Lit fest kicks off with sessions on politics, poetry
LUCKNOW: Packed with political, literary and cultural sessions, the fourth edition of the Lucknow Literary Festival organised by the Lucknow Society kicked off at the Paryatan Bhavan on Friday evening.
The first day of the three-day long fest witnessed enlightening sessions on the Indian election system.
Addressed by former chief election commissioner SY Qureshi on ‘Demystifying Elections and Empowering India’, the first session threw light on the sheer hard work and dedication required to organise elections in India.
“It’s not an easy task to conduct elections and manage the staff of around 11 million people in the department. It’s often the same government officials who face criticism for their lethargic approach that make the entire machinery work during election time,” said Qureshi.
The session, moderated by Kena Shree, also discussed election trends at length and Qureshi revealed that around 12 crore new voters were registered ahead of the 2014 general elections.
This was followed by a panel discussion on the theme ‘Hamari Shehri Rawayat aur Luck now KiK haw a teen ’. Attended by Aisha Siddiqui, Gazal Zaigam, Ishrat Naheed and other famous Urdu poets, the session discussed the unsung contribution of women to the world of Urdu shayari.
The evening ended with a musical performance by the group of Sebastian Dreyer and Papia Ghosal from Germany who left the audience spellbound by their performances.
A photo exhibition displaying around 100 rare pictures of the monuments of Lucknow and a section displaying various species of pigeons and rabbits also attracted visitors on the day.