Jharkhand Literary Meet unfolds rays of hope

Ranchi, March 5: The fourth edition of Tata Steel Jharkhand Literary Meet was inaugurated today in Ranchi. The annual literary fest is back in the city after a gap of two years. India’s most significant biographers in recent times and a host of poets, novelists and men and women from the arts will be there during the two days of the fest at Audrey House. The inauguration of the Tata Steel Jharkhand Literary Meet was done by Gurucharan Das via video message and Jharkhand’s revered poet Mahadev Toppo in the presence of Sarvesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Communications, Tata Steel India and South East Asia and Malavika Banerjee, Director of Jharkhand Literary Meet.  

Mahadev Toppo at the inauguration function spoke on the importance of books and literature in the era of virtual and social media domination. Toppo is one of the foremost thinkers of tribal and other marginalized populations of the country and is best known for his collection of 44 poems “Jungle Pahar Ke Paath”.

Sarvesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Communications, Tata Steel India & South East Asia said, “ We are proud to bring the 4th edition of Tata Steel Jharkhand Literary Meet  to Ranchi. This is the first physical literary and cultural event to be held since we were hit with the pandemic. Over the next 2 days we will be bringing eminent authors, sporting and cultural luminaries to the city and are certain that the people of Ranchi takes this opportunity to participate in the festival. This is one of the several engagements we organize in this region to connect with the community.”

The inaugural day saw a variety of programmes featuring popular stand-up comedian Abijit Ganguly, launch of Kunal Basu’s new novel, session on cricket with Kirti Azad and Pradeep Magazine.  A session was also held with eminent biographer and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh’s book on Buddhism’s journey across the world. The evening culminated with Shaam e Sufiyana, a musical performance by Sonam Karla. 

Festival director Malavika Banerjee said, “We are extremely delighted to be back to the same place with the 4th edition of Tata Steel Jharkahd from where we all were confined to the virtual world for two years owing to pandemic. We hope that holding a physical event in the city will usher a new hope to life and normalcy. 

On March 6, Sunday will feature the biographers of superstars Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee in conversation with well-known lyricist and writer Chandril Bhattacharya. Before that, popular author Satya Vyas will speak on the evolutions and changes in Hindi in the era of smartphones. The second half of Sunday will feature a session on how Hindi cinema villains have changed from the 1950s to the present, a tribute to Satyajit Ray on his centenary featuring two of his heroes Mohan Agashe and Barun Chanda in conversation with award-winning filmmaker Suman Ghosh. The literary programme concludes with the launch of Patthalgarhi by Anuj Lugun and the festival finale is a dance performance by acclaimed Bharatnatyam exponent and Padma Bhushan awardee Mallika Sarabhai. She will be giving a rare performance alongside her son Revanta Sarabhai