The introduction and implementation of the New Economic Policy in the decade of the ’90s brought a sea change to the socio-economic and cultural life of India. Due to the growing expansion and vibrancy of the market, all walks of Indian life such as tradition, religion, art, culture and literature have to negotiate, interact, engage and adjust with the market. These engagements may produce sometimes negative, sometimes positive results.
It is true that we all are in the marketplace – both physically and virtually. I am going to share one of the positive experiences of market-literature engagement which I realised recently, during my participation at the Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF) in Hyderabad. It is named Hyderabad Lit Fest but it is national in character, catering participation of various parts of India with representation of various literary and linguistic cultures. The culture of literature fests is growing day by day in India. Sponsors, cultural entrepreneurs and creative leaders are coming together to organise such fests.
This time, the HLF was organised at Sattva Knowledge City – a huge complex within the IT zone of the city which is space of offices, restaurants, food courts, open-air auditoriums etc. Various sessions were going on in the open air in this complex, giving us a new feel of discussing literature, and reciting poetry and other literary forms. The main focus of this festival was on indigenous and endangered languages of India. Many eminent linguists, literature and languages researchers and academics discussed the scene of Indian languages with insightful detail. Prof GN Devy, who is known for setting up the People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI), gave a key lecture on the linguistic and cultural context of India. The tribal poets of various tribal languages were the centre of attraction. It was interesting to see the combination of social science and literature. Many eminent social scientists such as Kalpana Kannabiran, and Aparana were coordinating the sessions.
In the past 14 years, HLF’s unique feature has been the inclusion of one foreign country as a guest nation. Additionally, one local Indian language is given a special focus. This year, the spotlight was on Odiya. Odia literature, culture, and art were showcased by award-winning writers and artists through talks, panel discussions, screenings, lecture demonstrations, and performances. Eminent Odiya poet Mohapatra, novelist and story writer Paromita Satpathy and many others had interesting sessions at the HLF.
Although market space produces alienation, this lit fest presented a texture of intimacy during the entire program. The program director, T Vijay Kumar, himself was taking care of the writers, participants and audience. This intimacy was the main rhythm of this fest. One thing which impressed many of us was that there was no clamour like many other lit fests, it was the space of listening and responding with patience.
The old conventional culture of literary conferences and gatherings which used to be organised by various literary associations is now being replaced by these literature fests which are being organised in different cities ranging from metropole to district towns. Many literary entrepreneurs with the support of various sponsors and stakeholders are engaged in making these forums spaces of multiple expression which shows our literary spheres are not homogeneous but diverse and full of heteroglossia, what once eminent thinker Mikhail Bakhtin underlined while understanding literary cultures of the world.
The writer is a Professor and Director at GB Pant Social Science Institute, Prayagraj, and author of ‘Republic of Hindutva’. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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