IIT Kanpur hosted Akshar – a 3-day Literature Festival in commemoration of renowned Hindi novelist Padma Shri Gaura ‘Shivani’ Pant

Kanpur : The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur hosted “Akshar” – An IIT Kanpur Literature Festival, jointly organized by “Shivani Centre for the Nurture & Re-Integration of Hindi and Other Indian Languages”, “Rajbhasha Prakoshth” (Hindi Cell) and “Gaatha” – An Audio Hosting platform and a SIIC, IIT Kanpur incubated company, from 14-16 October, 2022. The three-day festival kick-started on Friday at the Outreach auditorium at IIT Kanpur, in the presence of invited dignitaries and IIT Kanpur faculty. Renowned media professional, and Founder and Editor -In-Chief, Her World India, Ms. Rakhee Bakshee; and Executive Editor of Hindustan Ms. Jayanti Ranganthan graced as the chief guests for the inaugural session. In its first iteration, this 3-day festival commemorates the beginning of the centennial year celebrations of the life and works of renowned Hindi novelist Smt. Gaura Pant, well known by her pen name ‘Shivani’.
The opening ceremony was followed by a discussion by Dr. Rakesh Shukla from DAV College, Kanpur, on the most celebrated literary works of Shivani. Besides this, there was a story recital of Shivani’s most famous stories by Katharang – A Storytelling Group.
An introduction to Syed Haider Raza Saheb’s paintings was given by Dr. Shatarupa Roy from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur, and author Dr. Hriday Gupta. Syed Haider Raza Saheb’s paintings were displayed at an exhibition held parallel to the event. The Kavya Sandhya event saw the graceful presence of eminent literary personalities, such as, Dr. Kamal Musaddi, Mr. Viru Sonker, Ms. Hema Dixit and Mr. Rajesh Arora.
Different exciting events like the Kavi Sammelan under the “Open Mic” brought the IIT Kanpur residents together and gave all the aspiring artists an opportunity to showcase their talent, an interactive story-telling session with renowned storyteller Ms. Mehek Mirza Prabhu kept the audience hooked to world of imagination; whereas, the panel discussion among literary experts Dr. Shambhunath Tiwary, Mr. Rahul Shivoy, Mr. Kamal Musaddi and Mr. Navin Joshi on the topic “Aaj ke Daur Mein Saahitya ki Prasangikta” made the audience aware of the contemporary importance of literature.
The Women’s Association of IIT Kanpur came forward to host an event “Shivani Apne Pathakon ki Nazaran Mein” in which, audience were given a chance to share their views on the works of Shivani.
The concluding day of the Literature Festival had Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur addressing the contemporary importance of literature in providing rich opportunities to not only literature as a subject but also to teach critical technology. He highlighted the life of Shivani and the significance associated with her works. Shivani’s daughter Ms. Mrinal Pande, and nephew Dr. Pushpesh Pant, along with Shri Satish Mahana, speaker of UP Assembly, were present for the inaugural session on the concluding day. An iconic figure in Hindi journalism, an author, former Chief Editor of Hindustan, Padmashree Mrinal Pande, and celebrated Indian academic, food critic, historian, and Padmashree recipient Dr. Pushpesh Pant, spoke about the life and precious compositions of late Shri. Gaura ‘Shivani’ Pant. In this session titled “Diddi par baatcheet: Shivani Ji apne bachhon ki nazron se”, they gave glimpse of the pioneering journey of Shivani in writing Indian women-centric fiction of the 20th century.
“Aparadhini – An Enactment” – a stage adaptation of one of Shivani’s most popular stories by Theatre Group Nisha from Chennai was performed by actress, playwright and director Ms. Meera Sitaraman. The Maha Kavi Sammelan – “Kuch Alfazon ki perwaz” featuring several renowned poets like R. Naresh Saxena, Dr. Praveen Shukla, Dr. Keerti Kale, Dr. Slesh Gautam, Dr. Vishwanath Vishwa, Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi and Dr. Sushila Puri, marked the conclusion of the 3-day event.
The event was accompanied with art exhibition and a book fair by leading publishers.