Writers Meet March 2012

CSA March 2012
Meet Our Writers PRogram
Another session of “Meet Our Writers” was organized by the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi this evening at the UT Guest House. Today’s writers included B.D. Kalia (Humdum), OP Sondhi, Bhupinder Brar, Harish Bhatia and Balpreet. Kalia and Sondhi are established writers who have earlier been felicitated by various literary bodies. Sondhi was recently awarded by the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi for his lifelong achievement in the field of literature.
“Painting is poetry in colors and poetry is painting in words,” says BD Kalia who began the proceedings. He recounted his early years of poetry writing and remembered Justice Surinder Singh who used to exchange notes on literature with him. Kalia has a lot of poetry on his finger tips, could recite from memory and won over the listeners. He believes that the best poetry is spontaneous. He read some poems written at the Niagra Falls, on female foeticide, and other subjects. The tone ranged from the serious and nostalgic to the humorous and satirical.
OP Sondhi, who is a novelist, says he is a man of few words, more of an observer than a speaker. He likes to absorb all that he sees all around him and puts it into his novels. His attempt is to get inside the characters he writes about, preferring the novel form rather than the short story because he feels he needs more words and more room to explore his characters and their lives. “Yahi sach Hai” is the title of a novel “Aisa hi Kyon?” is another title. In “Main Hi Kyon?” there is introspection and self-analysis. Sondhi’s writings seem to plead for tolerance and compassion. He creates real-life situations in his novels and tries to find solutions to the problems that ail human beings in day to day life. Why don’t we look for happiness in the midst of sorrow? Is the question he asked as he read a few pages from his recent novel.
Bhupinder Brar, a professor and Dean at the Panjab University, confessed that he has not written any poetry for very long. However, many years ago he was an enthusiastic poet and he hopes to get back to creative writing again. His poems written in Hindi date back to the time when he was a student at JNU. He read “Vaapsi” – a very intense poem with strong evocative images of sickness, deprivation and loneliness. His poems have a lot of potential and if Brar continues to write there is no doubt he will produce poetry of a high order. He has the sensitivity, the imagination and the vocabulary. His images are vivid and strike a responsive chord in the listener.
Balpreet has been writing poetry lately although she has not published much. She read her poem “What’s Cooking?” Her subjects are woman-oriented, taken from the kitchen, blended with insight and the imagination. The birth of a poem is equated with the birth of a child. Balpreet writes about the creation of verse, the making of poetry, and the effort to chase ideas. She read some Hindi and English poems.
Harish Bhatia, who has been a teacher and a theatre person, has also been writing a lot of poetry lately. He read some of his poems in English. Poetry “just happened” to him. He is an avid “Facebooker Poet” whose poems have been greatly appreciated by his close online circle. The influence of theatre is strong in his poems, particularly that of Samuel Beckett and absurd drama. He speaks of the absurdity of life, the meaninglessness and the ennui. Images of the chaotic contemporary times jostle along with echoes of Yeats, Marx, etc, speaking of the wide range of Bhatia’s reading. His poetry is highly allusive; it is evident that Bhatia has read a lot of literature and philosophy, all of which goes into his poetry.
The evening was an enjoyable one with Madhav Kaushik, Secretary of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, compering the proceedings. His efforts, along with those of Manju Jaidka, Chairperson, were greatly appreciated by all. Vivek Atray, himself a popular writer, was also in the gathering, as were other writers, literature enthusiasts and intellectuals of the city.
An announcement was also made of the recent formation of the Chandigarh Literary Society which whould have its inaugural function on 14th March, holding a Face-to-Face with Anupam Kher who has recently brought out his book entitled “The Best Thing About You is You.”

Photographs of the evening may be downloaded from this link: https://picasaweb.google.com/105464712099114161998/GoshthiMarch2012

Manju Jaidka
Chairperson, CSA

Writers Meet March 3

From time to time Chandiarh Sahitya Akademi holds local goshthis so that our writers may present their works and mingle with a like-minded audience. We bring together some established writers, some emerging voices and a lot of literature enthusiasts.

The next session with local writers will be held on the 3rd of March 2012 at 3.45 pm.
The venue will be the UT Guest House.
Stars for the day include BD Kalia, OP Sondhi, Harish Bhatia, Balpreet Kaur, and Bhupinder Brar.
Do join us for the bonhomie and mutual exchange of creative ideas.