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Bestselling authors to famous lyricists; a play and a performance of Dastangoi, sessions in Hindi, English, Punjabi and Urdu – Literati 2018 offers a melange covering a range of topics, right from bureaucracy to desire to food, relationships, mythology to sexuality.

Starting on November 17, at the Lake Club, this sixth outing by Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) aims to bring literature lovers a variety of themes. Day 1 sees cinema and theatre veteran Piyush Mishra, bestselling author Preeti Shenoy and Aditya Iyengar along with poetry and talks on comics and mythology. Another interesting session will be Sarkari Perspective with Deepak Gupta, MG Devashayam and IPS officer and author Gurjot Kaler as moderator. 

Day 2 starts with a story telling session, followed by author Gurcharan Das, motivational speaker Shiv Khera, entrepreneur-author Vineet Bajpai, Bollywood biographer Aseem Chhabra and master chefs – Pankaj Bhadouria and Kandla Nijhowne whip up some sparkling conversation.  

“We bring some of the famous writers on stage,” says CLS founding member Vivek Atray. Harinder Sikka, who wrote Sehmat that was turned into blockbuster Raazi, is going to register his presence on Day 1. Lyricists Jaani and Charan Likhari will be in conversation with Shamsher Sidhu and Masha Kaur in Badalde Bol Punjab De on Day 2. While Jaani has number of hits, including Soch, to his credit, Likhari is known for his soulful Sufi numbers. This session would be moderated by Masha Kaur, an architect and author of Sohni Mahiwaal. With her keen interest in Punjabi folk, she has recreated the love tale while sticking to the main plot but filling in characters like Sohni’s mother or husband who don’t occupy much space in the folk forms. 

“Sohni for me has been a young girl who broke so many rules and yet is seen as an icon. Mine’s been a journey to trace more about her times and her inner world when a girl of 16, 17 followed her heart,” says Masha.

While the excitement of the announcement was dampened by an alleged PIL to check into sound pollution that the literature festival may lead to, Chandigarh Literary Society had apparently secured permission for certain level of sound limit that the organisers intend to follow.

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Entry to play and festival is free

Play on

Halala: Bhagwandass Morwal’s music classic play would be staged at Tagore Theatre on November 18, 6:45 pm

Bhooli Dastan: The 13th century Urdu oral storytelling art form Dastangoi would be performed at the Lake Club on November 18, 5:15pm.