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Riveting Anecdotes and Non-fiction stand out on the Third and Final Day of the Thirteenth Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2022
Kolkata, 24 January 2022: The 13th Edition of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival concluded with a cocktail of stories, poetry, history and unrest with a dash of cinema. From titillating legends of the past told in quartets to the lore of diminished roles of women; from the struggles of the eastern threshold of India to colourful Bollywood conversation; the poetry stemmed from grappling autobiographical experiences and memoirs; the third day had it all.
AKLF2022 marked the beginning of the Centenary year celebrations for the iconic Oxford Bookstores. The three-day literary extravaganza witnessed a guest line-up of more than 50 authors, journalists, influencers, thinkers, poets, international best-selling writers and Bollywood actors. AKLF2022 focused on themes like fiction, non-fiction, gastronomy, mental and physical health, poetry, politics, current affairs, parenthood, adult literature, and others, through a total of 24 interactive sessions on the virtual platform spread over three days.
The third daywitnessed sessions like “Candid and Compelling – Stories I Must Tell” with Kabir Bedi in conversation with Advaita Kala; “Celebrity Dads, Bollywood and More”with Tusshar Kapoor and Jugal Hansraj; The Other Language: Future of Translation withIrène Frain and Arunava Sinha.
The Other Language: Future of Translationwith Irène Frain and Arunava Sinha in conversation with Dr. Christine Cornet presented a picture of the translated work in India. Irène Frain who logged in from France said, “Educational norms are different in different countries. It is the result of different cultures and thinking. So I have come to think of every language as a home. The work of a translator is not just technical.”
Arunava mentioned, “Translation is both a job and art. It’s certainly an art, science, and a bit like architecture with the confluence of science in the art. I think the bedrock of translation is reading and listening. You have to read very sensitively. You probably have to know the text more closely than the author.” “Every Indian is a translator. We are forever moving between languages. There is no formal awareness of the fact that we are doing it”, he added.
To set an enchanting mood in the evening the festival organised a session discussing Love, Poetry and Hope with a panel of noteworthy poets and authors like Karuna Ezara Parikh, Saikat Majumdar and Vivan Marwaha in conversation with Milan Vohra. The panel discussed writings about love, romantic sagas, marriages and mentorship.
Celebrity Dads, Bollywood and More was a candid conversation with actor, director, screenwriter and author Jugal Hansraj who recently released his new book The Coward and the Sword which is a fairy-tale with a message; and actor, producer Tusshar Kapoor who debuted as an author with his book Bachelor Dad in conversation with journalist- author Nandini Sengupta.
Tusshar Kapoor shared his experiences of fatherhood- as a single father and the inspiration for penning down his personal experiences. “My book is a tell-all about the fact that there are all types of families,” he added that the idea behind the book was to say that regardless of what a family looks like, we are normal and feel a sense of belonging and unconditional love. Co- panellist, Jugal Hansraj said, “My son was the inspiration for me to write this book. I wanted to leave a positive message for him and for all the young readers out there.” He added later on the idea of the book, which emerged based on a 13th-century quote “A sword is useless in the hands of a Coward”.
During the last and much-awaited session of AKLF 2022, Kabir Bedi in conversation with Advaita Kala on “Candid and Compelling – Stories I must tell” Kabir Bedi spoke about his autobiography Stories I must Tell: The Emotional Life of an actor. “I never thought of myself as a professional actor,” he said when recalling his college life. “I became a professional when I did a play called Tughlaq.” The session also discussed his experience in Bollywood as an actor and how social media can enhance our views, spread our views as well as open us up to criticism as well.
In her concluding remarks Festival Director, Mrs. Maina Bhagat said “As AKLF 2022 concludes this evening, after 3 days packed with diverse virtual sessions. We feel a sense of pride, of accomplishment. We strongly believe that it was imperative to create this virtual platform, at this time, on which literature and the arts can shine… uninterrupted, in whichever format possible, and without delay. We are aware that the unique atmosphere created with the interactions of the audience with the speakers is lost on a computer screen. Nevertheless, though the connections that bind literary communities together, and may largely be digital in the future, that does notake them any less important. We look forward, very hopefully to welcoming our audiences to our Heritage Oxford Bookstore in the coming months, in a celebration of its Centenary.”
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