Ranchi: The fifth edition of Tata Steel Jharkhand Literary Meet was inaugurated on Saturday by Padma Bhusan awardee and renowned writer and lyricists Javed Akhtar. A host of poets, novelists and artists will be there at the annual literary fest at Audrey House over the next two days.
At the inauguration o Tata Steel Jharkhand Literary Meet, Member of Rajya Sabha Mahua Maji and Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, of Corporate Services, Tata Steel, veteran journalist Ashutosh Chaturvedi and Malavika Banerjee, Director of Jharkhand Literary Meet were also present.
Javed Akhtar at the inauguration session spoke on the importance of books and literature and how it helps in shaping the life of the people. Post the inauguration, Javed Akhtar spoke about his life and poetry and also recited some of his most well-known poems.
The inaugural day saw a variety of programs featuring a poetry session featuring Anuj Lugun, Jyoti Lugun, Mungeshwar Sahoo and Chandramohan Kisku. Mihir Vatsa, the winner of the Yuva Sahitya Akademi award for Tales of Hazaribagh spoke about his in-depth examination of the town’s social and economic history.
A session remembering iconic author Mannu Bhandari and discussing the legacy that she left behind had Sudha Arora, Poonam Saxena and Rachana Yadav. The day ended with a discussion on Kishore Kumar’s biography and a musical jam session of his songs.
Festival director Malavika Banerjee said, “We are extremely delighted to be back to the same place within a gap of 9 months. In this edition of Tata Steel Jharkhand Literary Meet, there will be stalwarts of Indian literature who would be sharing and discussing various aspects of life, literature and culture and we are certain that the people of Ranchi will embrace the occasion and will make the two-day literature carnival a thing to remember.”
On December 11, Booker International winner Geetanjali Shree will speak about her award-winning novel Ret Samadhi. A session on the cinema of the region featuring Purushotam Kumar, Niranjan Kujur and Anurag Lugun, a discussion on Akshaya Mukul’s biography of Agyeya, and another session on the legacy of local hero MS Dhoni are also in store.
The festival will end with a solo act by eminent actor Vinay Pathak. He will perform the play ‘Nothing Like Lear’ which is directed by actor-director Rajat Kapoor.