Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi this evening organized a Tri-Lingual Kavi Darbar at Hotel Parkview.
Invited poets from outside the city were Amarnath Amar from Delhi, Kumar Vinod from Kurukshetra, Darshan Butar from Nabha, and Jagvinder Jodha from Jalandhar.
Among the local poets, Shrimati Taaran Gujral stole the show with her recitation. A senior citizen, Taaran Gujral has been writing poetry in Punjabi for many decades. Gifted with a melodious voice, she sings her poems, the way she did this evening, much to the delight of the audience. She was the first poet to come to the podium and her unhurried recitation of exquisite poetry in her mellifluous voice cast a spell on the audience, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.
Ashk Amritsari, another veteran poet from the city who writes in Punjabi and Urdu, held forth with poetry that was a blend of humour, emotion and vigour. His enthusiasm reached out to the audience. Between the two senior poets, Taaran and Ashk, it was clear that old is still gold and that Chandigarh poets have their own place in the world of letters!
Jagvinder Jodha from Jalandhar is a young poet whose has been awarded for his Punjabi poetry. It is evident that this young man has a lot of talent and is likely to go far in literary circles. His youthful exuberance, combined with his budding talent, endeared his to all.
Kumar Vinod writes in Hindi. He is widely published poet although his formal training is in Mathematics: he teaches maths at Kurukshetra University. Written in a simple style with no pretensions, Vinod’s poetry is the kind that may be appreciated by the young and the old. There is rhythm in his verse, meter presented through catchy images. His are short and sweet poems written in an epigrammatic style.
Darshan Butar has brought a new sensibility into Punjabi poetry. A banker by profession, he has been writing poetry of a high order. His poetry is of a serious nature and from the response of the audience it was evident that he is very popular among Punjabi litterateurs.
Amarnath Amar works for Doordarshan where he in charge of literary sessions. His is a noted name that has received several awards like the Ganesh Shankar Puruskar and the Mailthli Sharan Gupt Award. His books are prescribed in various syllabi. This evening he recited and also sang some of his poems.
This evening’s session was remarkable in that not only do the selected poets have talent, they are all excellent orators. By all standards it was a memorable evening. Present in the gathering were noted critics, academics, poets and writers including N.S. Ratan, Sushil Dosanjh, Rajinder Kaur, Indu Bali, Balvinder Sandhu, Deepak Manmohan, Bhupinder Brar, and Rajiv Lochan.
Shri K.K. Sharma, Adviser to the Administrator, Union Territory, presided over the event which was brilliantly compered by Madhav Kaushik, the secretary of the Akademi. Prof Manju Jaidka, Chairperson, addressed the gathering, briefly outlining the aims and objectives of CSA. She exhorted the audience to continue its support of CSA activities. Prof Anil Raina, who has recently taken over as Vice-Chairman of CSA and has been associated with its activities over the last four years, was also present at the Kavi Sammelan and interacted with the poets as well as the audience.
Photographs of the event
