Doon School literary fest celebrates Book Day

Tribune News service

Dehradun, April 24

The Doon School organised a literary festival to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day.

Addressing a gathering of various schools of Dehradun and eminent guest authors, school Headmaster Peter McLaughlin and student head of the festival Arnaav Bhavanani highlighted the essence of literature and how it has changed over the past years.

They laid emphasis on the freedom of expression in the light of contemporary events which have initiated debate across the country.

The first event of the day was a skit, ‘Run Kallu Run’, enacted by the students of the Doon School. Written by NK Sharma, the play highlighted social prejudices harboured by the upper middle class of our country through the plight of an underprivileged boy ‘Kallu’ who faces difficulty in registering himself at a prestigious local school and college.

The performance was well received by the audience for its accuracy in portraying problems which have prevented India’s human capital from development.

It was followed by a speech and interactive session by the author of the acclaimed ‘Shiva Trilogy’, Amish Tripathi. After a short video clip that showcased his journey as an author, Amish spoke on the importance of free speech and its origins, describing this liberty as being inherently ‘Indian’ due to its prevalence in ancient society. His knowledge of the ‘Shastras’ and etymology impressed the audience.

The speech was followed by an interactive session with the audience. Students of several schools raised questions ranging across various topics, the maximum being related to his writing and knowledge of Indian mythology.

A book-signing session soon ensued.

In the library, Jonathan Gill Harris, the acclaimed author of the book “First Firangis” spoke about India and its willingness to accept people of different cultures, religions and castes. He gave the example of Garcia De Orta, a pioneer of tropical medicine who had left Portugal (his home country) for Goa due to the inquisition policy. He talked about Juliana De Osta, a slave girl of Portuguese origin born during the reign of Shah Jahan, who rose to become the chief political adviser of Aurangzeb’s son.

Jonathan praised the Indian culture for being open and friendly and called India the nation of “firangis.” Next, Suhasini Haider, a senior journalist, described India as a global village and a country that gave voice to the voiceless and to countries like Malawi and Madagascar that were recently been struck by natural disasters. With their oratory skills, the speakers captivated the audience.

In the Art and Media section, a panel discussion was held by Purnima Dutta, Prof Niraja Gopal Jayal, Prof Satish Deshpande and Dr Ananya Vajpeyi. P

Niraja Gopal Jayal first spoke about Tagore’s forewarning of petty nationalism in India and how nationalism had curbed the freedom of thought and expression in society. She took the example of the controversial BBC documentary, ‘India’s Daughter’ which showcased the social scenario of India and how the nationalists banned it as it displayed the country poorly.

Satish Deshpande talked about how the caste system in India was still prevalent and how the people who didn’t feel they had a caste were, interestingly, the ones who belonged to the upper caste.

At event in Rose Bowl, Valentina Trivedi and Fauzia’s “Dastangoi” (story telling) fascinated the audience and paved the way for an amazing end to the Doon School Literary Festival.