PANEL DISCUSSION ON CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

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.

Le Clezio and Adiga

FIRST IMPRESSIONS, a discussion of the works of New Authors, was organized this evening by the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi. The authors discussed were the Nobel Laureate JEAN-MARIE GUSTAVE LE CLEZIO and the Booker Prize Winner ARAVIND ADIGA. The main Speakers on this occasion were Professor Meera Malik (of Panjab University) and Simar Onkar (of Great Books).The two writers discussed today were virtually unknown before they shot into the limelight following the prestigious awards they received. It is but natural that interested readers should be curious about their works. The Booker prize winner, who is known for his book The White Tiger, is a new entrant in the world of letters. As for the Nobel laureate, Le Clezio, even today not many of his books are available in translation.
Prof Meera Malik in her appraisal of The White Tiger spoke of the two diametrically opposite responses that Adiga has evoked among the reviewers. He has either been praised for giving expression to the till-now largely ignored working classes or dismissed for presenting a negative image of India to gain approbation from the Western audiences. She felt that it was too early to judge whether Adiga will move on from the status of a bestseller to becoming part of the canon of Indian literature in English. However, she felt that Adiga's novel was eminently readable.

Simar Onkar talked about the history and politics behind the Nobel Prize. He demystified the aura underlying the Nobel by arguing that it was Euro-centric and gender-biased. However, he felt that Le Clezio deserved the attention that he has been given, because of his cosmopolitan outlook, that has helped him explore civilizations and value systems beyond the dominant Western ones. The presentations were followed by a lively discussion.
Today's discussion was extremely informative as it was exploratory in its approach, opening up new horizons, treading upon new ground, and exploring the works of very new writers. The event was very well attended by literature enthusiasts. It was one more event in the series of literary discussions that are being conducted regularly by the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi.