication or manufacture material used in a threat. A human offender can remain in control throughout.

The FBI documents these capabilities across financial fraud and image-abuse schemes. Their presence in a particular case must be established rather than assumed.

AI assistance alone does not make a relationship fraudulent. Someone might use a writing tool to translate a message or express themselves more clearly. The relevant questions are whether they are deliberately misleading you and what they are trying to obtain.

Why does a video call feel so reassuring?

Imagine an illustrative situation.

You have been messaging someone for several weeks. You enjoy the conversations, but a friend suggests checking whether the profile is genuine.

You arrange a video call. The person appears, smiles and answers your questions.

Afterwards, you tell your friend: ‘I have seen them. They are real.’

That conclusion is understandable. Yet it joins several separate questions:

• Was there a person responding during the call?
• Was their appearance authentic?
• Are they the person whose name and history they have given?
• Are their intentions honest?

A call may help answer the first question without resolving the others.

The danger comes when reassurance about one uncertainty is allowed to settle every uncertainty.

A real person can lie about being single, having a particular job or needing emergency funds. No manipulated face is required.

What does AI change about manufactured trust?

Romance deception existed long before generative AI. What changes is the range of material available to support a story.

A photograph may appear to confirm a holiday. A voice message may make affection feel personal. Fluent writing may remove inconsistencies that would otherwise prompt questions.

In its 2024 financial fraud assessment, INTERPOL warned that AI and large language models were contributing to more sophisticated fraud campaigns without requiring advanced technical skills.

The human mechanism remains worth examining.

An offender wants their account of themselves to become the explanation through which you interpret events. Once you accept that account, an inconsistency may begin to look like something you should excuse:

‘Their work must be confidential.’

‘They are embarrassed to ask for help.’

‘They are upset because I questioned them.’

These explanations can sometimes be true. The concern is whether alternative explanations are still allowed.

Can you pause, verify and disagree without being punished?

How can you recognise an AI romance scam?

There is no visual checklist that reliably separates every fabricated interaction from every genuine one.

Unnatural movements, inconsistent lighting or mismatched speech may warrant further checking. But poor connectivity and ordinary video processing can also produce odd effects. Conversely, the absence of visible errors does not authenticate a call.

Give particular attention to the behaviour surrounding it:

Affection becomes a reason to bypass caution.
You are told that checking a claim demonstrates a lack of love.

An emergency repeatedly prevents verification.
You must act immediately, before speaking to anyone.

The relationship becomes a route into investments.
Someone introduces a supposedly profitable trading opportunity and directs where you should send money.

Privacy becomes enforced secrecy.
You are discouraged from telling even one trusted person about a financial request or threat.

Boundaries provoke punishment.
Declining money requests or intimate conversations produces anger, guilt or threats.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission identifies frequent contact, repeated inability to meet and pressure towards particular trading platforms among warning signs of financial romance fraud. Moving to a private messaging app can form part of that pattern, although it does not establish fraud by itself.

How should you verify someone you met online?

Think of verification as a process that continues alongside the relationship.

Check claims through independent sources. Search for the name, occupation and other details using information you find yourself. Several accounts controlled by the same person do not provide independent confirmation.

Try a reverse image search. It may reveal a photograph used under different names. However, finding no match does not authenticate the image. A newly generated or previously unpublished picture may leave nothing to find.

Avoid turning verification into an exchange of sensitive documents. Sending your own identity documents or banking details can create additional exposure. A document received from the other person also needs scrutiny.

Keep financial boundaries. Do not send money or cryptocurrency to someone you have met only online. Independently assess any proposed investment rather than relying on the apparent relationship.

Discuss consequential requests with someone you trust. Another person can help examine the request without the same emotional pressure.

The FTC recommends reverse image searches, consultation with trusted people and avoiding payments to an online romantic contact you have not met in person. Meeting someone, however, should not be treated as proof of financial trustworthiness either.

Can a spontaneous gesture prove that a video call is genuine?

Asking someone to turn their head or respond to an unexpected question may expose a simple prerecorded clip.

It cannot conclusively verify identity or intentions.

A person might be responding live while their appearance is manipulated. Alternatively, they may be showing their real face while maintaining a fictional personal history.

A useful distinction is between checking whether an interaction is live and establishing who someone is. Neither automatically establishes whether they are trustworthy.

What happens when affection becomes blackmail?

The relationship may become coercive when someone threatens to share intimate material unless a demand is met.

That material can be genuine, recorded without permission or fabricated. The FBI has documented manipulated sexual images used to demand money or genuine intimate content from victims.

At this point, debating whether the person ever cared may make it harder to respond to what they are doing now.

Preserve threatening messages, account details and transaction records. Do not send further money or intimate material. Report the account and seek support from someone you trust.

In India, report cybercrime through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal or approach local police or cybercrime police. If money has been transferred, contact your bank or payment provider immediately and call 1930 for financial cyberfraud reporting. Prompt reporting does not guarantee recovery.

What should a friend say?

Begin with something that makes further disclosure possible:

‘Thank you for telling me. What has happened, and how can I help?’

Avoid demanding that the person defend every earlier decision. Help them examine the evidence and obtain support. Do not circulate intimate material.

The person may be confronting both a threat and the loss of a relationship they believed in. They need space to describe both.

The question behind Love Swipe Blackmail

In Love Swipe Blackmail, published in 2021, a protagonist’s concealed dating-app identity becomes a vulnerability when someone recognises him and has a grievance to pursue.

The connection to AI romance scams lies in the uncertainty surrounding online identity and the consequences when private knowledge becomes leverage.

A convincing image can influence whom we trust. What someone does with that trust deserves continuing attention.

FAQs

Can scammers use AI during a live video call?

Yes. AI can manipulate appearances during live video interactions. However, the use of that capability must be established in each case. A suspicious call is not automatically a deepfake.

Does a genuine video call mean the relationship is genuine?

No. Someone showing their real face can still lie about their name, relationship status, circumstances or intentions. Authentic video and honest conduct are different questions.

Can a reverse image search detect an AI-generated dating profile?

It may uncover stolen photographs or conflicting identities. Finding no results does not prove authenticity, particularly when an image is newly generated or has not been publicly indexed.

Should I ask someone to show identity documents on camera?

A displayed document is not conclusive proof and may itself be fabricated or misused. Avoid exchanging sensitive documents as an informal verification method. Use independent checks and maintain boundaries.

Are AI romance scams always about money?

No. AI-assisted intimate deception can also support sexual coercion, harassment or blackmail. Describe the conduct precisely, because financial romance fraud and intimate-image abuse can overlap without being identical.

What if I have already sent money?

Contact your bank or payment provider immediately. In India, call 1930 and report through cybercrime.gov.in. Preserve messages and transaction details, and be wary of anyone promising guaranteed recovery for a fee.

Key takeaways

• Police alleged that Bisht used photographs of a Brazilian model to impersonate a US-based model and approach women online.
• His alleged method moved from conversation and trust to obtaining intimate material, followed by threats and demands for money.
• A student’s complaint led investigators to him. Reporting subsequently recorded the filing of a chargesheet.
• The widely circulated figure of ‘700 women’ must be distinguished from the number of complainants, alleged extortion victims and offences established in court.
• As of 29 October 2026, the Indian press reports located for this case study do not establish his present whereabouts, custody status or trial outcome.
• The human question extends beyond identifying a fake profile: what makes someone fear exposure so much that paying a blackmailer appears safer than seeking help?

The Private Video Returned as a Threat

The person she had been chatting with, replied on a private video she had shared with him. This time, it came with a demand for money.

A Delhi University student had met someone on Bumble who presented himself as a US-based model visiting India for work. Their conversations moved to Snapchat and WhatsApp. Whenever she suggested meeting, he carefully and convincingly avoided. And yet, he convinced her to share her private images with him. 

She made payment, hoping that it was the price for her freedom. But his demands continued. Eventually, she mustered enough courage to confide in her family and approached the police. 

This is the case of information shared by her in confidence, becoming a means of control in the hands of the offender.

Who was Tushar Singh Bisht?

The case study constructed below is largely from Indian press & TV media coverage. The accused was identified as Tushar Singh Bisht, a Delhi resident aged 23 at the time of his arrest. He held a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and worked as a technical recruiter at a private company in Noida. His was arrested in early January 2025.

