First travelling Kumaon Literary Festival begins from Delhi

By NewsGram Staff Writer

New Delhi: A preview of the Kumaon Literary Festival, to be held from October 23-27, was held in the national capital.

As part of the preview, a number of social programmes built around the festival – Women Writers Unlimited, Fellows of Nature, Literary Bhagidari and K-Lit Mobile App – were launched at the Taj Mahal Hotel on Saturday evening.

Arguably the first travelling literary festival in the country, it would host top authors, cinema and media personalities, political commentators and opinion makers, at Te Aroha, Dhanachuli, an enchanting little village in the Himalayas in Uttarakhand. It will then travel to Abbotsford, Nainital.

The idea behind holding this annual, retreat destination literary festival in Dhanachuli village is that the hilly region of Uttarakhand shares a special relationship with literature, said Sumant Batra, a lawyer and founder of this festival.

While addressing the preview event, Batra said, "The Kumaon literary festival is the first one of international scale and standards to be held in a rural area. Dhanachuli is being developed into a smart village – through creative initiatives,"

Barkha Dutt, journalist and chairperson of the festival advisory board, said she was initially unsure about another literary fest, but the idea of an annual retreat destination literary festival in the Himalayas was what got her on board.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Batra said: "In this intolerant society, the fest will discuss the culture of ban. Author Anuja Chauhan, who supports ban on porn, and others who are against it, will be sharing the same stage to discuss their views.

"The festival is the first from which stem out a number of social and other programmes with tangible deliverables and measurable outcomes, which also dovetail back into the festival, adding value to the fest," Batra said.

One of the outstanding feature of the Kumaon literary festival is the 'Women Writers Unlimited Series'. With over 50 percent of women participant, it is an wonderful initiative to empower women.

Another social programme – Fellows of Nature – aims to create a book with a fine collection of short stories on nature. The campaign aims to put spotlight on critical environmental issues by creating a community of nature writers.

Literary Bhagidari project aims to mentor the youth through literature.

A mobile application K-Lit, arguably the first by any literary festival in India, launched on the occasion allows users to watch the fest live, receive live updates and pictures and also allow them to interact with the speakers.

Planned and conceptualised by Barkha Dutt, Anuj Bahri (literary agent), Janhavi Prasada (filmmaker) and others, the festival is supported by the UN Women and the Uttarakhand Tourism Board.

Speakers at the literary fest include Mrinal Pande, historian Shekhar Pathak, literary historian Rakshanda Jalil, author Anuja Chauhan and Namita Gokhale among others.

The fest would see discussions on 'Shifting landscape of political campaign' by Dinesh Trivedi, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala and others. Few other topics include, forgotten legends of Indian cinema, role of women in ancient India, and Hindustani poetry connecting the common man to literature.

With inputs from IANS