IRSHAD KAMIL

IRSHAD KAMIL READS HIS POEMS AT PU:

Irshad Kamil is not just another of those umpteen lyricists who churn out songs for commercial films nineteen to the dozen. He is not just another 'Bollywood' personality difficult to access and hard to please!

Irshad is a Chandigarh boy, an alumnus of Panjab University. He has been a student of literature in the Hindi Department. For this reason he is special to us. Moreover, he is a scholar and poet. Recently he has come out with his collection of poems, lyrical compositions, some short and haiku-like. Surely, his fans and admirers will look forward to laying their hands on the book!

The title of the collection is :Ek Maheena Nazmon Ka". It has an English title too: "Love's Long Biography". Many of the short poems have been translated into English by the poet himself, little nuggets of verse meant to surprise and delight.

Irshad Kamil will be reading from his new collection at the Golden Jubilee Hall of Panjab University (behind ICSSR Building) at 11am on Tuesday, 10th February 2015.

We look forward to hearing the poetic compositions of a promising young poet who surely has far to go.

Join us, please, and be a part of the audience.

Chairperson, CSA

Grants in Aid 2014

AWARD OF GRANTS-IN-AID, 2014

Manuscripts submitted by the following city writers have been adjudged worthy of the Grants-in-Aid for 2014:

Hindi:
Santosh Dhiman (poetry)
Amarjit Amar (poetry)
Naveen Neer (poetry)
Urmil Kaushik Sakhi (short story)
Ajay Singh Rana Asar (novel)

Punjabi:
Tejpal Singh Chawla (poetry)
Gul Chauhan (children's literature)
Goverdhan Gabbi (novel)
Poonam Kapoor (play)

Urdu:
Chaman Ahuja (poetry)
 

Congratulations to the winners. Please get your book printed and claim your grant. (In the acknowledgements you simply need to mention that you have received a GIA from CSA).
Those who have not been successful this year should not be disheartened. It is all in the game! Better luck next time.

Anu Singh and Giti Chandra

 31 Jan 2015

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi this evening hosted two women writers from Delhi who have recently been making waves in the literary world: Anu Singh, who writes short fiction in Hindi, and Giti Chandra who writes young adult fiction in English.

Anu Singh Choudhary is a Communications Consultant, Documentary Filmmaker, Writer, Editor and Translator. A compulsive multi-tasker, Anu also writes columns on women and youth empowerment and trains students and corporates on video production and creative writing. She has worked with a leading news channel for several years directed four independent documentaries and co-directed and scripted many others. Her debut collection of short stories, ‘Neela Scarf’, broke record of sorts, and became one of the highest pre-booked titles on Flipkart. This evening she read some excerpts and highlighted popular aspects of her collection of short stories.

Giti Chandra is an Associate Professor at the Dept of English, St Stephen's College, Delhi.  She is a trained Soprano, Violinist and Conductor and has been teaching for more than two decades. A PhD from Rutgers University, she is the author of several published papers, articles, book reviews, and has written two fiction novels, part of an ongoing trilogy The Book of Guardians. This evening she spoke eloquently about her novels, "The Fang of Summoning" (Hatchette:2010); and "The Bones of Stars" (Hachette: 2013).

The two authors this evening shared in common their love for the magic of the everyday world. All you need to do is look around for the stories hidden in every nook and corner. It is this magic that makes the world a special place. The authors recounted anecdotes from real life and interacted with the listeners animatedly. Present in the audience were leading writers, critics and literature aficionados of the city.

Referring to future programmes of the CSA, Chairperson Manju Jaidka announced that on 10th February the lyricist Irshad Kamil, is likely to pass through the city and will engage in an interactive session with students at the Panjab University. The exact time and venue will be announced on the CSA Blog and Facebook.

Further, from 20^th to 22^nd February, CSA will hold “Spring Celebrations”, details of which will be announced likewise.

Grants-in-Aid awards are likely to be announced in the next few days.

Stay tuned. Ciao

Link for Today’s pics:  https://www.facebook.com/chandigarhsahitya.akademi/media_set?set=a.1034445469905860.1073741849.100000212495273&type=1&pnref=story 

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi

CALL FOR BOOKS PRINTED IN 2014

Awards for Printed books 2014

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

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 2014.

Two copies of each book should be sent to the CSA office (1st Floor, State Library, Sector 34, Chandigarh), by JANUARY 23, 2015.

Edited books and those published with financial help from CSA or from another agency will not be considered.

Manju Jaidka
Chairperson, CSA

Punjabi Literature, Culture and Films

SADDA PUNJAB: SAHITYA, SABHYACHAR ATE FILMAN

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi is committed to its task of promoting literature in all the main languages being used in the state: Hindi, Punjabi, English and Urdu. The focus of today’s event was Punjabi literature and culture. The speaker, a young man called Daljit Ami, has made a niche for himself in media, particularly in TV journalism. We have often seen him interview celebrities on the small screen. He has also been making documentaries and is frequently asked to lecture on his areas of interest.

Punjabian di shaan vakhri, so goes the saying. Punjab is a thriving state that has impacted people and places in all corners of the world one way or another. Who is a Punjabi and what makes one a Punjabi? It is hard to define but surely, being Punjabi does not mean simply having saag and makki ki roti or in doing the bhangra, or in getting drunk? Let us not believe in stereotypes, says Daljit Ami, let us look at the real picture.

