Words’ Worth

poetry and story reading sessions and book exhibition,creating a forum where writers and readers got to interact with each other. As part of the event,writers Shashi Deshpande,Manjula Padmanabhan,Mamta Kalia,Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal spoke at length on February 28 on

Contemporary Issues: Literature and Culture since 1980.

“CSA aims to operate on the local,national and international levels. Thanks to it,the city now has a platform to host literary events like panel discussions,book-launches,mushairas,lectures and creative writing competitions. We also invite distinguished writers,artists and academics from outside Chandigarh,” says Manju Jaidka,chairperson of CSA. The Litfest has become an opportunity to put the Akademi on the world map and forge connections between the city and the big world outside. “The idea is to promote genuine talent in the field of art and literature,” adds Jaidka.

Shashi Deshpande,Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi award winner,read excerpts from her novel Moving On,talking about the politics of language and about Indian authors writing in English. “The ideal is to write in the language of one’s creativity. Young writers need to write and go a long way,fail,live,suffer,succeed. Literature has room for everyone,” she says. Love,she says,is part of every novel she writes. “Every writer would want to write a love story,” she adds.

Literature student Sunaina Bains,28,a participant,was eager to absorb useful tips from writers. “There has been a book in my head for two years now and this Litfest is an inspiration to start,” she says,cheering her young friends at a poetry reading session.

Mamta Kalia,bilingual poet and winner of numerous awards including the Mahadevi Verma Samman,focused on the radicalism in her writing,“You do not write for yourself but for society. I represent a generation that was obsessed to disown everything,we had no links and it wasn’t healthy,” she says. Referring to writers and readers as agents of change,she called upon both to “respect the sanctity of their mindsets” and not be mere reflectors of “borrowed sensibilities”.

Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal,co-editors of In Search of Sita,wove the creative and the academic,focusing on mythology and its impact on the collective consciousness. Though the book is a representation of what Sita means to different people,cultures and perceptions,it is ultimately about a woman “who does not so much return to the earth as claims it”,said the editors. “For teachers too,these fests are eye-openers,” says Kamlesh Singh,a voracious reader and English teacher from Hisar.

The two parallel story sessions — the English segment chaired by writer Manjula Padmanabhan and the Hindi segment chaired by litterateur Dr. Zakir— were dealt

with moving accounts of real life incidents.

“The writer creates masterpieces in the isolation of an ivory tower. When he/she emerges to mingle with the public,let

there be dignity and commitment.

Let the work speak for itself. Those who have the power to discern recognize its worth. The rest should not matter,” Jaidka sums up.