His occupation and education were honourable. But they do not explain his alleged behaviour. That requires examining the choices police investigation attributed to him: constructing a false identity, cultivating trust, retaining intimate material and demanding money under threat of disclosure.

His Alleged Modus Operandi: Credibility Before Coercion

1. Construct a person someone might want to know

An identity involves more than a photograph. Friends, family, an occupation, and a consistent personal story that can corroborate into one another. And a reason for being in India, in case you are a foreigner. 

Bisht used photographs and videos of a Brazilian model to pose as an American freelance model visiting Delhi for work. To make his cover more convincing, he used a virtual international number (VIN) to create profiles on dating and social media platforms. This saved his Indian mobile number from exposure to his victims.

I do not remember reading or gathering exactly why his victims trusted him. Whatever their reasons, they are largely absent from the public record. 

With his identity set, he targeted women aged between 18 and 30.

2. Turn conversation into a private connection

We know so far that after meeting the complainant on a dating app the offender gained her trust. Subsequently he moved the conversation to messaging apps and persuaded her to share private images. But whenever the question of a video call or a meet up arose, he shrewdly declined her requests, leaving her in no way to independently establish his identity.

3. Retain the material

Bisht saved intimate photographs and videos, including instances of screen recording.

I am not sure whether screen recording was done with permission. Even if it was done with permission, it is important to draw a distinction between sharing and permission. Sharing something privately does not give the recipient permission to expose it, threaten publication or use it to extract payment.

The responsibility for coercion / extortion belongs to the person making the threat.

4. Make exposure the price of refusing

He threatened his victims to release intimate material online or sell it on the dark web unless they paid him. From seeking companionship, he was imposing consequences of the trust placed in him by the complainant and the other victims. This was not a romantic relationship anymore. 

5. Continue demanding money

He did not relent the pressure even after the complainant’s initial payments. She finally chose to act in the face of continued follow up on demands.

This case therefore illustrates a particular danger of coercion: a payment can be treated by the perpetrator as evidence that the threat works. It cannot purchase a verifiable guarantee that no further demand will ever arrive, or that copies have disappeared.

What Did Police Say Motivated Him?

Tushar’s actions were financially motivated. The investigation did not establish other reasons such as revenge or a personal grievance against the women or an enjoyment of their suffering or punishment, or relationship control. 

Understanding this distinction matters within the wider subject of intimate blackmail, as money, sexual coercion, and other reasons mentioned above can produce different cases. 

How Was He Caught?

The investigation began with the student’s complaint to Cyber Police Station, West Delhi, in December 2024. The technical investigation and intelligence gathering that followed, identified the accused and led to a raid in Delhi’s Shakarpur area.

A later media report added a specific identifying link: police said he had purchased the virtual international number using his real identity. The lesson to be learnt is that the tech that helped support an invented identity does not necessarily make its user untraceable.

What Evidence did Police Recover?

Initial reporting described a seized mobile phone, more than 60 WhatsApp chat records and 13 credit cards. Police also identified two bank accounts, one of which reportedly contained payments from victims.

Initial police accounts described interactions with more than 500 women on Bumble and approximately 200 others on Snapchat and WhatsApp. Later coverage described allegations involving roughly 500 women.

While the complainant took action, most other women chose silence. The reasons for silence are not known, but one can assume that they wanted to keep their accounts private, and must have been relived. But the absence of action by the victims does not mean an absence of harm. They were harmed. Emotionally, mentally, financially too. 

The Lessons About Trust and Silence

Financial demands depend on the fear of exposure.

A person facing an intimate-image or intimate-video threat may be weighing consequences far beyond the amount demanded. Who might see the material? What might family members believe? How would colleagues judge the victim?

These questions also explain by the response of society matters. A friend or family member who begins with blame may make disclosure harder. Someone who listens and helps the person consider their next steps can make seeking assistance more possible.

The reported turning point here was that the student confided in her family, and approached the police. Look at the numbers involved – one out of 500. It takes courage to admit your own mistake and open up about it, even if the listeners are your own parents. The student displayed her courage. The parents displayed their understanding. The Police did the rest. 

Was AI involved?

The Indian press reports reviewed describe stolen model photographs, fabricated profiles, a virtual number, messaging and retained private material. They do not establish the use of generative AI, deepfake video or voice cloning in this case.

There is still a relevance of this case to the contemporary discussion of AI. 

It lies in the human mechanism: apparent credibility becomes trust, private access becomes leverage, and fear of exposure is used to demand compliance. AI can help create deepfakes on steroids and ruin someone. 

The connection to Love Swipe Blackmail

When I published my first techno thriller, Love Swipe Blackmail, I explored how your presence on a dating app could intersect with existing relationships, private knowledge and a personal grievance.

The alleged Bisht case has its own circumstances and a reported financial motive. The connection lies in the questions both invite: who knows the person behind the profile, who holds information about whom, and what happens when that knowledge becomes a threat?

The technological channel matters. So does the social world into which exposure is threatened.

That leaves a question for everyone around a person being blackmailed: would our response make it easier for them to seek help?

FAQs

Who is Tushar Singh Bisht?

He was identified in January 2025 reporting as a 23-year-old Delhi resident, BBA graduate and technical recruiter working in Noida, arrested over allegations of intimate-image blackmail involving dating and social media platforms.

What was his alleged method?

Police alleged that he impersonated a US-based model, developed personal conversations, obtained private images or videos and threatened disclosure to demand money.

How did police trace him?

Reporting described technical investigation and intelligence gathering. A later account said his real identity had been used to obtain the virtual international number.

Did he use AI or deepfakes?

The reporting reviewed does not establish either. This case should not be described as an AI-enabled offence without further evidence.

Was private material actually sold on the dark web?

The reports reviewed describe alleged threats to sell or release material. They do not establish a completed dark-web sale.

Has he been convicted, and is he still in jail?

Neither a conviction nor his current custody status could be verified from the Indian press reports located as of 29 October 2026. February 2025 reporting confirmed the filing of a chargesheet, which is distinct from a conviction.

Why is this case about human behaviour as well as technology?

The alleged method required someone to trust a constructed identity, share private information and then fear the consequences of its disclosure. Technology enabled contact and retention of material. The threatened consequences gave the demand its coercive force.

Key takeaways

• The New Delhi World Book Fair 2027 will take place from 16 to 24 January 2027, at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
• NBT currently lists Halls 2–6 and daily opening hours of 11 AM to 8 PM.
• Supreme Court Metro Station, on the Blue Line, is the nearest metro station. The metro is my recommended way to travel.
• Food and water options are plentiful within the Pragati Maidan premises. Still, carry at least a 500 ml water bottle, subject to entry rules, because you will be walking a fair bit.
• Bring a short reading wishlist, comfortable shoes and enough time for books you had not planned to discover.

A January Day Among Books

Whenever I have visited the World Book Fair, I arrive with two or three books in mind. Then a random cover catches your eye while browsing, a title makes me pause and want to know more, and someone behind a publisher’s counter introduces me to an author I may have never read.

And just like that, my carefully prepared list begins to expand.

That is part of the pleasure of a book fair. You can search for something specific while remaining open to a story, subject or writer you did not know you were looking for.

The New Delhi World Book Fair 2027 gives readers nine days to do precisely that. And January is a welcome time for it. Delhi’s winter usually makes walking around and exploring more comfortable than the warmer months, allowing you to browse at your own pace.

A little preparation will help you spend more of that time with books.

New Delhi World Book Fair 2027 – Essential Details

These details are currently published by NBT. Check again closer to your visit for any changes and for visitor entry instructions.

How to Reach the Fair – My Recommendation Is the Metro

For most visitors who can conveniently access the network, Delhi Metro would be my first choice.

The nearest station is Supreme Court Metro Station on the Blue Line, serving the Pragati Maidan complex. ITPO’s visitor information also confirms metro connectivity and substantial underground parking at Bharat Mandapam.

There is ample basement parking infrastructure if you choose to drive. The underground parking capacity is substantial. However, parking capacity and the time it takes to reach the venue are two different considerations. A major event can bring heavy traffic to the surrounding roads. The metro avoids much of that uncertainty and may be the quickest option, depending on where you start.

