One for the Books
Sahitya Aaj Tak is a rare festival that celebrates all of Indian art, literature and culture
In a nation where literature festivals are now somewhat common, it takes some grand intent and organisation to be the biggest. For Sahitya Aaj Tak, ‘biggest’ is not a boast. Held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Delhi, from November 1-3, the fourth edition of the festival will host more than 300 speakers and have more than 100 sessions. Though just a literature festival on paper, Sahitya Aaj Tak is more an intersection of culture. It includes in its schedule performances by India’s greatest musicians and an art exhibition that will showcase the work of the country’s foremost artists.
Since our canon over time has grown ever more anglicised, Hindi literature has often been neglected. Sahitya Aaj Tak will help correct this oversight. On its list of speakers are Ashok Vajpeyi, Rahat Indori, Uday Prakash, Irshad Kamil, Varun Grover and Kumar Vishwas—writers and poets who have all made Hindi and Urdu more accessible. Their sessions are going to be punctuated by a sitar recital (Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan), vocal renditions (Shubha Mudgal, etc.) and plays (Akbar the Great Nahin Rahe).
Sahitya Aaj Tak will also celebrate regional literature— Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi among them—but for the first time, the event will dedicate a separate stage to English authors from India and Southeast Asia. Actor Pankaj Kapur and Sri Lanka-born British author Romesh Gunesekera will release their new novels here, Dopehri and Suncatcher. As writers like K.R. Meera and Anita Nair discuss feminism, bestselling author Chetan Bhagat will try and place his finger on the pulse of the nation. Ruskin Bond will read to children, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali and lyricist Prasoon Joshi will deconstruct their penmanship. Literature and art have for long had an inter-dependent relationship. On view at IGNCA’s Twin Gallery, the exhibition ‘Of Conversations and Collaborations’ will celebrate this dynamic of mutual influence as artists such as Arpana Caur, Atul and Anju Dodiya, K.G. Subramanyan and Wahida Ahmed put on display their work. The exhibition echoes the belief of the festival—you can’t be immune to the word. ■