Amber Habshi

The Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi today held a play reading at the CSA Auditorium in Sector 34.

Dr Narendra Mohan, has been a professor of Hindi and is a well-known name in literary circles. He read from his new play, “Amber Habshi” to a select gathering of literature and theatre lovers. He has published several plays which have been translated into different languages and performed to great acclaim. Dr Mohan's reading was in tandem with the theatre thespian Prof Harish Bhatia who also read portions of the play.

The eponymous hero of the play, Malik Amber, was a historical figure born in Ethiopia, sold into slavery in Baghdad. His master, Mir Qasim brought him to Ahmednagar. Later Amber rose to the post of the Prime Minister of the Deccan Empire under Ahmed Shahi and fought against the Moghuls. He was secular in his outlook and considered himself a staunch Indian.

Madhav Kaushik, Secretary of the CSA compered the event. The Chairperson, Manju Jaidka, also addressed the gqathering and expressed her appreciation of the playwright. Further, she announced that a major CSA event is round the corner. On the 7^th and 8^th of May CSA will hold a “Summer Bonanza” in which several noted litterateurs will participate. Details will be posted on CSA's Facebook and Blog.

April 9, 2011. Goshti

The Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi today held its monthly Goshti at its Mini-Auditorium in Sector 34. Altogether 19 poets, young and old, participated in the event which brought together several literature enthusiasts. Some of the participants in the Goshti were debut poets who came to the stage for the first time while others were veterans in the field.

Diljit Singh Kaiffy's book comprising paintings and poetry, entitled "Poornima" was released by Dr Atamjit who praised the young artist-poet's endeavor. Other poets whose poems were highly appreciated included Puneeta Bawa, Narinder Thakur, Anil Kumar, Geetanjali Bhagat, Reena Talwar and Aradhika Sharma.

Today's event was tri-lingual. It was part of the Akademi's venture to promote literature in the city, to bring people back to the love of the book, and to encourage a bonhomie amongst the established and emerging writers of Chandigarh who usually tend to work in isolation. These events have become popular of late and several participants flock to the city from other places to attend CSA's events. This evening one of the participants, Vivek Sachdeva, had come from Delhi especially to take part in the Goshti.

The next event of the CSA s a play-reading by Narendra Mohan on 16th April, again at the CSA's Audtorium. The title of the play is "Ambar Habshi" and the reading will begin at 4pm.

Thereafter, on 7th and 8th of May, a bigger event, the "Summer Bonanza" will be held at the UT Guest House. It will bring together several noted personalities, poets and writers, including
Deepti Naval and Manju Kapur. Further details will be circulated on CSA's Facebook and Blog.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=100000212495273&aid=68206

Sharyar and Sheen Kaaf Nizam

CHANDIGARH HERITAGE WEEK

The Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi organized a two-tiered interactive event with well-known personalities under the auspices of the Third Chandigarh Heritage Festival. The venue was the UT Guest House where the Akademi has been holding many of its events over the last three years. Whereas in the last two Heritage Festivals the CSA invited writers in English and Hindi, this time the focus was on Punjabi and Urdu.

In the first session the Akademi show-cased the work of two local celebrities, Neelam Man Singh Chowdhary and Atamjit, both very well-known and popular in the city. Neelam has recently been awarded a Padmashri by the President of India and Atamjit is the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. While the latter writes play in Punjabi, Neelam has been staging plays in Punjabi. Both have received accolades at home and abroad and Chandigarh is proud to acknowledge them among its eminent citizens. This morning they were in conversation with an interested audience about their work and achievements. Interacting with them were well-known theatre, literature and art persons like Kamal Arora, Indu Bali, Seema Bhalla, Meera Malik and Mina Surjit Singh.

The post-lunch session focused on Urdu Shayari. Invited speakers were again well-known names: Shahryar and Sheen Kaaf Nizam. Shahryar, who is formally called Dr. Akhlaq Mohammed Khan is a doyen of Urdu poetry, best known for the lyrics he penned for films like Gaman and Umrao Jaan. He is from Aligarh and has taught at Aligarh Muslim University. He was awarded the 1987 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for his poetry collection, Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai(1987). He became the fourth Jnanpith winner in Urdu

Sheen Kaaf Nizam hails from Jodhpur. He is an Urdu poet and critic. He has published 'Lamhon kee Saleeb', 'Dasht mein Dariya', 'Naad', 'Saya koi Lamba na Tha', 'Bayazein Kho Gayi Hai' and many other collections and anthologies. He has edited many Devnagari volumes of poets besides editing Deewan-e-Ghalib and Deewan-e-Mir. He has been honoured with many prizes including the Iqbal Samman, Bhasha Bharti Samman, the Urdu Akademi Award and the Begum Akhtar award. He has won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu in December 2010.