Check the designated visitor gates and parking arrangements for the book fair before leaving. Access instructions for another exhibition at Bharat Mandapam may not apply to this one. And remember that reaching the premises is only part of the journey. There will still be walking between the entrance, exhibition halls and individual stalls.

Food and Water Are Available, but Carry a Small Bottle

Food and water options are plentiful, both inside the exhibition buildings and in the outdoor areas within the Pragati Maidan premises. You should be able to take a break without leaving the complex.

Even so, my advice is to carry at least half a litre of water on your person, subject to the fair’s security rules.

The reason is simple. You may spend longer than expected moving between halls, browsing shelves or standing through a conversation. Having water with you saves an interruption every time you feel thirsty.

Wear comfortable shoes, too. A book fair has a quiet way of adding steps to your day. You might notice a new publisher, an undiscovered title, remember that you also had to visit another stall in the previous hall, and discover that your ‘short visit’ has acquired a substantial walking component.

But you know what? January makes this exploration especially enjoyable. Carry a layer for the colder parts of the day, and allow yourself a food or tea break between rounds of browsing.

Give Yourself Time to Browse

I would avoid squeezing the fair between two appointments.

If you want to explore several halls, allow a few hours. If you also want to attend a discussion, meet an author or browse with children, leave more room in your day.

You do not have to see everything.

Choose a few priorities, then leave some time unallocated. A visit becomes more rewarding when you can stop at an unfamiliar stall without feeling that you are falling behind schedule.

For readers travelling with older family members or anyone who finds extended walking difficult, check accessibility arrangements in advance and plan regular breaks.

Bring a Wishlist That Leaves Room for Surprise

A useful reading wishlist can have three parts:

• Books you already want: specific titles, authors or editions.
• Subjects you want to explore: history, relationships, technology, politics, poetry or anything else that has been on your mind.
• Something unfamiliar: a translated novel, a debut writer or a genre you rarely read.

This gives your visit a direction without deciding every purchase beforehand.

Read a few opening pages where browsing is permitted. A lot of books come wrapped in shrink wrap to keep their covers clean.  Do not remove the shrink wrap without permission. The best way is to request the stall staff to do it for you. They might even have an open reading copy tucked somewhere that they might share. Look beyond the cover and ask whether you want to remain in the company of that voice.

When someone recommends a book, ask what kind of reader would enjoy it. Even if it is a bestseller, it may not belong on your bedside table.

If You Enjoy Thrillers, Follow the Human Question

As a novelist, I am interested in what people do when trust becomes uncertain.

For thriller readers, that can be a useful way to choose a book. Alongside asking what happens in the story, ask what places its characters under pressure.

Is it a relationship they cannot afford to lose? A secret that threatens their reputation? Access to power that makes revenge possible?

These questions sit at the heart of my own fiction. Love Swipe Blackmail explores trust, concealed identity and blackmail around a dating app. Its sequel, Shadow Play: Love And Blackmail moves into organisational access, anger and revenge, where personal choices can produce much wider consequences.

You may prefer psychological suspense, corporate intrigue or stories shaped by technology. The fair is an opportunity to discover which kinds of tension hold your attention.

Check confirmed publisher and stall information before travelling if you are looking for a particular book, including mine. I will share my publisher’s stall details as soon as they are announced by NBT, So please revisit this article close to the event dates.

Check Tickets and Entry Instructions Before Leaving

For New Delhi World Book Fair 2027 tickets, entry charges, permitted items and visitor gates, use 

the latest official NBT announcements. Do not assume that arrangements from a previous edition will continue unchanged.

Keep the official page bookmarked. Once the programme is available, note any sessions you particularly want to attend and leave enough time to reach them.

A little preparation takes care of the logistics. Then you can give your attention to the more enjoyable question – what would you like to read next?

FAQs

When is the New Delhi World Book Fair 2027?

The fair is scheduled for 16–24 January 2027.

Where will the New Delhi World Book Fair 2027 be held?

It will be held at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, in Halls 2–6, according to NBT’s current information.

What are the opening hours?

NBT currently lists daily timings of 11 AM to 8 PM. Recheck the official website before visiting.

Which metro station is nearest to the fair?

Supreme Court Metro Station on Delhi Metro’s Blue Line is the nearest station. Follow the fair’s designated visitor-entry directions from there.

Is parking available at Bharat Mandapam?

Bharat Mandapam has substantial underground parking infrastructure. Check the fair-specific parking entrances, charges and access arrangements before driving.

Are food and drinking water available?

Food and water options are available inside the buildings and in outdoor areas within the Pragati Maidan premises. Carrying a small water bottle is still sensible because the visit involves considerable walking, subject to entry rules.

How much time should I allow?

Allow a few hours to explore several halls comfortably. Give yourself longer if you plan to attend sessions, browse extensively or take regular breaks.

Is entry free for the 2027 fair?

Check NBT’s latest visitor announcement for confirmed 2027 entry rules and any ticket charges. Previous-year arrangements should not be treated as confirmation.

Key takeaways

• My connection with Pune began during my postgraduate years at SIBM, from 1999 to 2001.
• A rented flat called Bhai Niwas, a motorcycle called Bhai Bike and familiar food joints became part of the geography of friendship.
• Café Bourgeoise and Jaws have since closed, but the memories of time spent there remain.
• The response of students and a local shopkeeper to the 2001 Bhuj earthquake left a lasting impression on me.
• Returning for Pune Book Festival 2026 offers the prospect of discovering new stories in a city that already holds some of my own.

How do you remember a city? Through its landmarks? Through the love of its residents? Through the beautiful memories you make there with people you call friends? Through some extraordinary events that you are a part of? I made my memories of Pune through all of these and through the names we gave things.

For me, Pune has a Bhai Niwas and a Bhai Bike.

I suspect, neither would have found their way to Google maps. But among friends, the references were perfectly clear then, and now. 

As I look forward to visiting Pune Book Festival 2026, I find myself remembering the city where I spent two important years of my life. Before there were novels with my name on their covers, there were classes, friends, shared accommodation and meals that gave us reasons to keep talking.

I studied at SIBM Pune from 1999 to 2001, when the institute was on Senapati Bapat Road. Most of us rented accommodation in nearby areas. Some of us rented a flat in Deep Bangla Chowk. 

We called it Bhai Niwas.

A Home with a Name Of its Own

Bhai Niwas gradually became much more than an address. It was where we shared space, routines and the small adjustments required to live with people who have their own ideas about how things should be done.

Soon, along the way, it became our place. Giving it a name probably helped. There were so many accommodations resided in by our classmates. Bhai Niwas had a ring. More importantly, friends knew what ‘Bhai Niwas’ meant when we would say: ‘Let us meet at Bhai Niwas.’

Bhai Niwas belonged to that period when friendship was woven into everyday life. You did not need to plan a reunion or compare calendars several weeks ahead. Friends were, well, around.

One of our friends owned a Hero Honda Splendor, which we rode often enough for it to acquire a place in our shared vocabulary.

Bhai Bike.

We were clearly more consistent with our naming than we were imaginative. These are small memories, but they carry the texture of those years. The place we stayed. The bike we borrowed. The people whose presence we could take for granted because we saw them so often.

Only later do you realise how fortunate that arrangement was.

Pune, One Meal at a Time

Food gives memory a remarkably reliable address.

There was Café Bourgeoise on Bhandarkar Road, where we went late for parathas and tea or coffee. It stayed open well past midnight, a useful quality for a place serving students who were not yet ready to call it a day. I still remember the bourgeoise cacophony of bourgeoise students studying similar subjects at different colleges. Doesn’t matter if some students came from well-to-do or very well-to-do families. Students in themselves are bourgeoise. There’s something romantic about being bourgeoise, and having bourgeoise fun. 

There was also a paratha tapri on FC Road. I still remember how good the aunty’s parathas were. My attempt to offer a comprehensive assessment of Pune’s food scene from those years would be very incompetent. I can, however, confirm that parathas occupied an important position in mine.

Then there was Jaws and its oversized, delicious burgers. Many an evening was spent there with friends. 

Looking back, I consider that time well invested. A conversation does not need to produce a conclusion, a plan or an opportunity to have been worthwhile. Sometimes it is enough that you enjoyed being together.

And, of course, there was Kayani Bakery in Pune Camp and its Shrewsbury biscuits.

