A three day Parallel literature Fest was organized in the Youth Hostel in Jaipur by Pragatisheel Lekhak Sangh. It began on 27th January and concluded today i.e. 29th January. Also known as the Samanantar Sahitya Utsav, the event was carried out in response to the Jaipur Literature Fest, which is considered to be the largest free literature events in the world and is carried on at a very large scale.
Image Courtesy: Khaas Khabar
Enlisted below are some highlights from the Parallel Literature Fest:
• In a session named ‘Hindi Sahitya Mein Dalit Chetna’, participants largely focused on the rights of Dalits in the society. They talked about reviving the lost legacy of Babasaheb Ambedkar through literature. It had some notable writers like Ajay Navaria, Ratna Kumar Sambharia, Anita Bharti, and Premchand Gandhi along with Dalit rights activist Bhanwar Meghwanshi.
• Another session named ‘Pratirodh ka Punjabi Sahitya’ laid emphasis on Punjabi literature, whereby participants’ discussions involved the crucial role played by Punjabi literature since the Middle Ages. Participants talked about poetry of Baba Bulleh Shah and the wave of women writers in the recent past.
• There was a session on ‘Cinema and Bhartiya Gaon’ focusing on the role of villages in the field of cinema. In this, discussions were held as to how movies highlight the transformation of villages that are gradually getting urban with time.
• The three-day event aimed at igniting minds through literature and had a big lineup of highly acclaimed writers, poets, and authors. The noted poet named Vishnu Khare talked about the changing trends in poetry.
• There was also a magical and soulful performance by Deepak Pareek, a New York based singer. He amazed the audience with his enthralling singing and said that the event brought him closer to Hindi literature.
Image Courtesy: Special Coverage News
As per the media reports, the PLF is a protest against the commercialized event of “JLF” which promotes “marketisation of literature”, the event was aimed at providing a platform for Hindi writers and authors ignored by the JLF. As explained by Nishant Mishra, a member of the organizing team, the idea behind PLF is to engage minds through literature, poetry, and discussions.
