Book Launch

Shri Pawan Bansal, MP, has agreed to launch Dr DS Gupt's book on Chandigarh.
Please do attend.
Date: 31st October 2009
Time: 11.30 AM.
Venue: Govt Museum Auditorium, Sector 10

[The title of the book is "Kavita ke Aayine mein Chandigarh" and it comprises poems and pictures of the City.)

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.

OCTOBER 13 2009

an invitation to witness a defining moment in the world of dictionaries

Ratna Sagar

and

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi

Invite you to the launch of

New Collins Illustrated Dictionaries

Launched by

Professor R.W. Desai

(University of Delhi)

Date: Tuesday Oct 13, 2009

Time: 4.30 PM

Venue:

Govt. Museum Auditorium

Sector 10

Chandigarh

MEET THE AUTHOR- NEENA KAHLON

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi this evening organized another event in its meet-the-author series. Ms. Neena Kahlon, author of Remembering the Juice Mango (Rupa, 2009) interacted with an invited audience at the Sector 34 State Library. In conversation with the writer was Ms. S. Kalha, P.E.S. Retd.

Remembering the Juice Mango, Ms Kahlon’s latest novel, is about the partition and its aftermath. There is a saying that "A woman is like a teabag. You know her strength only after you dip her in hot water." The book tells the story of one such woman, Ratna, whose life is transformed as a direct consequence of a defining moment – the partition of India? Nine-year-old Ratna survives the wounds of partition, and walks the path to personal growth through love and healing. The novel is about victims of wars who are dubbed as "collateral damage" and then are forgotten. The author has given a voice to such "voiceless" human beings.

Neena Kahlon is an old student from the Dept of English, Panjab University. She was born and raised in Amritsar and is a descendant of survivors of the partition. She has lived in the US since 1974. As a writer she has featured in television interviews in the US.

Ms S. Kalha is well-known and much respected in Chandigarh. With exemplary dedication and commitment she has contributed immensely to the field of education, moulding several generations of young students. After a distinguished career as a college teacher, she retired as the principal of Govt. College for Girls, Sector 11.

Prof Manju Jaidka, Chairperson of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, who introduced today’s chief guest and speaker, announced that the next function would be the launch of an Illustrated Dictionary published jointly by Collins and Ratnasagar. It will be held on 13th October at 4.30 pm. The venue will be the Sector 10 Museum Auditorium.