In his soft-spoken way Shahryar recited his poems to a receptive gathering while Sheen Kaaf Nizam's forceful nazms and ghazals disarmed the audience completely. There was a lively interaction with the audience moderated by Madhav Kaushik, the Secretary of the CSA.

Prof Manju Jaidka, Chairperson of CSA, who earlier welcomed the speakers, gave a brief overview of the Akademi's activities. She announced that in the coming months the CSA would have its annual Round-Up, disburse awards for published manuscripts (now under consideration), invite fresh contributions, release new publications, and also organize a "Summer Bonanza" involving local and outstation writers. Also present and supporting the event was the Vice-Chairperson of CSA, Simar Onkar. Today's function was attended by a large and appreciative audience.

https://picasaweb.google.com/sahitakad2008/HeritageFest27Mar2011#

Heritage week, 2011

During the coming Heritage week Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi will organize an interface with selected writers / artists. Details are given below. Do attend.

Date: 27 March 2011

Venue: UT Guest House, Sector 6, Chandigarh

INTERFACE WITH LOCAL CELEBRITIES:
Time: 10.45 AM to 1 PM

Neelam Man Singh Chowdhary
Atamjit

FACE TO FACE WITH INVITED URDU POETS:

Time: 2PM to 4PM
Shahryar
Sheen Kaaf Nizam

Goshti (English)

CHANDIGARH SAHITYA AKADEMI today organized a Writers Goshti bringing together city poets and writers of short fiction who compose in English. This is the first time the Akademi has brought together creative writers in English. Earlier Goshtis have focused on writers from Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.

City residents who write in English are generally shy of coming into the limelight with their compositions.

This evening, however, the CSA provided a forum to ten such creative writers at the CSA auditorium in the State Library of Sector 34. A short but sweet program saw the recitation of poems on diverse subjects ranging from spirituality to worldliness, from divinity to humanity, from serious and somber poetry to the satirical. Those who read their poems / short stories included Vandana Shukla, a well-known name in art and literary circles of Chandigarh, and SS Bhatti who is an architect-poet. Jasbir Soin who is a member of the present CSA, read her poems along with Maninder Bains, Lalita Jagmohan, Nidheesh Tyagi, Renee Singh and Chander Bhargava. Suneeta Pattanayak, who teaches in DAV College, Chandigarh, read a short prose piece, as did Suparna Puri. Chairperson of the Akademi, Manju Jaidka, presented a humorous poem on cyber love.

The CSA will hold its next event on 27th March, in the UT Guest House, during the Heritage Festival of Chandigarh Administration. Details will be announced over its Blog and Facebook.

It may also be mentioned that the CSA has invited submission of printed books for Publication Awards. Writers residing or working in Chandigarh may submit printed books in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, or English (Poetry, Fiction, Plays) published in 2009 or 2010 to the CSA office. Details are available on Facebook and Blog. Deadline for submissions is 15th of March 2011.

Pics:

https://picasaweb.google.com/s

ahitakad2008/GoshtiEnglish5march2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyWn5Kj5tPXxgE#

5th March 2011

NEXT EVENT: WRITER' GOSHTI (ENGLISH).

5th March 2011.

Time: 4pm to 6 pm.

Venue: CSA Auditorium, State Library Bldg, 1st Floor, Sector 34, Chandigarh

PUBLICATION AWARDS

CHANDIGARH SAHITA AKADEMI ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION AWARDS:

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi invites writers residing or working in Chandigarh to submit PRINTED BOOKS in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, or English (Poetry, Fiction, Plays) published in 2009 or 2010.

Three copies of each book should be sent to the CSA office (1st Floor, State Library, Sector 34, Chandigarh), by March 15, 2011. Edited books and those published with financial help from another agency will not be considered.

Manju Jaidka

Chairperson, CSA