Acclaimed writers from across the country attended the maiden edition of the two-day Dumka State Library Literature Festival organised by district administration at Dumka in the Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand.
The inaugural day of the Literature Festival on Saturday saw a discussion on the topic, ‘Library of my life’ which was conducted by well-known writer Chandrahas Choudhary whose first novel Arzee the Dwarf was shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth First Book award.
Director of Ram Dayal Munda Tribal Welfare Research Institute, Ranchi, Ranendra Kumar who is also an avid writer said that the status of a person can be estimated from the personal library of his house.
Author Mahadev Toppo lights the lamp as other dignitaries look on during the inaugural session of the literature festival. Shabbir Hussain
“My father wanted me to become an engineer but books made me a lot. Books made all my dreams come true. The attraction of books and the library is a disease that cannot be cured,” said the senior bureaucrat.
The session also had Ranchi-born author Mahadev Toppo known for his work Jangal Pahad Ke Path (anthology of poems), well known author and faculty in S. P. College Dumka, Achyut Chetan, Sahitya Akademic Yuva Puraskar awardee Anuj Lugun, tribal author Chunda Soren ‘Sipahi’ known for his Santhali books and civil servant, travel writer and former journalist and Rajat Ubhaykar well known for his book Truck De India: A Hitchhiker’s guide to Hindusta and technocrat turned poet and writer from Jharkhand, Mihir Vatsa speaking about the importance of book and library.
People at the Dumka state library literature festival on Saturday. Shabbir Hussain
The second session saw a discussion on wildlife crisis in India in which well-known Delhi-based ornithologist, conservationist and author Bikram Grewal made a presentation on the wildlife crisis in India through a presentation which focussed on making common people aware and sensitive towards wildlife and its importance.
“Wildlife is decreasing due to depletion of forest, so conservation of wildlife is a big challenge. In nature, the river is the mother of the forest, which is related to wildlife,” said Bikram Grewal.
In this session, many questions were asked by the general public which were answered by Grewal.
The brainchild of the incumbent deputy commissioner of Dumka, Ravishankar Shukla, the two-day literature fest will have multiple sessions.
The opening day had a session on tribal literature: present and future, wandering writers and literature books of my life.
Bikram Grewal’s presentation on wildlife at the Dumka state library literature festival at Dumka. Shabbir Hussain
The inaugural day of the event also marked the inauguration of the travelling library, a 1950s model US-make Fargo truck which had served the local state library for several years.
“The travelling library vehicle was spotted on the premises of the state library. It prompted me to organise the literature festival,” Shukla said. The vehicle has been renovated and given its original library like shape for the local visitors, he added.
The second day will have a session on history of books, food and literature, nostalgia for home and poetry recital.
Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar awardee author Nilotpal Mrinal who was also invited for the fest said that today Dumka is taking people out of the narrow lane of Google to the library. Today's literary festival is like a literary cultural movement which will be remembered in the years to come.
