By Ramesh K. Dhiman : Tri city has emerged as the confluence of cultural hop and happening, offering a welcome departure its residents from their dull and drab life. Close on the heels of the Khushwant Singh Lit Fest, held at Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) in October this year, followed by the Chandigarh Lit Fest iheld in November, the second edition of the Panchkula Lit Fest (PLF), being organized under the aegis of Rumour Books India in tandem with the Sutlej Public school, Panchkula, is all set to take off on December 20. The two-day literary extravaganza would bring together as many as 40 who’s who of the world of letters from various parts of the country, including Nirupama Dutt, Ketan Bhagat, Megha Ramaswamy, Christopher C. Doyle, Ramesh Menon, Saad Bin Jung, Nandita Bose Pavit Kaur, et al.
“This time around we are expecting a huge foot fall from the world of literature, unlike the previous year when some two thousands of literature lovers had turned up as against a random guess pegged at some 500. Keeping in view the overwhelming response this year, coupled with the last year’s footfall we have extended the event by a day”, said Krit Serai, the founder director of the Fest addressing media persons here on Thursday.
Radhika Panickar, co-founder director of the Fest was quick to add “We are happy to know that the Panchkula residents have a taste for reading and writing, but this initiative is designed to give a fillip to the literary activism in the region, which would catapult it to the national map. This year’s theme being the ‘Art of storytelling’ in which, besides literary giants, school children from over 100 schools from across the region are also expected to participate in the Fest. Elderly too have a fair share of activity to take part in. We shall also a slot for book launch at which four The Fest would be marked by the launch of books of four prominent authors.”
Serai further added that this year a whole new feature has been added to the initiative which would encourage the noble spirit of book donation among people of the region. She said they have put up huge boxes at various school premises and other educational institutions to facilitate volunteer book donors. The collected books would be passed on to some charitable institutions. The impassioned endeavour would ignite a ray of hope for the underprivileged children who have big dreams but no wherewithal to give wings to them.
The event would turn out to be a dream-come-true for school children, who would showcase their innate talent at the special session designed for them, including on-the-spot drawing book covers, writing, debates, and declamations, besides competitions arranged under different categories. The fest would offer an opportunity for children to inculcate among themselves the habit of reading and learn the subtle nuances of writing. Unlike other festivals held from time to time, the Fest would bring together the celeb litterateurs, authors, playwrights, poetry and prose writers on a common platform and other who evince keep interest in other creative fields, like storytelling, acting, writing, directing and so on and so forth”, concluded Radhika