Sunday, November 25, 2012

Carnival time 2012

Day 1 at the Carnival

At the annual Carnival, Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi organized several on-the-spot competitions in which the public participated. the young and the old with literary leanings tried their hand at penning couplets and verses, captions and slogans.
Prizes were announced every hour or so. Lucky prize winners incleded Aman (for Slogan Writing), Satish Popular (for Hasya Kavita), Monica Bhardwaj (for couplet completion) and Sumedha Bector (for Caption contest).
 
CALLING ALL CHANDIGARH WRITERS:
Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi is also accepting SHORT STORIES (between 1,000 and 2,000 words) and POEMS (not exceeding 2 pages) in English, Hindi and Punjabi for possible publication in a forthcoming anthology. Contributions may be submitted at the CSA stall on the Carnival Grounds (Leisure Valley).

CSA at the Carnival - Day 2
"Hamein tumse pyar kitna, yeh hum nahi jaantey, magar jee nahi saktey tumharey bina." This was a quotation given to the public and they were asked to write a parody. A number of enthusiastic visitors to the Carnival participated but the response that tickled the jury the most came from Rohit Gautam of Panjab University who wrote: "Hamein hai bukhaar kitna, tum kyon nahi naaptey? / Kha rahey ho ice-cream tum hamarey bina."
On the second day of the Chandigarh Carnival being held at the leisure Valley, sector 10, there was a continuos stream of visitors at the CSA stall.
Fun games, contests and quizzes were conducted. The response of the public was tremendous. Anil Raina, who conducted the quiz, had a bagful of questions with him. These were based on world literatures, from English, Indian, European and other cultures. Attractive prizes in the form of stationery, files, and diaries were given to the winners. The participants included senior citizens, housewifes, students and very young school-goers too.
Some more stories and poems came in for possible publication for a proposed anthology.
Tomorrow, on 25th Nov, the CSA will continue it literary activites at the carnival. Identify the Writer" whose picture was displayed on the notice-board was a popular contest and will continue tomorrow. Other contests will be added: Slogan writing, Caption, etc.
Photos are being posted on CSA Facebook. They speak for themselves.

CSA at the Carnival -- Day 3
Here's a riddle:
"This is the story of a father and a son after a devastating war. They find the queen and the princess alive in the chaos, and decide to take them home. In due time, the son marries the queen and the father marries the princess. Eventually, the son and the queen have a son, and the father and the princess have a daughter.
NOW
Either tell us what the relation between the two newborn children is.
Or
Tell us which character from a famous collection of stories is asked this question?"
This was one of the questions asked by Anil Raina, the Quiz-Wizard at the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi Stall at the Carnival today. On the third day of the carnival there was a steady stream of interested participants eager to test their literary skills at the contests organized by the CSA. Thronging the stall were young and old from all walks of lie: engineers, bankers, lawyers, stock-brokers, students and lay readers. The questions focused on well-known classics as well as popular folk tales. For young children there were specially designed easy-to-answer questions.
Parody and couplet writing proved popular, as did the identification of pictures of well-known writers. Several writers, established as well as wannabes, submitted their stories for possible publication in a forthcoming CSA anthology.
Manju Jaidka, Chairperson of the CSA, long with Anil Raina and Madhav Kaushik, Vice-Chairman and Secretary, respectively of CSA, and several young volunteers. remained busy throughout the day, interacting with the literature-lovers of the city.
Photographs of the day have been uploaded on the CSA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.561759797174432.148528.100000212495273&type=1

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Minakshi Chaudhry Kanwar



CSA event 10th November 2012
Minakshi Chaudhry on Ghost Stories from the Shimla Hills

Imagine snow-capped mountain peaks in the moonlight. Imagine you hear a strong wind swishing through the pine leaves. Or fog and mist intermittently weaving a magic web around imposing, silent buildings which have been mute witnesses to history. Imagine the souls of a hundred thousand people who once lived, loved and lost, who once were part of this mortal world, took birth, struggled with the challenges of life, and then went their way. Imagine all those ghosts and spirits of the ages gone by looking down at you, reaching out to you, communicating with you, telling you stories of their lives and times.

If you can imagine this, if you allow these unseen spirits to communicate with you then, you are blessed indeed. For you there will never be any dearth of stories. And if you are a denizen of the hills, your treasure house of stories will never be depleted.

Minakshi Chaudhry Kanwar is one such exceptional soul who is in tune with the world beyond, who is receptive to ethereal whispers, gives credence to them, and passes them on to us. She is a teller of tales, a disseminator of stories. In the world today we need such story tellers. We need people like Minakshi to keep the magic of the world alive, to remind us that there is more in life than mundane, materialistic fare.

Not only is Minakshi the writer and compiler of ghost stories and love stories from the hills, or travel books that help you explore the difficult terrain of the Himachal, she is one who has waged a battle against a dreaded cancer, survived it, and them risen again like the phoenix to face the challenges of life afresh. She does not allow clouds of gloom to darken her world; she is full of sunshine and inspires all those who come into contact with her.

On an invitation from the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi today, Minakshi Chaudhry made a scintillating presentation of her work over the last decade or so, keeping the audience enthralled with ghost stories and love stories from the Shimla hills. She disarmed her listeners with her down-to-earth approach to life, her pleasant disposition and her love for the region, regaling them with anecdotes, funny as well as not-so-funny experiences encountered while in search of the material for her books.

Accompanying Minakshi was her husband, Rakesh Kanwar, at present the Director Culture of Himachal Pradesh who, in his own right, contributes to the promotion of literature and culture.

The CSA session was held at the UT Guest House in the conference room which was pack to its fullest capacity. The audience comprised writers, journalists, lay readers and literature enthusiasts.

Pictures of the events may be downloaded from this link:



Friday, November 2, 2012

Ghost Stories



The next CSA event will take place on 10th November at 11.30 am, UT Guest House.
The speaker, Minakshi Chaudhry, is a very special person, popular for her stories that revolve around Shimla, and also for the fact that she is a cancer survivor, a brave warrior who has cheerfully battled all health problems and continues to give us stories that regale us. Let us all give her a decent audience on 10th November.


Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi invites you to an exciting session of 
GHOST STORIES AND MORE!

Meet 
MINAKSHI CHAUDHRY KANWAR 
writer from the Shimla Hills

on 10 November 2012
at 11.30 AM  

Venue:
UT Guest House
Sector 6
Chandigarh