Srinagar: Two-day-long Kumaon Literary Festival concluded on Thursday with sessions on different topics like ‘Kashmir’s New Age Writers, Artists and Thinkers’, ‘Four Women Poets from Kashmir’ and ‘Stories from Kashmir’ among others.
Writers and speakers from different parts of the country shared their views on varied topics and the festival concluded with a book discussion on ‘The Mystic and the Lyric: Four Women Poets from Kashmir’.
During the session, writer Neerja Mattoo spoke about the contributions of four leading women poets of Kashmir: Lal Ded, Habba Khatun, Rupa Bhavani, and Animal.
“Kashmiri poetry has two main streams and both these were founded by women. Lal Ded (founder of the mystic stream) has been talked about and translated and she belonged to the 14th century. Habba Khatun was the founder of the lyric stream and she belonged to the 16th century. In these centuries, we had powerful voices that broke norms and conventions. They were courageous enough to walk out of their marriages,” said Mattoo. “Lal Ded’s story is familiar to everyone. Right from the beginning, she learnt the tenets of Kashmir Shaivism. She brought this deep philosophy out of the closet of Brahmin priesthood into the common spaces by explaining yogic practices in the language of people.”
The topic titled ‘Kashmir’s New Age Writers, Artists and Thinkers’ saw a session with Arhan Bagati, Manpreet Kour, Tamana Slathia, Tsering Gurmat, and Niyati Bhat. The session on ‘Stories from Kashmir’ discussed the ‘influence of literary stories in promoting Kashmir’.
A performance by Jameel Gulrays and his associates enlivened the audience through ‘Katha Kathan’ where they narrated a story written by Saadat Hasan Manto.
“Katha Kathan is an ardent effort to save Indian languages from becoming dialects and eventually vanishing. The initiative by Jameel Gulrays reintroduces the beauty of India’s native languages through its literature, via the platform of dramatized readings of Indian language literature on stage, captivating audiences and taking them on a journey of a vivid imagination. It brings alive the work of some of the greatest poets and authors from across languages,” said an organizer of the festival.
The two-day festival, which hosted authors and film personalities from different parts of the country, was held at the SKICC on the banks of the Dal Lake.