Among many other issues, Daljit Ami focused on the problem of drug addiction in the Punjab. Why has the land of five rivers been afflicted with this problem? Can something be done about it? There are other issues too, which Punjab has in common with other states: how do we treat our women? Or those who are weaker than us, the disabled, the weak, or the helpless? All these issues have to be taken into account when discussing sadda Punjab.

Punjabi literature, no doubt, is flourishing with books being published daily in large numbers. Talking about disaporic Punjabis, Daljit mentioned that the language and literature nurtured by them is generally caught in a time warp, depending on the time when the first generation of immigrants had relocated. Punjabi cinema dates back to approx 1931-32. Initially it focused on popular legends of the region. Over the years, however, Punjabi films have progressed only in fits and starts; good films are few and far between, dependent on occasional interest taken by individuals sporadically. Whereas a lot of foreign films focus on diasporic and related issues, Punjabi films typically speak of success stories, not of the actual struggle and agony that displaced people have to face.

We need a new idiom, says Daljit Ami. We cannot keep on laughing at old jokes, we cannot go on harping on obsolete tropes.

Introducing Daljit Ami this evening was Jatinder Kaur who teaches Punjabi at MCM DAV College for Women. The audience included several writers and creative artists of the city who participated keenly in the discussion that followed.

The next CSA event will be announced on Facebook and blog. Stay tuned.

10 January 2015 - Sadda Punjab: Sahit, Sabhyachar ate Filman

CHANDIGARH SAHITYA AKADEMI

cordially invites you its upcoming event on

Sadda Punjab: Sahit, Sabhyachar ate Filman  (Punjabi Literature, Culture and Films)

with 

Sh. DALJIT AMI

(journalist cum documentary filmmaker who has worked in three languages, four forms of media, and written extensively on socio-cultural and political issues) 
The thrust of the discussion will be the Punjabi spirit as it appears in literature and culture. In particular, the attempt will be to explore the achievements of literary giants in the land of five rivers and how their literature reflects the indomitable Punjabi spirit. It is, however, felt that more needs to be done to further popularize our literature and bring it to an national or even international platform.In recent years this exercise has been undertaken on celluloid, through the cinematic attempts made by talented young film producers from the region. Films have the potential to engage with wide ranging subjects and appeal to a wide variety of audience. How do Punjabi films stand vis-a-vis Punjabi culture and how does "Pollywood" represent literature that has its roots in the local terrain?

CSA invites you to look at these issues and many more....

on Saturday, 10 January 2015

at 3.30 pm

Venue: UT Guest House

RSVP:

Chairperson, CSA

Panel Discussion - Literature and Spirituality

PANEL DISCUSSION: LITERATURE AND SPIRITUALITY

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi this evening held a panel discussion on “Literature and Spirituality” at the UT Guest House. There were three speakers, all of them eminent scholars: Anirudh Joshi, CL Dhamija and Mathura Das Pandey, academicians who have devoted their lives to the pursuit of knowledge. Interacting with the audience they spoke with confidence and passion of on the subject.

Today’s discussion began with the idea that spirituality is different from religion although the two are often erroneously confused. Spirituality is that which unites people whereas religion is divisive, splitting mankind into small camps pitted against each other.

Beginning the discussion, CL Dhamija, who is familiar with the greatest of world thinkers, quoted writers like Arnold Toynbee, Vivekananda and others.  He quoted Vivekananda and suggested that religion per se is not that which fragments the world into broken bits; the way religion is interpreted and practiced makes it divisive. Dhamija focused on the contribution of Indian thought to philosophy. Is man a soul or a body? Does the soul change its abode? How does medical science deal with the idea of the soul? The speaker referred to his extensive reading, illustrating with examples ranging from Brian Weiss to Guru Nanak and others.

Mathura Das Pandey, the second speaker, has spent more than half a century reading up on the subject of spirituality. He admitted that the subject is so vast and he has gone into such depths that it would be difficult for him to present a concise presentation of his views on the subject. However, once Pandey began speaking, his ideas flowed easily and he probed the various complexities of the relationship between literature and spirituality, in particular the three aspects related to truth and beauty: satyam, shivam, sundaram. The role of the imagination in all three aspects remains crucial. The speaker made several references to the Puaranas, the Vedas and the Upanishads, interspersing his views with anecdotes from routine life. 

Anirudh Joshi, a scholar of Sanskrit, was the final speaker of the day. Forcefully and with conviction he summed up the ideas being discussed and further extended the debate. He began with a basic question: why should we seek spirituality in literature? Beginning with the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, Joshi demonstrated how spirituality enters literature willy-nilly. What is the purpose of literature? Literature is closely linked with dharma, kama and artha. The author is not simply telling a story: there is a world view and a philosophy that is conveyed through literature. A literary text carries a message that uplifts and elevates.

This evening’s discussion was an attempt to demystify spirituality and understand how it enters a literary text.  The views put forward by the speakers were marked by a spirit of objective inquiry and the analysis; they combined knowledge with intuition, popular belief with elitist scholarship. The audience was very appreciative and discussion continued for a while before the evening came to a close.

The next event of the CSA will be on 10^th January.  Information will be posted on the CSA blog and Facebook page. Photographs of today’s event are at  https://www.facebook.com/chandigarhsahitya.akademi/media_set?set=a.1012436385440102.1073741847.100000212495273&type=1&pnref=story

Manju Jaidka

Chairperson, CSA