Bourgeoise and Jaws closed in the 2000s. They belong to an earlier Pune now. But in memory, they remain places I can enter quite easily. I remember them through the people I was with and the pleasure of having somewhere to go together.

The Memory That Changes the Mood

Among these recollections is one that carries a very different weight.

On 26 January 2001, the earthquake struck Bhuj.

I remember seeing the photographs in the newspaper the following day. The devastation was difficult to comprehend. Buildings had collapsed, homes had disappeared and lives had been overturned. It looked like the city had been nuked. We were shattered by the images.

I was in the senior batch at SIBM then. A few of us got together to organise help for the victims. Students from the junior batch joined in too. We asked students to contribute whatever they could in cash and kind. What happened next remains one of my proudest memories of those years.

New clothes, notes, and notes for strangers

I remember that a lot of students gave away new clothes. Even the used ones were in tip-top condition, not the ones you wanted to discard anyway. Some slipped currency notes into the clothes, along with handwritten notes for their ‘brothers and sisters’ in Bhuj.

That gesture has stayed with me for twenty-five years.

The recipients were people we had never met. Yet the messages addressed them as family. Across the distance between Pune and Bhuj, students were trying to send something personal along with the practical help. We wanted our fellow citizens at Bhuj, who had lost so much, to find a parcel prepared with their dignity in mind.

At the time, we were busy collecting and organising. Looking back, I can better appreciate the thought contained in those contributions.

A shopkeeper joins the effort

I no longer remember the amount of cash we collected. But I do remember what we were told it could provide.

A new store had opened in the vicinity. According to the owner, the money was enough to source ration for seventeen families of four for a month. When the owner learned that the supplies were for people affected by the earthquake in Bhuj, he gave us everything at cost. He became part of the effort.

The students had contributed what they could. The shopkeeper used his position to make those contributions go further.

Nobody needed to know the families who would eventually receive the supplies. Knowing that they needed help was enough.

Handing the supplies to the Army

I told you about the rations. Let me tell you about the quantity of clothes. We had two six-foot sacks filled up to the brim with clothes. 

After two days of collections, we handed over all the supplies to the Indian Army.

For us, it is an institution we trust completely with the responsibility of getting the help to those who needed it. It was a deeply emotional moment.

There was sorrow for people facing an unimaginable loss. There was pain at what we had seen. There was pride in the way students had responded, and a sense that we had done something, however modest, towards a purpose larger than ourselves.

Those feelings existed together.

The memory still moves me because it includes so many acts of care – students buying clothes, writing notes and contributing money; juniors and seniors working together; a shopkeeper supplying provisions at cost.

I love that Punekar spirit. I love that Indian spirit. When life deals a terrible blow, our people find ways to help one another stand again.

Returning With More Stories Behind Me

When I think of returning to Pune now, all these memories travel together.

The light ones have their place – Bhai Niwas, Bhai Bike, burgers and late-night parathas. So does the memory of students preparing help for families they would never meet.

I write about relationships, technology and moral dilemmas. I am interested in how trust is built, exploited and broken. But my curiosity about human nature also includes the moments when people respond with generosity.

The Bhuj relief effort is one of those memories.

I would not claim that a particular incident explains why I became a writer. Life rarely offers such tidy connections. I do know that the people and experiences of those years remain part of how I look at the world.

What I Hope to Find at Pune Book Festival 2026

At the festival, I hope to discover books, meet people and have the kinds of conversations that become possible when readers gather. Returning to Pune also means allowing the present city to have its say.

My memories are specific to a time. The city has continued living and changing since then. I would like to revisit some familiar places while remaining open to what I do not yet know.

That seems an appropriate way to approach a book festival too. There are books you want to read for sure. And then there is the delightful discovery of books you weren’t aware of when you stepped in. 

I went to Pune as a student in 1999. I hope to return this December as an author and a reader. Somewhere in between those identities, there is still a young man who knows exactly what Bhai Niwas means.

FAQs

What is Nitish Bhushan’s connection with Pune?

I studied at SIBM Pune from 1999 to 2001. During those years, some friends and I rented a flat in Deep Bangla Chowk. My memories of Pune include student friendships, familiar food joints and helping organise contributions for people affected by the Bhuj earthquake.

Where was SIBM during his student years?

During my time at SIBM, from 1999 to 2001, the institute was on Senapati Bapat Road.

What were Bhai Niwas and Bhai Bike?

Bhai Niwas was our name for the flat some of us rented in Deep Bangla Chowk. Bhai Bike was a friend’s Hero Honda Splendor that we often rode.

Which Pune cafés and food joints does he remember?

My memories include Café Bourgeoise on Bhandarkar Road, Jaws, a paratha tapri on FC Road and Kayani Bakery in Pune Camp. Bourgeoise and Jaws closed in the 2000s; the references here describe my student years.

How did SIBM students help after the 2001 Bhuj earthquake?

Students from the senior and junior batches contributed money and supplies. I remember students buying new clothes, sometimes adding money and handwritten messages. A local shopkeeper supplied ration at cost, and we handed the collected material to the Indian Army.

Will Nitish Bhushan attend Pune Book Festival 2026?

I am planning to attend. Any confirmed dates or arrangements for meeting readers will be shared separately.

Which of Nitish Bhushan’s Books be available at the Pune Book Festival 2026?

Both the books from his LSBVerse will be available: Love Swipe Blackmail (theme: Temptation, digital trust, secrecy, loyalty and friendship) and its sequel, Shadow Play: Love And Blackmail (Insider vulnerability, reputation, revenge, cyber deception and partnership).

When will the Pune Book Festival 2026 be held and where?

Pune Book Festival 2026 will be held from 12 to 20 December at Fergusson College Ground, Pune. 

Key takeaways

• Love Swipe Blackmail and Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail are available at Anecdote Publishing House, Stall C26.
• The Ahmedabad International Book Festival 2026 is being held at the Sabarmati Riverfront from 24 October to 1 November.
• Start with Love Swipe Blackmail if dating apps, relationships and private deception interest you.
• Choose Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail if you prefer corporate cyber intrigue, insider access and attacks on reputation.
• You do not need a technical background to enjoy either novel.
• The author will not be attending the festival, but both books can be discovered at the publisher’s stall.

With More Than 700 Stalls Where Should a Thriller Reader Begin?

The Ahmedabad International Book Festival 2026 is now underway at the Sabarmati Riverfront.

The festival was inaugurated on 24 October by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. According to the official announcement from the Chief Minister’s Office, more than 700 stalls and 125 publishers are participating this year.

That scale creates a delightful problem for readers.

There are hundreds of stalls to browse, unfamiliar titles to examine and recommendations competing for attention. You may arrive intending to explore everything, only to realise that no one can meaningfully inspect hundreds of displays in a single visit.

It helps to begin with a question.

What kind of story do you want to read next?

If you are looking for contemporary Indian thrillers in which technology changes who can be trusted, head to Anecdote Publishing House, Stall C26.

You will find two novels there:

• Love Swipe Blackmail
• Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail

Both are part of the same fictional universe, but each explores technology, deception and trust at a different level.

Find the books at Stall C26

Festival: Ahmedabad International Book Festival 2026

Dates: 24 October to 1 November 2026

Venue: Sabarmati Riverfront Event Centre, Ahmedabad

Publisher: Anecdote Publishing House

Stall number: C26

Books available: Love Swipe Blackmail and Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail

If you are planning your visit, you can also read my Ahmedabad International Book Festival 2026 reader’s guide. Take a water bottle along with you. 

Anecdote Publishing House at Stall C26 during Ahmedabad International Book Festival 2026.

Begin With Love Swipe Blackmail If Private Secrets Interest You

One swipe can feel private. But a digital footprint? It rarely is.

Love Swipe Blackmail begins with Ravi, a man who has a loving partner, loyal friends and a promising future. One impulsive encounter with a dating app leaves behind a trail that someone else discovers and decides to exploit.

The dating app makes the situation possible, but it does not create the real conflict. Ravi’s vulnerability emerges from temptation; secrecy and his fear of what disclosure might cost him.

The novel explores:

• Trust within romantic relationships
• Dating profiles and concealed identities
• Digital footprints
• Blackmail and unequal power
• Friendship when someone has made a serious mistake
• The difference between protecting a friend and excusing their choices

Choose this book if you enjoy fast-moving mysteries involving relationships, friendship, humour, secrets and the consequences of one poor decision.

