Hyderabad: The sixth edition of the Hyderabad Literary Festival kicked off on Thursday evening highlighting all things Hyderabadi, but not the “chalta hai” attitude.
Speakers and participating artistes were at the venue way before time and the first session of the evening started not a minute later than the scheduled 6 pm. The three-day fiesta with an aim to promote and encourage creative discourse among various sections of the society will see 125 speakers and over 100 events.
Off with a bang
Darshanam Mogilaiah captivated the multinational audience with his rare 12-string instrument made with bamboo sticks and dried pumpkin. “From a remote village in Mahabubnagar, Mogilaiah is the last surviving artiste who can play Kinnera; Mogilaiah is now struggling to keep this dying art form alive,” said T. Vijay Kumar, professor of English at OU and one of the festival directors.
What to expect this season
The presiding panel for the opening discussion comprised award-winning writer Nayantara Sahgal, consul general of Singapore consulate Roy Kho, Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, and festival directors T. Vijay Kumar and Amita Desai, also the executive director for Goethe-Zentrum, Hyderabad. Nayantara Sehgal, who is visiting Hyderabad for the first time, said.
“The other day I went to the theatre to watch Bajirao Mastani in Dehradun where I stay, and a group of people turned up and stopped everyone. The same thing happened in Mumbai.
A gang turns up with sticks and stones, some with black paint and few with guns, to dictate what we should watch or read. This was a burning question last year, which made writers like us return our Sahitya Akademi awards.
“We hope that literary sessions like these will encourage and provide a space for writers to truly express themselves.”
To encourage intelligent, thought-provoking yet civil debate, there are authors present from 12 different countries, the language in focus will be Marathi and there are going to be sessions and talks on the issues faced by the LGBT community, women and Dalits.
Jayesh Ranjan said, “There are 63 literary festivals taking place in the country every year. From the most glamorous Jaipur Literary Fest to the meeting of thinkers in a little-known town Begusarai in Bihar. HLF stands apart for being an independently run event, though there are pressures to conform towards a more curated event.”
And the festival was open
The concluding event of the first day was a story-telling session by Rosemarie Somaiah, storyteller, author and educator, who runs ‘Asian Storytelling Network’, Singapore’s first professional storytelling company.
The session was accompanied by the members of BronzAge Gamelan, a group dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary Gamelan music in Singapore.
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