Shoolini LitFest: Valuable insights into world of literature

The second day of Shoolini Literature Festival was full of excitement and valuable insights into the world of literature. 

It began with a session on the evolution of the Hindi film script. Ajit Andhare, Chief Operating Officer at Viacom 18 Motion Pictures regaled the audience with anecdotes and how the film script progressed to its present format, structure and language. The session was moderated by Mihir Pandya, who teaches at Inderprasth College, Delhi. 

This was followed by a session on literature and film, where the panelists were, Ashwani Bhatnagar, Neelam Kanwar, and Karan Oberoi. The session was moderated by Rajesh Williams. 

The third session of the day was on ‘Meet the Author’, where renowned author Githa Hariharan talked about her works with Manju Jaidka, organiser of the Shoolini Literature Festival. Next came ‘Reworking Mythologies’, where the importance of myths and mythologies was discussed. The session moderator was Kamayani Bisht, and the panelists were, Suhail Mathur, Pradeep Govind and Rohan Bapat. 

The second half of the day began with another session on ‘Meet the Author’ (Hindi), where Hindi writer Meera Kant was in discussion with moderator Dr Asha. A session on Hindi Poetry followed, moderated by Vijay Kapoor, and the panel comprised Madhav Kaushik, Chander Trikha, and Rekha Vashisht. The day closed with the most-awaited and interesting session with poet and lyricist Irshad Kamil, moderated by Ashoo Khosla. Irshad Kamil talked about his creativity and the inspiration behind his poetry. 

All the speakers expressed their desire to visit Shoolini University in real time. Virtual interactions were most welcome in these times but one looked forward to face-to-face conversations in a world that was free of Covid and its standard operating procedures. 

The third and concluding day’s events include a session with celebrated singer Shubha Mudgal, poetry sessions in English and Urdu, stories for children, Meet the Author, and a discussion on the importance of Literature Festivals.