If you would like to experience the writing before visiting the stall, you can read a free chapter from Love Swipe Blackmail.

Choose Shadow Play If Corporate Cyber Intrigue Interests You

Some cyberattacks steal information. Others are meant to destroy people.

In Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail, eerily similar cyber breaches cost Ravi and Raaj their careers. What initially looks like professional negligence begins to resemble a deliberate campaign.

Fake companies, digital honey traps, anonymous disclosures and concealed grievances draw individuals, businesses, media organisations and national-security institutions into the conflict.

The central question is not merely how a system was breached. It is whether someone is manipulating the people trusted to protect it.

The novel explores:

• Corporate cybersecurity
• Social engineering
• Insider access
• Reputational attacks
• Revenge backed by institutional power
• Manufactured suspicion
• Trust within organisations
• Partnership under professional pressure

Choose Shadow Play if you prefer corporate conspiracies, intelligent adversaries and thrillers in which careers and credibility are at risk.

You can also read a free chapter from Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail before deciding.

Love Swipe Blackmail and Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail at Anecdote Publishing House, Stall C26.

Which Book Should You Read First?

I recommend beginning with Love Swipe Blackmail.

The two novels belong to the same fictional universe, the LSBVerse, and share several characters. Reading the first novel will give you a fuller understanding of their relationships, earlier choices and loyalties. The progression across the series is:

• Intimate: Love Swipe Blackmail explores trust and deception within personal relationships.
• Institutional: Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail moves into companies, careers, media and national-security institutions.
• International: The third novel, currently in development, will expand into artificial intelligence, geopolitical influence and India-China technological rivalry.

However, Shadow Play contains its own principal conflict. Readers primarily interested in cybersecurity and corporate intrigue can still understand and enjoy it independently.

For a broader introduction to the genre and this progression, read Technology Thrillers to Discover at Ahmedabad International Book Festival 2026.

Technology Creates the Opportunity; People Create the Danger.

Neither novel is really about machines defeating human beings.

In Love Swipe Blackmail, technology allows a private choice to leave a discoverable trail. The power comes from another person understanding what that information could cost Ravi.

In Shadow Play, digital systems, identities and access become instruments through which grievance and revenge can be pursued. Even a technically secure organisation remains vulnerable when someone already possesses trust, knowledge or legitimate access.

The technology changes between the novels. The human questions remain:

• Why do intelligent people overlook warnings?
• When does secrecy become a source of control?
• What happens when someone believes a grievance justifies revenge?
• How much damage can suspicion cause before the truth is established?

These are thrillers about technology, but their real territory is human behaviour.

I Will Not Be at the Festival, But the Books Are

I will not be able to visit the Ahmedabad International Book Festival this year.

However, readers can find both novels at Anecdote Publishing House, Stall C26, until the festival concludes on 1 November 2026. You can examine the books at the stall, read their descriptions, read a few pages and make your decision. 

Amid hundreds of stalls and thousands of books, discovery often begins with one location. If technology thrillers about trust, deception and human vulnerability sound like your kind of reading, remember: Stall C26.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find Love Swipe Blackmail at Ahmedabad International Book Festival 2026?

The novel is available at Anecdote Publishing House, Stall C26, at the Sabarmati Riverfront Event Centre.

Where can I find Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail at the festival?

You can find it alongside Love Swipe Blackmail at Anecdote Publishing House, Stall C26.

Which novel should I read first?

Beginning with Love Swipe Blackmail is recommended because it introduces the principal characters and their relationships. Shadow Play continues their journey while expanding the conflict from intimate deception to institutional danger.

Can Shadow Play be read independently?

Yes. Its principal cyber and corporate conflict can be understood independently. However, reading Love Swipe Blackmail first provides greater context for the characters, relationships and loyalties carried into the second book.

Do I need to understand cybersecurity to enjoy the novels?

No. The technology is explained through its consequences for people, careers and relationships. The stories do not require a technical background.

Are these science-fiction novels?

No. Both published novels are contemporary technology thrillers. Love Swipe Blackmail revolves around dating technology and digital exposure, while Shadow Play involves cyber breaches, social engineering and institutional vulnerability.

Can I read sample chapters before buying the books?

Yes. You can read a free chapter from Love Swipe Blackmail and a free chapter from Shadow Play: Love and Blackmail.

Will Nitish Bhushan be present at the festival?

No. I will not be visiting the festival this year. The books, however, are available through Anecdote Publishing House at Stall C26.

When does Ahmedabad International Book Festival 2026 end?

The festival runs until 1 November 2026 at the Sabarmati Riverfront Event Centre in Ahmedabad.

Key takeaways

• Silence can reflect fear of losing relationships, dignity or professional standing.
• The perpetrator remains responsible for the abuse. Our response can nevertheless strengthen or weaken their leverage.
• Men and women may face different expectations that make seeking help difficult.
• AI-generated intimate images can create threats even when someone has never shared intimate material.
• Families, friends and employers should make support credible before a crisis occurs.

A blackmailer can exploit the victim’s expectations of other people. Making it safer to ask for help is therefore part of resisting coercion.

The Threat Contains an Audience

Imagine receiving a message: ‘Do what I say, or I will send this to your family.’

The attachment could be a private / intimate photograph shared willingly earlier, a recording or a fabricated image. But the threat directs your attention beyond the material itself.

What will your partner think? Will your parents listen? Could colleagues start whispering? Will anyone believe your explanation?

The blackmailer supplies the threat. Your mind supplies you with the audience’s possible response. This is where an intimate threat acquires social power. You anticipate losing more than privacy. You fear losing your place among people whose acceptance matters.

Silence Feels Like the Safer Option

From outside, the question seems straightforward: why did the victim not tell someone?

Inside the situation, a different question may dominate: whom can I tell without making things worse? Embarrassment, shame, shock, remorse, and feeling overwhelmed are reasons people may delay reaching out about sextortion.

My argument is that we should examine the environment in which that silence becomes understandable.

A person may expect a parent to confiscate their phone, a partner to accuse them of betrayal or a manager to question their judgment. While these reactions are not inevitable, the fear of them can still shape a decision.

The blackmailer’s offer is cruelly persuasive: comply now, and perhaps the feared exposure can be postponed. That does not make the victim weak. It shows how coercion can narrow someone’s sense of available choices.

Fear of Social Judgment Becomes Leverage

Consider two possible responses to a disclosure.

‘Why would you send something like that?’

‘I’m glad you told me. Let’s work out what support you need.’

The first makes the person defend their conduct before receiving help. The second creates space to address the threat. There may eventually be difficult conversations about trust, relationships or decisions. But an interrogation in the first moment can reinforce the blackmailer’s claim that seeking help will bring punishment. 

Responsibility for blackmail belongs to the perpetrator. That responsibility does not disappear because the victim trusted someone, shared an image or made a decision they regret.

Our separate responsibility concerns how we respond when someone brings us a threat. And even before that, be wary of requests that can create leverage against us in a relationship.

The Pressure to Look Respectable; Or Invulnerable

We should be careful about imagining a single kind of victim.

A woman may fear being judged for sexual behaviour while the person threatening her receives less scrutiny. A man may fear ridicule for having been deceived, or believe that admitting fear contradicts the strength others expect from him. A professional may worry that a private vulnerability will become a public verdict on competence and character.

These pressures vary between people, families and workplaces. They are questions worth examining rather than assumptions to impose on every case. What unites them is the possibility that asking for help will threaten an identity the person has worked hard to maintain.

If we demand that people always appear respectable, capable and in control, we should consider what happens when they need to admit that someone has gained power over them.

AI Challenges the Reassurance of Innocence

It is tempting to believe that avoiding intimate photographs removes the threat.

That reassurance has limits. Offenders can use AI to fabricate nude images or create sexual deepfakes and use them for extortion, or public shaming. A fabricated image creates the burden on the victim to explain something that never happened.

My concern is the audience’s response while authenticity remains uncertain. Will people pause or will they circulate it? Will an employer wait till the facts are established, or be compelled take action?

We need a standard that protects people whether material is authentic or fabricated. Even authenticity for that matter, does not grant permission to threaten someone or circulate their intimate material.

