Meant to preserve the memories, lived experiences and opinions of people who are repositories of knowledge in the fields of arts and culture, the Samvad project was initiated in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (IIAS), in 2012. The project is an archive of extensive interactions with scholars, practitioners and institution builders. Over 40 interviews (recorded on video and transcribed), available online at Sahapedia, provide insights into the time, circumstances and the milieu in which the knowledge bearers have worked and lived. The interactions are not just celebrations of the works of the knowledge bearers; these are critically informed interviews conducted by other experts influenced by or associated with them, who do not refrain from asking leading and provoking questions. 

The archive of interactions is of immense value for scholars and researchers. Among those interviewed are Teejan Bai, exponent of Pandvani (musical narration of tales from the Mahabharata), S.R. Faruqi, Urdu critic and novelist who revived Dastangoi (art of Urdu storytelling from the 16th century), and Lokesh Chandra, art collector and one of the foremost scholars of Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhism.