CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
PANEL DISCUSSION ON CHILDREN'S LITERATUREThe Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi organized a panel discussion on Children's Literature at its premises in the State Library, Sector 34.
The main speaker on the occasion was Dr Rama Rattan, a well-known name in Children's activities in the Tri-city. She spoke at length on the challenges facing writers of children's fiction and shared her first hand experience in the field. Prof Jaspal Kang, Professor, Panjab University Dept. of Correspondence courses, chaired the session. Other speakers included Yojana Rawat of Panjab University, Harpreet Dhiman who teaches in MCMDAV and also is an announcer All-India Radio (Chandigarh), and Navreet Sahi who is engaged in research in Children's Literature. Dr Rama Rattan higlighted the fact that even in children's literature there is a marked gender discrimination, for example, one cannot find 'lori' (lullaby) written for a girl child. She felt that it is time we took to promoting children's literature seriously. Dr Kaang, agreeing with the speaker, felt that "catch 'em young" should be the motto and we should, for an early age, help children develop a love for literature.
Harpreet Dhiman spoke of the popular tales of Tenali Raman, Akbar-Birbal and Mulla Nasiruddin. Navreet drew attention to best loved characters in children's literature and Yojana Rawat spoke of how children's literature has to adjust to a changed scenario in a globalized world.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof Manju Jaidka, Chairperson of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, spoke of the various activities of the CSA. At present a team of editors is working on selecting and compiling Anthologies of Short Stories and Poems written by Chandigarh writers. Work has also commenced on updating a Directory of Chandigarh writers. In this connection the Akademi is offering stipends to volunteers who will serve as Data Collection Officers. Further, it was announced that the Akademi proposes to select an eminent writer for a Lifetime Achievement Award. Nominations were invited for this Award.
Today's Panel Discussion was a great success, judging from the large strength of the audience and the animated exchange of ideas that followed. It was a highly interactive session with a lot of involvement between the speakers and the audience. What made the event even more lively was a "Surprise Item" which comprised surprise gifts for those in the audience who were able to answer questions randomly thrown at them during the proceedings.
Mr Madhav Kaushik, Secretary of the CSA, ably conducted the discussion and summed it up with a vote of thanks.
The CSA events scheduled for January 2009 include presentations by two eminent persons – Professors BN Goswami and ML Raina on the 10th and 24th of January, respectively.
