Day 1 of Festival of Letters
Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi Festival of Letters began this morning. This is the fifth consecutive year that the festival is being held. Although literary events are spaced regularly through the year, come February and the Akademi presents a bonanza of sorts, putting together an interesting array of writers from different parts of the country.
This is also the time of the year when annual awards are given to senior writers of the city and when youngsters get prizes for their literary debuts.
This morning the Inaugural session at the English Auditorium saw a select gathering of literature lovers gather together to hear the keynote address of the chief guest, Sh. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, President of the National Sahitya Akademi and to cheer for the selected septuagenarians and octogenarians at the felicitations ceremony. Gracing the occasion was the Adviser to the Administrator, Sh. KK Sharma.
In the limelight today for their lifetime achievement in the field of letters were the following seniors who have devoted their lives to the promotion of literature:
1. Krishan Gautam (Urdu)
2. Rajinder Nishesh (Hi)
3. Jia Lal Handu (Hi)
4. Sharanjeet Kaur (Pbi)
5. Jung Bahadur Goyal (Pbi)
Shri Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, in his keynote address raised valid questions pertaining to literature. He stressed on the fact that literature is a means whereby all that is positive in the world may survive. It has a civilizing effect on the human race and it should be a high-priority item in the state's governance. A writer has no country or religion; he (or she) is the voice of the truth that should not be gagged.
Other invited speakers of the day were Dhwanil Parikh from Gujarat, Alka Saraogi who writes in Hindi and lives in Kolkata, and Rattan Lal Shant from Jammu.
An academician with a doctoral degree in literature, Dhwanil Parekh has a keen interest in mythic traditions in drama. In particular, he has studied works based on the epic the Mahabharat. He is the recipient of the 'Yuva gaurav puraskar'-2008 from Gujarat Sahitya Akademi, and the Ýuva Puraskar -2011 from the National Sahitya Akademi, Delhi, for his playAntim Yuddh.
Alka Saraogi's first novel Kalikatha via Bypass won the Sahitya Akademi award in 2001. She has published three more novels and has two collections of short stories. She is translated into many European languages and regional languages.
Rattan Lal Shant writes in Urdu, English and Hindi. He has authored short story collections, critical books, monographs, and poetry collections. His awards include the 2007 Sahitya akademi Award, CIIL’s Bhasha Bharati and the Soviet Land Nehru Award for his translation, and J&K Cultural Akademi Award for his Poetry.
The speakers spoke of their sources of inspiration and how they evolved as creative writers in sessions moderated by Sudhir Kumar, Vandana R. Singh and Kamal Arora. Altogether the day was intellectually stimulating and covered literature from diverse regions.
Tomorrow, i.e., on 9th Feb 2014, the sessions will be held at the UT Guest House, beginning at 1030 in the morning. Speakers listed for the day are Githa Hariharan, Imam Mir Jaffar, Esther David, Rahul Singh, and Jitendra Srivastava.
All are cordially invited.
A group photo of the recipients of the Awards of recognition (along with CSA office bearers and the Adviser) is attached. Also a photo of Sh Tiwari.
