Kunwar Viyogi Memorial Trust in association with the Oxford Book Store, New Delhi recently organised Hindi Sahitya Utsav.
Renowned names from the field of theatre, media and literature graced the occasion that witnessed interesting insights about the role and importance of Hindi language in context to today’s changing political, social and economic scenario.
Fabled television personality, journalist and author Mrinal Pande, in her opening address, highlighted the changing dynamics of Hindi language from the pre-Independence era to today’s age of commercialization. She said that the language of every country or for that matter state defines its people, culture and its economic relevance. However, with commercialization seeping in, it has become very difficult for people to identify the difference between the use of language in context to commercialization and to strengthen their cultural ethos. She expressed an urgent need to initiate steps towards restoring the lost glory of the language and to shift focus beyond the confinements of social gatherings, seminars or conferences. She asked everyone to take pride in the fact that Hindi is a language with far greater reach and should be spoken widely by one and all.
Echoing similar sentiments, Poonam Singh Jamwal, Founder, Kunwar Viyogi Memorial Trust said that she, despite being from the era of ‘lost generation’ has made it her mission to ‘Save the Language’. Highlighting the vision of her Trust that primarily works towards the preservation and popularisation of Dogri Language, said that in Jammu, where Dogri at a time was widely spoken is today limited in selected nooks and corners of the region. Stressing that the Trust has vowed to restore the language’s past glory, Jamwal said that the Trust, as one of its initiatives has begun working on ‘Save the Language’ campaign that aims to involve youth in various academic and cultural activities so as to make the language relevant and popular yet again. The campaign, she informed will cover Dogri-speaking regions across India and conduct cultural activities that will help youth identify with their cultural roots and inculcate the sense of responsibility towards their rich heritage.
Celebrated Theater and Bollywood actor Piyush Mishra, who also addressed the audience, however, had a different take on the issue. Stating that the Hindi language never lost its significance, the actor said that Hindi films and theatre are the biggest proof of the fact that the Hindi language continues to rule the hearts of people and will never lose its sheen or significance. He, however, said that although there is wide readership of Hindi, the problem lies in the fact that today there are not many Hindi-writing authors/writers who can do justice to their Hindi reading fans.
The Utsav also saw young and upcoming poet Ayushman Jamwal recite Sahitya Akademi awardee Kunwar Viyogi’s poems from his award-winning book ‘Ghar’. Ayushman, who received great response from the audience, read Viyogi’s poems that depicted varied emotions- love, struggle, the role of women in society, the poet’s aspirations etc. The young poet, who recently received accolades for his first book on poems Chameleon Lights also took questions from the audience and threw light on how Viyogi’s poetry challenged the poet in him and compelled him to write on topics that he would otherwise consider mundane. Describing Kunwar Viyogi’s poetry as refreshing and ahead of times, Ayushman thanked the Trust for giving him the opportunity to showcase the Dogri writer’s poetry at such a distinguished platform.
- Event Place : Oxford Bookstore, Cannaught Place, Delhi
- Date : 19-03-2017
- Time : 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Ayushman Jamwal : Ayushman Jamwal is a 27-year-old journalist based in New Delhi. He is a Senior News Editor at CNN-News18. He is a graduate of the Cardiff School of Journalism and started writing poetry when he was a student at The Doon School. His book Chameleon Lights is trending on top 5 Amazon bestseller (poetry) list.
Chameleon Lights is a journey of self-discovery. The turbulent passage of love, despair, peace and revelation is played out in twenty poems. The poems reflect the rough and unpredictable road to one’s identity – to who we are, and what we are capable of.