Support Must Become Believable Before it is Needed

‘Come to me if anything happens’ is a useful promise. Everyday behaviour determines whether someone believes it.

How do we discuss another person’s leaked photographs? Do we forward them? Make jokes? Ask why the person allowed themselves to be recorded? Or do we relate with the victim and ask ourselves what if we were there instead of them. As a responsible society, we can limit the distribution by not forwarding such material; and asking the sender to do the same.

How we treat someone else’s exposure tells those around us whether they can safely come to us for help.

Employers face a similar question. If an employee expects humiliation or automatic punishment, would they disclose coercion early enough for the organisation to respond?

I would like families and workplaces to rehearse that first conversation. Who listens? How is privacy protected? What happens next? What support can honestly be promised?

A credible route to help needs more than goodwill.

What We Make Possible

In Love Swipe Blackmail, published in 2021, I explored how private vulnerability can become leverage through deception and the threat of exposure.

The question extends beyond fiction: what makes another person’s threat powerful enough to govern someone’s choices?

Part of the answer can lie in the response the victim expects from everyone else. We cannot promise that disclosure will have no consequences. We can make a more meaningful promise: someone who seeks help will be heard, treated with dignity and supported through the next steps.

That promise becomes powerful when our behaviour makes it believable.

FAQs

Why do people stay silent about sextortion?

They may fear exposure, blame, relationship damage or professional consequences. Some also feel overwhelmed or unsure whom to trust. Silence should not be interpreted as agreement with the perpetrator.

Does sharing an intimate image make the victim responsible for blackmail?

Sharing material privately does not authorise threats or further distribution. Responsibility for coercion belongs to the person making the threats. But if the victim has received such a threat, that should trigger their caution. 

Why might men find sextortion difficult to report?

The pressure to appear invulnerable, strong, and morally upright; and anticipation of public ridicule could be the reasons on the outside. While they may be struggling with embarrassment, shame, shock, remorse, and feeling overwhelmed on the inside. These expectations and feelings can make admitting manipulation difficult, although experiences differ between individuals.

Can someone face sextortion without sharing intimate images?

Offenders can use fabricated sexual images, including AI-generated material, to threaten someone. The threatened harm can concern how others might react to the fabrication.

How should I respond if someone tells me they are being blackmailed?

Listen calmly, avoid blame and ask what support they need. Help them seek appropriate reporting and specialist support. Do not request or circulate the intimate material.

Does supporting a victim mean approving every decision they have made?

Support means addressing coercion and protecting dignity. Questions about relationship conduct or other decisions can be considered separately, without making help conditional on moral approval.

Key takeaways

• Your interests can guide your festival browsing more effectively than a long shopping list.
• Technology thrillers become compelling when technological possibilities meet recognisable human desires, fears and choices.
• Fiction about relationships, corporate life and geopolitics can explore the same underlying question – whom do we trust, and why?
• Pairing a thriller with relevant nonfiction can deepen your understanding of the world behind the story.
• The books discussed here will be available at Pune Book Festival 2026. 

Chapter text:

There is a particular pleasure in finishing a thriller and wondering what you would have done in the same situation. Would you have trusted the message? Told your friend? Reported your colleague? Walked away when something first felt wrong?

From the comfort of a reading chair, the answers can seem obvious. Inside a story, with affection, ambition, loyalty or reputation at stake, they become less comfortable. That is the kind of reading I enjoy and the territory I explore in my fiction.

If you are preparing to visit Pune Book Festival 2026, consider arriving with a few questions alongside your list of authors. Questions can lead you across genres and towards books you might otherwise overlook.

Begin With the Human Question

“Technology thriller” may suggest hackers, surveillance systems, secret laboratories or someone typing furiously while a clock counts down. Those elements create suspense. But a story also needs its characters with motives and reasons to act.

Why does someone share a secret with a stranger? Why does an employee remain silent about a troubling instruction? Why does an intelligent person dismiss a warning?

Technology changes what people can do, how quickly they can do it and how far the consequences can travel. The motives may be familiar – love, fear, resentment, status, money or the desire to belong.

When browsing, ask yourself which of those human questions interests you most.

If Relationships Interest You, Look for Stories About Secrets and Leverage

A person may enter a dating app believing that a different name and photograph will keep their identity concealed. But what happens when someone recognises them? The balance of power changes. Someone else now knows a secret whose exposure could damage a relationship.

In Love Swipe Blackmail, the protagonist’s concealed identity is discovered by someone who can deliver harm. That person also knows the protagonist’s fiancée. A private act becomes leverage, bringing deception, blackmail and the threat of intimate betrayal into the story.

In the app world, one person holds information that the other fears revelation of. While the relationship outside the app rests on an incomplete understanding of the truth, hence an unequal level of trust.

If these themes interest you, explore relationship fiction and psychological suspense alongside technology thrillers. Look for stories that ask – how do people respond when someone gains power over what they most want to keep hidden?

If Working Life Interests You, Look for Stories Where Personal Revenge Meets Institutional Power

An organisation gives people access, authority and resources to carry out their responsibilities. What happens when someone turns that power towards settling a personal score? A moment of anger can have consequences far beyond the original grievance. The person seeking revenge has the means to act, while those being targeted may have little understanding of the power being used against them.

Shadow Play: Love And Blackmail, the sequel to Love Swipe Blackmail, explores this collision. In a weak moment driven by anger and revenge, someone strikes at their past, misusing the access and power their organisation has entrusted to them. In the process they also create collateral damage. The tension and damage come from not what they were authorised to do, but what they choose to do when resentment took over.

If these questions interest you, explore corporate thrillers, psychological suspense and investigative accounts of institutional misconduct. Look for stories that ask – what happens when a private grievance gains access to institutional power?

If Technology Interests You, Ask Whose Intentions it Serves

Technology provides with you with access. Access to strangers and known alike. It also provides you with power. Technology however, does not come with intent. The intent behind it comes from its user (with the exception of AI) – their motives, their relationships and the restraints they are willing to abandon.

A message sent on a dating app creates no leverage for the app. It creates leverage for the person who wants to use the message in a certain way. Likewise, organisation level resources and authority can be used for personal purposes only if the user intends so.

While browsing at Pune Book Festival, look for fiction and nonfiction that explores this connection between capability and intention. Cybercrime, surveillance, digital identities and AI offer different settings for a recurring question – what happens when someone uses the power available to them to pursue a personal end?

Choose Moral Dilemmas That Resist Easy Answers

A moral dilemma asks a character more than choosing between an obviously good action and an obviously bad one.

Consider a person who can protect a friend only by concealing or trading information that someone else needs. Or an employee whose truthful disclosure could expose wrongdoing while harming innocent colleagues. The competing obligations make the choice difficult.

When you sample a novel, look for evidence that its characters have something meaningful to lose. Their decisions should emerge from the lives they have lived, the relationships they value and the pressures they face.

You may still think they chose badly. But understanding why they chose that way can be more rewarding than simply identifying the villain.

Carry A Reading Compass to the Festival

Before visiting, choose three directions.

One human theme – trust, loyalty, ambition or revenge.

One technological interest – digital relationships, surveillance, cybercrime or AI.

One unfamiliar form – translated fiction, investigative nonfiction, biography or short stories.

Then ask exhibitors for recommendations at the intersection.

‘I enjoy stories about people being manipulated through technology’ gives someone a more useful starting point than ‘Suggest a thriller.’

As I think about returning to Pune, where I studied at SIBM from 1999 to 2001, I am looking forward to that pleasure of discovery too. A familiar city can still introduce you to an unfamiliar writer.

And a good book can leave you reconsidering a choice you had once thought easy.

FAQs

What should I read before visiting Pune Book Festival 2026?

Start with a book related to an interest you want to explore at the festival. A thriller about trust, a work of nonfiction about technology or a novel involving difficult choices can help you identify questions to guide your browsing.

What is a technology thriller?

A technology thriller is a suspense novel in which technology plays a significant role in the conflict. It might involve cybercrime, surveillance, digital relationships or artificial intelligence, alongside the motives and decisions of the people using those systems.

Can I enjoy technology thrillers without a technical background?

Yes. Choose books that make the relevant technology understandable through the story. Reading a few pages before buying can help you judge whether the level of technical detail suits you.

What kinds of books explore trust and deception?

