Shimla lit fest begins, CM gives opening a miss

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 23

The two-day Shimla International Literature Festival began here on Saturday.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who was supposed to inaugurate the literary extravaganza, gave it a miss. He, however, flagged off the International Olympic Day Run, which was 50 metres from the Gaiety Theatre, where the event was being organised. The organisers maintained that the Chief Minister had to leave for Kullu.

The festival with the theme, ‘One India’, was then inaugurated by Irrigation and Public Health Minister Mahender Singh.

The first day witnessed discussions on the role of social media, muffled videos, women empowerment, literature, changing face of politics, nepotism and book writing, besides providing ample opportunities to schoolchildren to showcase their talent.

As many as 24 sessions will be held during the festival, including panel discussions, book releases, storytelling and screening of Himachali movie, skits and street shows by the schoolchildren.

The highlight of the festival is, “I am author”, which will give opportunity to the budding writers, especially the youth to publish their stories by Dreamworld Publication.

“Authors will need to submit a short synopsis and three sample chapters of their unpublished work. The winner will be offered a digital publishing deal by Dreamworld Publications on the theme Holiday Romance, Rebound Fling,” said organiser Nidhi Sharma.

Speakers like Anant Vijay, Shasahi Shekher, Sanjeev Paliwal, Suddepa Nagarkar, Arpit Vagehria, Shuchi Singh Kalra, television actor Sushant Singh are among those who will grace the event.

Question and answer session on book writing

“Choose topic of your choice and do not go by what appeals to the market. Follow your heart and instincts, but do pen down the points specially the start and conclusion of the story,” this was the message by writers to the budding authors during the question and answer session on book writing by authors Suhail Mathur, Swati Sharma and Anamika Mishra.

They said books on romance had a better market than mythology as the word count and price was less, which made it more reader friendly. However, non-fiction – real life incidents, self-help books and thoroughly investigated real-time crime stories were also in vogue.

Experts maintained that the publishing houses were flooded with stories and at times the scripts got rejected without even being read.

“In such a situation, role of literary agents becomes significant as they help in selecting the best publishers for a particular story, reduce waiting period and help in getting a clear response,” they said.

Street show by students of Monal Public School

A street show (nukkar natak) on water crises in Shimla by the students of Monal Public School was a treat to watch as the students spread the message of unity in diversity.

The street show story began with celebrities making a beeline in Shimla to perform in the summer festival, which gets cancelled due to water crises. The stars roaming on The Mall Road are spotted by mediapersons, who hurl volley of questions on them.

The students did justice to the roles of Sunny Deol, Nana Patakar and characters from the serial “bhabiji ghar par hain”. The skit focused on how people from all sections of society came together to help each other and overcame the situation. It ended on a happy note as the water supply was streamlined.

Opportunity for budding writers

• The first day witnessed discussions on role of social media, muffled videos, women empowerment, literature, changing face of politics, nepotism and book writing, besides providing ample opportunities to schoolchildren to showcase their talent.
• As many as 24 sessions will be held during the festival, including panel discussions, book releases, storytelling and screening of Himachali movie, skits and street shows by schoolchildren. 
• The highlight of the festival is “I am author”, which will give opportunity to the budding writers, especially the youth to publish their stories by Dreamworld Publication.