Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi seems to have its plate full all the time and everytime. If it is not hosting outstanding writers from outside the region, it is busy with its local talent, giving it a suitable platform, encouraging new voices to emerge from the cocoon and be heard. If is isn't a mega event like a Festival of Letters being organized, there is something else in the offing -- like a kahani utsav or a kavya mehfil or an announcement of awards for published or unpublished books, or competitions for the younger generation. Truly, the Akademi is busy all year round and even before one can recover from one Akademi event comes an invitation for another and yet another.
This evening, at the UT Guest House there was a blend of several voices: six selected poets of the city presented their work-in-progress in the presence of an established poet from Delhi.
The chief guest of the day was Rukmini Bhaya Nair, an eminent linguist, award winning poet, writer and critic. She is a Professor of Linguistics and English at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, internationally recognized for her work in the areas of linguistics, cognition and literary theory. She is also the acclaimed author of poetry collections includingYellow Hibiscus, The Ayodhya Cantos and The Hyoid Bone, along with several academic publications. As the editor of Biblio, India's leading literary and cultural journal, she is also part of the Australian ABC Radio's panel of experts for its well-known program 'The Book Show'. In addition, she contributes to all major national dailies and magazines and is a frequent panelist on Mark Tully's BBC broadcast 'Something Understood'. Rukmini's writings, both creative and critical, are taught on courses at universities such as Chicago, Toronto Kent, Oxford and Washington, and she contends that she writes poetry for the same reason that she does research in cognitive linguistics - to discover the limits of language. Her great ambition is simply to continue to write and research. This evening she presided over the poetry session, read some of her poems, and also engaged the audience in an animated discussion of poetry and poetics.
Among the local voices, Kailash Ahluwalia, an established senior poet who has formerly taught at a local college, was the first to read his poems. He writes in English and in Hindi and he has earlier received a life-time achievement award from the CSA. Jasbir Kaur regaled the audience with her witty poems dedicated to the spirit of woman. Reenu Talwar, a free lance writer and translator, read several of her short pieces, each poem packed with profound thought. Maniinder Bains, artist and poet, recited poetry that was evocative and sensuous. For Archana R. Singh, who is from media studies, it was a maiden attempt at poetry recitation; her mature, controlled poems in Hindi were much appreciated.Vijaya Singh, who has earlier composed poetry in English, surprised the audience with her well-crafted thought-provoking poems on subjects as unusual as a razai or an aaloo.
The two-hour programme was a celebration of womanhood, March being a month dedicated to the cause. A society is invariably judged by the way its women are treated. CSA, believing that all women should have a voice and should "make a difference", endeavours to give women writers and women's issues a space and platform. These endeavours are apparently successful, judging from the fact that almost half the audience today comprised male members who did not simply agree with the views that are presented, but also lend continued support to the initiatives of the CSA.
The Chairperson Manju Jaidka, Vice-Chairman Anil Raina, and Secretary Madhav Kaushik, working in tandem together, have certainly carved a niche for the CSA in the City Beautiful, bringing together events that one waits for with great expectations!
