The inaugural address of Dr Karan Singh, member Rajya Sabha and President, Indian Council for Cultural Relations at the Chandigarh Festival of Letters 2011 left none in the audience in any doubt as to why he is referred to as India’s poet, philosopher and politician.
In a free ranging talk liberally sprinkled with Shakespearean quotes and Sanskrit shlokas, Dr Singh held forth on the importance of literary and linguistic evolution – an evolution made possible by the de-recognition of boundaries and respect for all cultures. He referred to English as just another Indian language contributing equally to the richness of the Indian ethos. “We have to preserve our literature and culture no matter what happens,” he said, elaborating further by referring to books as “more precious than gems.”
The keynote address was delivered by Ms Madhu Kishwar Founder Editor of Manushi, on Language issues in India in a session chaired by Prof Meera Malik. Ms Kishwar rued the fact that English has become our language of intimacy even though it is a language that a majority of Indians are not comfortable with. She stressed the necessity of communication skills that enhance rather than detract from the importance of ideas.
The first day also saw sessions on creative writing and book readings by two upcoming novelists Manjul Bajaj and Amandeep Sandhu with Prof Mehndiratta, former Chairperson CSA in the chair. Ms Bajaj, being a newspaper columnist as well looked at events as idea sources. The excerpts she read out from her novel Come, Before Evening Falls and some poems ranging from the horror of honour killing to being stoned for adultery or being killed for going against the system. Amandeep Sandhu confronted the ghosts and fears of the 1984 riots in his book titled ‘Role of Honour’. He read out excerpts from his largely autobiographical first book, Sepia Leaves as well.
Prof. Alok Bhalla, who is very well-known for his critical writings and his translations of the Partition stories, is a member of the national Sahitya Akademi and remains very active on the Indian literary scene. He has now turned to poetry and read some of his poems which were greatly appreciated by a spell-bound audience. These poems took birth in Jerusalem when Prof Bhalla spent time there as a visiting professor. From what he read it is evident that a lot more verse will flow from his pen.
The Festival has been organized under the aegis of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi (CSA) in collaboration with Panjab University.
Day 2:
Discourses on the works of Ageya, Nagarjuna and Shamsher Bahadur Singh dominated the second day of the ongoing Chandigarh Festival of Letters 2011 organised by the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi in collaboration with Panjab University Chandigarh at the campus here today.
Speaker after speaker highlighted the multifaceted personae of these writer-poets that resulted in a century of voluminous work defined by their involvement with language and life. All three, with varying degree, chronicled the socio-political realities of their time, incisively cutting to the bone with their defiance of hegemonic power structures. They celebrated individualism as the bedrock of collectivism, as also the myriad manifestations of existentialism in the circle of life. The fact that their poetry was marked by experimentalism is but a natural corollary of their own identity.
The speakers included Nand Kishore Acharya, Lal Chand Gupt Mangal, Archana Sharma, Yojna Rawat and Sudhir Kumar.
Today’s sessions culminated in the release of Prof J.S. Grewal’s latest book, ‘History, Literature and Identity: Four Centuries of Sikh Tradition’, by Prof B.S. Brar, Dean University Instructions, Panjab University. Prof Grewal, former Vice Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University and later Chairperson, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies Shimla, has written extensively on historiography, medieval India and the Punjab and Sikh history. His latest book highlights the intricate connections between literature and historical processes through his analysis of the core Sikh texts from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Each source is its own personal reflection of the shifting realities of its time, giving Sikh ideology its prism of identity.
Prof Prithipal Singh Kapur, Prof Indu Banga and Dr John Webster, all eminent historians in their own right, also shared their views on the book with the audience.
Day 3:
The third day of the Festival of Letters began with paper presentations by three young scholars on diverse yet connected topics. Navreet Sahi focused on JM Coetzee and read a paper on the connection between his novella "Foe" and the original story of Robinson Crusoe. She highlighted the derivative aspect of Coetzee's art and the manner in which each writer moulds and adapts a story to suit his purpose. Jagmeet read a paper on Fairy Tales and how they are transformed as they travel from one location to another. Kiran's paper was on the various adaptations of Shakespeare's plays. The thrust of all three presentations was on the manner in which a story undergoes changes and is made relevant to the time and age which adopts it.
These presentations were followed by papers by invited speakers. Mariam Karim Ahlawat, who is a creative writer and also translator, spoke on the complexities of translation. She used concepts derived from Bakhtin, Todorov and other theorists to explain how the work she has produced is dialogic in nature and has many voices, many speakers. Susan comfort, a Fulbright visiting scholar, is from Indiana University. She is is interested in eco-feminism and made a presentation on Arundhati Roy's concerns with the environment.
Prof Rupin Desai, the grand old man of Shakespeare Studies in India, spoke to an enthralled audience on the relevance of the Bard in today's world. Shakespeare was a writer mainly concerned with human nature. Desai believes that although we have undergone many changes in culture and civilization, our basic human nature has not changed. This is the reason for the timeless appeal of Shakespeare and the reason why he continues to be popular even today.
A Literary Quiz, open to all, brought the three-day Festival to a grande finale. The Quiz was conducted by Prof Anil Raina who kept the audience on its toes not simply with his trick questions but also with his humorous asides. There was an initial screening to select four teams that went onto the stage for eight rounds of questions that dealt with world literature -- Indian, European, American, Oriental, et al. there were questions for the audience, too. Overall the atmosphere was one of excitement hard to suppress. Cash prizes were given to the first three teams.
Certificates and prizes were also given to school children and college students who participated in Creative Writing Competitions. Dr Vibha Ray, Principal of DAV School (Lahore) Sector 8, gave away the prizes.
The Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi is thus targeting Chandigarh residents of all age groups, the young and the not so young. It may be recalled that on the first day of the Festival of Letters Dr Karan Singh, who inaugurated the Festival, conferred Awards of Recognition to the following senior writers of Chandigarh for their contribution to Literature: Dr. Chander Trikha, Dr (Mrs) BK Pannu, Dr Kailash Ahluwalia, Shri NS Rattan, Smt Madhur Kapila, Smt Gurdeep Gul, Shri Bhagwant Singh.
The Festival of Letters 2011 has now concluded but the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi has already planned some events to be held in the near future. To begin with, on 13th February comes the celebration of the noted poet Faiz. Other events will be announced on the CSA blog and Facebook.
Pictures of the event:
https://picasaweb.google.com/sahitakad2008/FestivalOfLetters?authkey=Gv1sRgCKzmlOaFiK72dw#