Psychological suspense, relationship fiction, corporate thrillers, espionage novels and investigative nonfiction can all explore trust and deception. Look at the book’s central conflict rather than relying only on its genre label.

How do Love Swipe Blackmail and Shadow Play connect?

Both explore relationships, technology and moral dilemmas. Love Swipe Blackmail focuses on interpersonal deception and digital relationships. Shadow Play: Love And Blackmail is its sequel that extends the inquiry into corporate intrigue, cyber threats and reputational harm.

What nonfiction pairs well with technology thrillers?

Books about psychology, cybersecurity, organisational behaviour, surveillance, AI and geopolitical competition can complement technology thrillers. Choose a subject that answers a question the novel left you wanting to investigate.

Will these books be available at Pune Book Festival 2026?

This article offers reading directions and recommendations, rather than a confirmed festival stock list. Check participating publishers and exhibitors, or contact the relevant publisher, before travelling specifically to purchase a title. 

Key takeaways

• Dating app scams exploit the trust built through apparent romantic interest. The deception may continue over WhatsApp, social media, calls or in-person meetings.
• Financial fraud, sexual coercion and intimate-image abuse can overlap, but they are different forms of harm.
• A perpetrator may seek money, further intimate material, continued contact or control over someone’s choices.
• Shame and fear of judgment can make seeking help feel more dangerous than complying.
• AI can enable fabricated intimate images. Someone does not have to share an intimate photograph to become a target.
• Preserving evidence, reporting the abuse and involving a trusted person can help interrupt the perpetrator’s control.

What is a dating app scam?

A dating app scam involves using a false identity, bad intentions and misleading behaviour to exploit someone seeking a relationship. A financial romance scam builds apparent affection to obtain money. Other encounters can lead to sexual coercion, intimate-image blackmail or abuse.

These categories overlap, but they are not interchangeable. A person who steals money through a fictional relationship or an ex-partner who threatens to publish private photographs may use different methods and have different motives. What connects them is the exploitation of trust.

Authorities and reportage describe a familiar financial pattern – someone establishes contact through a dating app or social network, develops a relationship and eventually invents a reason to request money. Showing up regularly and frequent communication add credibility to the relationship.

But understanding deception requires looking beyond the payment request. We need to ask how a stranger becomes someone whose needs, approval or threats begin to govern the victim’s decisions.

How does attention become leverage?

Consider an illustrative situation.

Your dating app acquaintance remembers that you had a stressful meeting and ask you about it. They check whether you reached home safely, follow up with innocent questions about food, rest etc. They have keen sense of observation. When you seem quieter than usual, they ask if something is troubling you.  Over time, their attention makes you feel understood, and you begin sharing things you have not told your friends. None of this is inherently suspicious. Attentiveness is also part of a healthy relationship.

The question is what happens when you establish a boundary. Can you decline a request without being punished? Can you take time to decide? Can you discuss the relationship with someone else? Are they controlling aspects of your life that were earlier totally your call?

A manipulative person may gradually make affection conditional – After everything we have shared, how can you refuse? If you trust me, how can you refuse?

The questions may not come directly, but they may be laced with the sweetness of emotions that are hard to overlook. Their demand borrows its force from the relationship. And refusal therefore, is presented as cruelty, betrayal, selfishness.

The usual progression is to establish connect, exhibit nice behaviour, show up, show their care for you, earn your trust, start getting to know intimate things about you and your life, exchange numbers, give you ample attention, introduce controls, give you a fictional story of a need, and manipulate you into helping them financially with a request, or worst, a threat.

It is not a fixed sequence every offender follows. But it is more or less the modus operandi. Some deceptions develop over months. Others move rapidly from apparent attraction to a threat. So step back and look at how the relationship has been evolving.

How dating app scams can develop

Every perpetrator has a script or two, that they deploy based on their understanding of their victim. Some recurring elements deserve attention.

A convincing identity: Display pictures, photographs, professional claims and personal stories create an impression of someone desirable, dependable or familiar. But it may be a fabricated identity, entirely invented or assembled from another person’s information.

A relationship that feels increasingly important: Repeated conversations create familiarity. The person may appear unusually compatible or become intensely affectionate before you have the chance and the resources to independently verify their antecedents.

A request that tests a boundary: This could involve their asking for money, financial information, an intimate photograph or secrecy. The important question is whether your hesitation is respected, or contested.

Pressure that narrows the choices: An invented emergency may make you throw caution to winds. Verification may seem cruel. Conversely, a threat may make disclosure seem disastrous. The target is ‘encouraged’ (forced by threat or sweetness) to act before consulting anyone.

Further demands: Compliance will more often than not, create additional leverage. Someone who has sent money may be asked for more. Someone who has shared an image may face a threat to distribute it.

In sextortion schemes offenders obtain intimate material. Then they threaten the victim with exposure to demand payment or further sexual content. This is the Economy of Shame.

Why move the conversation to WhatsApp?

Moving from a dating app to WhatsApp is common in ordinary relationships. It is a sign of trust between two people. It does not establish that someone is a scammer. However, if there is pressure to move quickly, it deserves attention. And if it comes accompanied with requests for secrecy, inconsistent personal details or financial demands, double attention.

The useful distinction is between choosing a convenient channel together; and being hurried into an interaction whose terms are increasingly being controlled by one person.

A WhatsApp account confirms that someone can use that account. It does not independently establish their identity, profession or intentions. Who knows whose display picture it is on WhatsApp?

Is online dating blackmail always about money?

It is about the demanded concession – is it money or something else.

That final distinction is important. Publishing private material to punish someone is abuse even when there is no offer to remain silent in exchange for something. There are documented cases of non-financial demands world over. 

Even a genuine relationship can later become abusive when someone weaponises what was shared in confidence.

Why might someone comply instead of seeking help?

From outside, the answer appears simple – stop replying and report the person. Inside the situation, the feared consequences may feel much larger. The first feeling is usually shock and denial – ‘this cannot be happening with me’. Then comes the shame – ‘what will happen if my family and friends get to know’. 

A victim may be thinking about a marriage, a conservative family, professional standing or the possibility of being recognised in a photograph. They may also be struggling to accept that someone they trusted has become a threat. 

An important question, therefore, is – What does the victim expect other people to do if they find out?

Would a friend help or ridicule them? Would a partner listen? Would family understand and support? Would colleagues circulate the material?

These are questions for families, workplaces and communities to examine. The attacker’s leverage is an anticipated social shame of the victim. And if society takes that away, the attacker loses that leverage. 

Victims do not owe public access to their private lives. Already burdened by shame and repentance, they need help understanding, and support.

What does AI change?

AI introduces another route to intimate-image abuse. The material used in a threat itself may be fabricated. The perpetrator might have never even met interacted with the victim. Photographs could be sourced from public posts or other ordinary online interactions and deep-faked using AI.

We have seen cases where a celebrity or someone well known has suffered deep-fakes. Celebrities still have recourse and reach. A common person first deals with shame privately.

It is hard to eliminate fabricated-image abuse. This exposes the human mechanism beneath the technology. The attacker wants the target to fear what an audience might believe. The image may be false. The threat, distress and potential humiliation remain real.

What should you do if a dating contact threatens you?

If threats have begun, focus on obtaining support and preserving your options.

1. Preserve evidence. Keep threatening messages, usernames, profile links, phone numbers and transaction records. Avoid deleting the conversation in panic.
2. Do not send further money or intimate material. Payment cannot guarantee that the threat will end. Authorities advise against paying or providing additional material.
3. Report the account and block further contact after preserving evidence. Use the reporting tools of both the original dating service and any platform carrying the threats.
4. Tell someone you trust. Ask them to help you document and report what happened.
5. Report the incident in India through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. You can also approach local police or the cybercrime police. If money has been transferred, contact your bank or payment provider immediately and call 1930 for prompt financial cyberfraud reporting. Recovery is not guaranteed.

Be cautious of paid services promising guaranteed removal or recovery. That is someone exploiting people already facing sextortion.

How can friends, employers and society help?

A useful first response is – ‘Thank you for telling me. Let us work out what support you need.’

Avoid demanding an explanation for why the person trusted someone. Help them preserve evidence and make decisions without taking control away from them. Do not forward intimate material, including to show concern.

