Children urged to read books for all-round personality development

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Shimla, March 22

The Children’s Literature Festival, jointly being organised by the Department of Language and Culture and Keekli Charitable Trust, commenced here on Friday.

Renowned writer Rupa Pai and cartoonist Uday Shankar attended the festival as special guests. The three-day festival started with the lighting of a lamp by Rakesh Kanwar, Secretary, Language and Culture Department, and Director Pankaj Lalit.

Kanwar, while sharing experiences of his student life, called upon the youth to read books other than those in their curriculum. “By reading good and inspirational books, all-round personality of the students will develop and society will get a new direction in the coming times,” he said.

In the first session of the festival, Rupa Pai’s book ‘The Yoga Sutra’ was reviewed and the important aspects of the book were highlighted. The reviewers found the book useful for the youth as it stresses on yoga practice, purity of mind, pranayama, etc. In the second session, children’s poetry reading session was organised in which young poets recited self-written poems. The session was presided over by well-known writer and theatre artiste Bharti Kuthiala.

In the third session, ‘Himachal Ki Lok Kathayein’, written by Sudarshan Vashisht, was reviewed. In this session, Bhavani Singh, an Assistant Professor, Hindi Department, Himachal Pradesh University, playing the role of moderator. In the fourth session, Sumit Raj’s ‘Shimla Bazaar’ was reviewed and discussed. Well-known writer Usha Bande played the role of moderator in this session.