Mussorie International Writers festival 2008

MUSSOORIE: 7 Oct: The 2nd Mussoorie International Writers’ Festival ‘08 began at the Hanifl Centre, here, with a narration of excerpts from the book, ‘Freedom’s Child’, authored by Chandralekha Mehta this morning.
The invited writers were welcomed by DrDavid Laurenson, Principal of Woodstock School. In his introductory remarks, Principal Secretary Keshav Desiraju highlighted the illustrious career of the author, Chandralekha Mehta. He said that it was a pleasant coincidence that the book was being released at the same school, where she spent her childhood. Chandralekha Mehta thanked the organisers for giving her this opportunity to release the book.
Narrating a few excerpts from the book, ‘Freedoms Child’, she said, “Freedom was then a far vision, and no one really expected to see a free India in his or her lifetime. The hundreds and thousands of people, whose stamina and sacrifices led to our independence, were the real heroes of the Non-cooperation movement. For people like them, Anand Bhawan was a symbol of the struggle.’
Writing about her growing-up years, the author, who is Pandit Nehru’s niece, provided a peek into the momentous years of the freedom struggle. This was the age of Satyagraha, when the country was awakening to new realities, envisaging shaping its own destiny and inching her way to freedom, all brought about by the vision of one man—Mahatma Gandhi. The author and her family, the Nehrus in Allahabad, were prominent participants in the extraordinary and historical events of the time.
’Freedom’s Child: Growing up during Satyagraha’ is a vivid portrayal of an eventful childhood spent in Anand Bhawan, Allahabad, which was an important seat of political activity during that time. The author recounts myriad events and experiences of her childhood years—birthdays, family vacations, elections, picketing, Congress sessions, wearing khadi for weddings and waiting outside jail for loved ones. Through an engaging narrative, she shares some of the little-known facts about her family, and cherishes her long association with remarkable men and women like Gandhiji and Sarojini Naidu.
The book is inspiring and evocative and it brings alive the exciting and dynamic years of the freedom struggle and pays homage to those who stood undaunted in their desire for independence and truth. The book is targeted towards children of age group 13 +. Chandarlekha Mehta also mentioned that her parents were introduced to Woodstock School by the Missionaries who often visited the house and hence they decided that the children ought to go to the prestigious school run by American missionaries who were sympathetic towards the Indian Freedom Struggle at that time.
In the interactive session that followed, the international writers Shamini Flint from Singapore, Gabrielle Walker, Mukul Sharma spoke on the subject, ‘Writing on Nature’. Mukul Sharma, an agnostic, said that Science and Spiritualism are like two political parties and he also said that technology was not as bad as it was thought to be. He also talked about the revolution that technology had brought into people’s lives.
Chandralekha was accompanied by sister Nayantara Sehgal and niece Manjari Mehta on the occasion.
Bill Aitken, a prolific writer on nature, said that humans were shaped by nature. He also said that Nature’s face was uniformly inspiring and its footprints were divine.
Gabrielle Walker, an award-winning science writer, said that the human life was a miniscule part of evolution and slime lived for longer than human beings.
Shamini Flint said on the occasion that she was became interested in nature because of her children, in particular, as the world was getting messy for them with the devastation caused by the adults. Initially, she had planned to write for mothers but due to their indifference and reluctance, she shifted to writing for children and was happy doing that. Shamini also said that children were more attuned to nature and were receptive to the surroundings, which helped in teaching them about nature mixed with story telling.
Shamini has written illustrated books for children. Gieve Patel recited a poem, ‘On Killing a tree’. He also quoted a few lines from Wordsworth’s poem that asserted, ‘Nature never lets down those who believe in it’.
Gretel Ehrlich, another international writer, said Global Warming had affected the landscape of the Arctic in a devastating way. She also said that people should learn from the lives of indigenous people, as they had greater Knowledge about nature and instead of controlling it remained humble before it.
Ken Spillman also spoke about writing on nature as it comes from the heart and writing happens.
A photo exhibition depicting nature by Anjali Nauriyal, SF Ahmed and A Khullar was also the highlight of the day.
Darab Nagarwala, David Laurenson, and Stephen Alter were among those present on the occasion.
Tomorrow, some more writers will speak on the importance of nature.

MUSSOORIE, 7 Oct: For the first time in the history of Woodstock, Parker Hall came alive to mesmerising narration of poems from the stalwarts of Uttarakhand.
Dr Shekhar Pathak introduced the poets from Uttarakhand - Leeladhar Jaguri, Manglesh Dabral and Narender Singh Negi.
Stephen Alter welcomed the invited poets and presented them with a shawl and floral offering, each, as a token of regard.
Manglesh Dabral recited verses from the poem, “This Number Does Not Exist”. Narender Singh Negi’s recitation invited thunderous applause from the audience for his new lyric on the price rise and inflation.
Dr Shekhar Pathak thanked the organisers for inviting them to the Writers’ Festival and said such efforts would go a long way towards promoting the writers of Uttarakhand.
Nagar Palika President OP Uniyal, ward members and others were present on the occasion.
Narender Singh Negi leaves for a music CD shoot commitment tomorrow