Employers should consider whether employees have a confidential route to disclose coercion. Platforms need accessible reporting processes. Authorities and media should explain the wrongdoing while protecting the dignity of the person targeted.

Public education can also rehearse actual decisions; what to do when affection becomes conditional, when urgency prevents verification, or when someone demands secrecy.

The question behind Love Swipe Blackmail

When I published Love Swipe Blackmail in 2021, I explored how intimacy, deception and the threat of exposure can entangle private lives. And how a close support group can help you come out of it.

The technology continues to change. The human question remains – what happens when someone entrusted with a private part of your life uses that trust against you? Understanding that question also means examining the people around the victim. Their response can make asking for help easier, and give the attacker less power to isolate.

FAQs

What are the warning signs of a dating app scam?

Look for combinations of inconsistent identity claims, repeated excuses to avoid meeting, urgent money requests, pressure for intimate material and anger when you set boundaries. A single behaviour, such as moving to WhatsApp, does not prove deception.

What is the difference between catfishing and a romance scam?

Catfishing means presenting a false online identity. A financial romance scam uses apparent romantic interest to obtain money. Catfishing can enable such a scam, but false identities may also be used for harassment or sexual exploitation.

Can someone blackmail me without having genuine intimate photographs?

Yes, a perpetrator may threaten you with fabricated or manipulated sexual images and chats. Preserve the threats and report the abuse rather than assuming that a false image makes the situation harmless.

Does a video call prove that a dating profile is genuine?

Certainly not. A call may provide useful information, but cannot establish someone’s intentions or verify every claim about their identity. Assess consistency over time and respect for boundaries; avoid treating one interaction as conclusive proof.

Where can I report online dating blackmail in India?

Report through cybercrime.gov.in and approach local police or cybercrime police. For financial cyberfraud, call 1930 promptly and notify your bank or payment provider.

What if I have already paid or sent more photographs?

You can still seek help. Preserve evidence, stop further payments or sharing, and report the threats. Earlier compliance does not give the perpetrator permission to continue exploiting you.

Pune Book Festival 2026 will be held from 12 to 20 December at Fergusson College Ground, Pune. Organised by the National Book Trust, India, this will be the festival’s fourth edition.

For readers planning a visit, here is a guide to the essential details and to making the most of your time among the books.

Pune Book Festival 2026 at a glance

Information checked on 17 October 2026. Visitor arrangements and programme details should be reconfirmed before travelling.

Why this Pune visit feels personal

I studied at SIBM Pune from 1999 to 2001, when the institute was on Senapati Bapat Road. Some of us rented a flat in Deep Bangla Chowk, and lovingly we called it the Bhai Niwas. Let me tell you there was also a Bhai Bike. And some of us, who were closer than the others, called ourselves Bhaizone. Student life had its own naming conventions.

I am hoping to return to Pune for the festival this December. The prospect carries the pleasure of discovering books and the anticipation of revisiting a city that holds an important part of my life.

But whether Pune is home, an old memory or somewhere you are visiting for the first time, the question is the same – how do you make a book festival your own?

Begin with what you want to discover

Before your visit, write down three things.

One book or author you want to find. This gives your visit a starting point.

One subject you want to understand better. It might be artificial intelligence, Indian history, nutrition, economics or something your child asked you about at dinner.

One kind of reading you rarely try. Perhaps poetry, translated fiction, biography or a short-story collection.

You now have a plan without turning the afternoon into a procurement exercise. If you are a new reader, your starting point can be simpler – a story you enjoyed listening to from someone else, a person whose life interests you, or a question you keep returning to. You do not need an established reading identity to enter a book festival. Curiosity is sufficient.

Plan one-third, explore one-third, leave one-third to chance

This is the approach I recommend. Spend roughly one-third of your visit looking for the books, publishers or sessions you have already identified. Use another third to explore adjacent interests. If you enjoy military history, try strategy or biography. If you read thrillers, browse psychology, technology or investigative nonfiction. Leave the final third unplanned.

Walk into a stall because a cover catches your eye. Read a paragraph by an unfamiliar author. Ask an exhibitor which book they wish more people would notice. The proportions need not be exact. The point is to make room for both intention and surprise.

If you are a first-time visitor, start small

You do not have to visit every stall. You also do not have to buy a book simply because it is considered important. Pick one up and read the description. Then read a page from somewhere inside. Does the writing invite you to continue? Are you interested in the people, ideas or questions it introduces?

For nonfiction, examine the contents page and a section about something you already understand. This can help you judge whether the book’s approach suits you.

You can also ask for help. A useful request is specific – “I enjoyed this book because of its characters. What would you suggest next?” That gives the person recommending something more to work with than “Which is your best book?”

If you read regularly, interrupt your habits

Experienced readers can arrive with well-stocked lists and leave with well-stocked bags, having encountered very little that surprised them. Try giving yourself a small challenge.

Choose a writer you have never read. Explore a translation from an Indian language. Browse a subject you know little about. Ask for a recommendation outside the current bestsellers. You need not abandon your preferences. Simply leave a little space around them.

A festival offers the opportunity to discover the book you would not have thought to search for online.

Look at the programme before choosing your day

Once the official 2026 programme is available, check whether there are sessions, author interactions or activities you particularly want to attend. Choose one or two priorities and build browsing time around them. Allow room between activities rather than planning consecutive commitments across the venue.

If meeting an author matters to you, confirm the date, time, location and any participation requirements through official announcements. A general announcement that someone is attending does not necessarily establish when visitors can meet them.

Visiting with children, family or friends

A shared visit works best when everyone has some freedom to follow their interests. With children, agree on a manageable browsing period and let them participate in choosing books. Look through a few pages together rather than judging only by age labels or educational promises.

With friends or family, you could separate briefly, choose a meeting point and return with one discovery each. Ask – what caught your attention, and why? Someone else’s answer may take you towards a book you would have walked past.

Give your book budget some room to move

Decide what you are comfortable spending before you arrive. Then reserve part of that amount for unexpected discoveries. For example, you might earmark most of your budget for planned purchases and keep the rest available for browsing.

Check editions, translations, print size and format before buying. If discounts are offered, compare the final price and the edition rather than responding only to the percentage. And remember the books waiting at home. They have been remarkably patient.

A few practical things to carry and check

Wear comfortable footwear and carry a sturdy bag. If venue rules permit, bring your own water bottle.

Save your reading list on your phone, along with details of any sessions you want to attend. Before setting out, check official information on entry, security, accessibility and facilities relevant to your visit.

For travel, use Fergusson College Ground as your destination and verify the designated visitor entrance once announced. Check current public transport options and any traffic or parking advisories.

If you are travelling from outside Pune, leave a reasonable margin between your arrival and any session you hope to attend.

Let the visit continue after you leave

Before the day ends, make a small note. Which book surprised you? Which question would you like to explore? What would you return for if you had another afternoon? Then choose the first book you will actually begin reading.

A successful visit need not be measured by the number of books purchased. It might be one author discovered, one absorbing conversation or one subject that suddenly feels worth understanding.

The bag comes home with you. So should a little curiosity.

Frequently asked questions

When is Pune Book Festival 2026?

Pune Book Festival 2026 is scheduled for 12 to 20 December 2026. Check official announcements before finalising travel plans.

Where will Pune Book Festival 2026 be held?

The announced venue is Fergusson College Ground, Pune, Maharashtra. Confirm the designated visitor entrance before your visit.

Who organises Pune Book Festival?

The fourth edition of Pune Book Festival is organised by the National Book Trust, India.

What are the visitor timings?

Verified visitor timings for the 2026 edition were not available for this guide when checked on 17 October 2026. Consult official announcements closer to the festival.

Is entry free, or is registration required?

Entry fees and registration arrangements for the 2026 edition should be confirmed through official announcements. Do not assume that arrangements from earlier editions will apply.

Where can I find the festival programme?

Check the National Book Trust, India website and its official festival announcements for the 2026 programme, participating publishers and visitor updates.

How can first-time visitors make the most of the festival?

Bring a short list of interests, set a comfortable budget and allow time for unplanned browsing. You do not need to cover every stall to have a rewarding visit.

Is Pune Book Festival suitable for children and families?

Families can plan a visit around their reading interests and available time. Check the 2026 programme for age-specific activities and confirm facilities or accessibility arrangements your family may need.