WIC India, in association with Springhead Communications, The Harvard Club of India, and Madhuban Group of Hotels, hosted its first edition of WIC India Dehradun Literature Festival on 22nd and 23rd April, 2016. The festival witnessed a huge turnout of close to 1500 to 2000 literature enthusiasts on each of the days. The weather in Dehradun also took a picturesque turn during the festival with cool breeze blowing through tall trees, making the experience all the more pleasant for the audience.
Each of the days was divided into five mind
stimulating sessions with some of the renowned authors and speakers from all over India.
Ranjit Lal and Dev Lahiri captivated the audience with their thoughts as to 'Why Imagination is more Powerful than Knowledge' while authors Roshen Dalal, Mona Verma and Swapna Liddle, with Debashish Bharuka as the moderator mutually agreed that history is an endless process, and that facts and stories change as per the way one perceives. Another interesting session from the literature festival that took an interesting, political turn involved writers such as Rachna Bisht Rawat, Omair Ahmad and Humra Quraishi. Discussing about the aspect of Freedom of Speech, Omair Ahmad was quoted saying - "It is not the business of the government to protect your feelings, it is the business of the government to protect your lives." On talking about the unrest in Kashmir and the trauma that Kashmiris have gone through, Humra Quraishi said - "Kashmir changed my style of writing. The painful situations of the Kashmiris, especially in the warzone, turned me from a fictional writer to a non-fictional writer." WIC Dehradun Literature Festival 2016 also included an interactive session on ‘Traditional Ancient Music of India’ where the key speaker of the session Pt. Prem Kumar Mallick launched his book – ‘Darbhanga Gharana Evam Bandishein’. The great story teller Ashwin Sanghi started his session on the ‘Art of Storytelling’ with a bang. During the discussion, Ashwin explained how the ability to tell stories is life's most powerful and envied skills. He said - “A story well told can make us laugh, weep, swell with pride, or rise with indignation. A story poorly told can be not just boring or uncomfortable, but positively painful to experience.” The closing ceremony of Day 1 of Dehradun Literature Festival saw a musical performance by EKA music band that turned the evening into a melodious one.
Ranjit Lal and Dev Lahiri captivated the audience with their thoughts as to 'Why Imagination is more Powerful than Knowledge' while authors Roshen Dalal, Mona Verma and Swapna Liddle, with Debashish Bharuka as the moderator mutually agreed that history is an endless process, and that facts and stories change as per the way one perceives. Another interesting session from the literature festival that took an interesting, political turn involved writers such as Rachna Bisht Rawat, Omair Ahmad and Humra Quraishi. Discussing about the aspect of Freedom of Speech, Omair Ahmad was quoted saying - "It is not the business of the government to protect your feelings, it is the business of the government to protect your lives." On talking about the unrest in Kashmir and the trauma that Kashmiris have gone through, Humra Quraishi said - "Kashmir changed my style of writing. The painful situations of the Kashmiris, especially in the warzone, turned me from a fictional writer to a non-fictional writer." WIC Dehradun Literature Festival 2016 also included an interactive session on ‘Traditional Ancient Music of India’ where the key speaker of the session Pt. Prem Kumar Mallick launched his book – ‘Darbhanga Gharana Evam Bandishein’. The great story teller Ashwin Sanghi started his session on the ‘Art of Storytelling’ with a bang. During the discussion, Ashwin explained how the ability to tell stories is life's most powerful and envied skills. He said - “A story well told can make us laugh, weep, swell with pride, or rise with indignation. A story poorly told can be not just boring or uncomfortable, but positively painful to experience.” The closing ceremony of Day 1 of Dehradun Literature Festival saw a musical performance by EKA music band that turned the evening into a melodious one.
The audience was found to be bubbling with excitement during Day 2, session 1 where the flamboyant and humurous author Chetan D. Narain spoke to the spectators about the much intriguing concepts of sun signs. The
second session had Sanil Sachar and Sumedha Mahajan, with Anupama Joshi as the
moderator. They were unanimously of the opinion that style of art is a
perception. Anisha
Motwani, a business strategist, speaker and columnist was the key speaker of
the third session who read excerpts from her book 'Storm the Norm'. The session on 'Religion & Politics' involved a riveting discussion with authors Nayantara Sahgal and Kota Neelima on the panel. The session on ‘Humanotions’ with Durjoy Dutta, Novoneel Chakraborty and Sumrit Shahi saw participation of
youngsters from across the state. The discussion was moderated by Subhashish
Bharuka, Founder & CEO, Springhead Communications. The Festival ended with a special panel discussion
on the topic ‘Dehra – A Tribute’. The authors participating in this session
were Jaskiran Chopra, Lokesh Ohri, ADG Ashok Kumar and Bijoya Sawian.
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