Dictionary Launch

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi collaborated with Ratna Sagar publishers and held an event today to mark a defining moment in the world of dictionaries. It was the launch of New Collins Illustrated Dictionaries published in collaboration with HarperCollins. The event was held at the Govt Museum auditorium in Sector 10. It was presided over by Prof RW Desai from Delhi and attended by a distinguished gathering of academics, litterateurs and book lovers.

Prof Manju Jaidka, the Chairperson of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, welcomed the guests and formally introduced Prof Desai who is a professor of eminence, retired after a long distinguished career from the University of Delhi. He has an international profile and is the the author of several books published in India and abroad. For twenty-five years he brought out Hamlet Studies - an international Journal devoted solely to Shakespare's Hamlet. He has also edited Johnson on Shakespeare for Orient Longman. Currently he is producing a film version of Hamlet, the first scene of which was screened earlier this year. In his presidential remarks Prof Desai, quoting freely from Shakespeare and the classics, gave several examples to show the changes that keep taking place in language. Accompanying him was his wife, Jyoti, also a professor of English.

Prof RW Desai and his wife, Jyoti

Mr Sridhar Balan, Director of Ratna Sagar publishers, outlined the new product being launched and explained how the new dictionaries try to keep pace with the times, bringing into focus the rapid changes that take place in language. Ratna Sagar has recently entered into partnership with Harper Collins for the exclusive marketing of their dictionaries—the Collins Compact Dictionary, the Collins Pocket Dictionary, and the Collins School Dictionary—in the Indian subcontinent. The dictionaries being launched today were the Collins COBUILD Learner’s Illustrated Dictionary (Hardback and Paperback) and the Collins COBUILD Advanced Illustrated Dictionary.
Prof Manju Jaidka informed the audience that such literary events form an ongoing part of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi. She invited the gathering to actively participate in all the future events.