The grand all-Himachal lit-fest for young & old

Shriniwas Joshi

Naval Prayas, an organisation headed by Dr Vinod Prakash Gupta, arranged an all Himachal lit-fest in which more than 50 writers from all over Himachal Pradesh had assembled on the premises of Dayanand Public School, Shimla. Shimla witnessed such a huge gathering of writers and litterateurs for the first time. Recognising the merits of their works in the field of literature and culture, Naval Prayas honoured 17 creative heads -– old and young — of the State (See Photo). The oldest was 89-year-old RC Sharma whose latest novel “Parigraha” was released on the day and the youngest, perhaps, was Dinesh Sharma, a poet whose poem on ‘designation’ was well appreciated. The chief guest for the occasion was former Director General of Doordarshan and Akashvani and a great author (See Photo) whose prolificacy in writing checks me from giving the number of the books that he has written. Mandloi, at present, is the Director of Gyanpeeth and the editor of “Naya Gyanodaya”. He had not confined himself to be the Chief Guest only but contributed to the lit-fest by presenting a film “Atmasambhav” on the ace writer of Hindi literature Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh. It was produced and directed by Mandloi. He said that Muktibodh thought in colours, scenes and pictures and that was what the short film depicted. Muktibodh’s poems are recited behind a canvas of superb photographs which made the film alive. He praised the efforts of Naval Prayas in organising an event on such a large scale which had an inclusive format. Such events are necessary, today, for our radical enlightenment, he added. 

The first part of the lit-fest was of self-written poems by students of DAV schools around Shimla. After screening, 25 poems entered the fray from which Akrit Sharma and Akshar Sharma of New Shimla; Isha Gautam and Sana of Tutu and Swastika of Lakkar Bazaar won the prizes. The judges for the event were known poets of Himachal Pradesh — Kul Rajeev Pant, Dr Atma Ranjan and Dr Priyanka Vaidya from Nalagarh. Here is the difference between the proclaimed lit-fests (Jaipur or Kasauli) and this one where the young minds were also involved and that is why the Chief Guest pronounced it as ‘inclusive’. Poetry or literature opens doors for students. It exposes them to new ideas and experiences, gives them unique perspectives, entertains them and informs, makes them ask questions and finally, enriches their lives. I wish that Naval Prayas attends more to this literary journey of young minds than spending time and money on the adult pen-pushers. Make the young ones’ literary walkathon comfortable, provide them the benches, shelters, watering-places, etc, in their journey and define Naval Prayas as the organisation helping the young minds in honing their skills in the literary and the cultural field. Why can’t the organisation arrange one-act play competitions by the students of the schools? Why can’t the organisation arrange an art competition among the students and other young ones? It can certainly do that if it can hold such a big affair, which I name as ‘All Himachal lit-fest’.   

The inaugural session of the adults started with story-reading. Stories were read by Suresh Shandilya, Badri Singh Bhatia, Ganga Ram Raji and I. Thereafter, eight sessions of poetry recitation were held. Each session was headed by an established poet surrounded by five others. The head for the first session was Dr Anil Rakeshi whose poem ‘Utarne do saanjh ko’ (let the evening come) started with “devdaron ki phungiyon par (on the shoots of Deodar)/ hawa se bhi halke pair rakhati (keeping foot lighter than the air)/ utar rahi hai saanjh – nishabd (the evening drops down - silently).” The second session was headed by Keshav who had come from Palampur, the third by Sudarshan Vashisht, and subsequent sessions by Manohar Batham of Delhi, Dr Rekha Vashisht, Kul Rajeev Pant, KR Bharti, Dr Atma Ranjan and the last one by Leeladhar Mandloi, which session was devoted to Urdu ghazals and poems. Sumit Vashisht’s poem reflected the deterioration of Shimla, Munish Tanha and Vinod Gupta read thought- provoking ghazals and Ajay Swarnkaar from Delhi recited a few couplets regaling the audience: “He did not commit suicide or the archer want to kill him but he was killed because he, by chance, was sitting there where the arrow struck him”. Leeladhar started with his famous poem: “Yeh duniya hamne chor di choron ke bharose (we have left this world for the thieves)/ kyonki choron ko ek hone mein samay nahin lagta (because the thieves do not take time to unite)/aur imaandaar kabhi ek nahin hote (and the honest never unite).” Then he entertained the audience with one cameo after another.

The day spent with words on the premises of Dayanand School is remembered by one and all because words have energy and power, words have ability to help and heal, words have also the ability to hurt, harm and humiliate but these also make one humble and humane. Chose whatever you want to be. 

Tailpiece

Silence is better than meaningless words.   –Pythagoras