Skip to content Skip to navigation

Thousands throng Brahmaputra Literary Festival

By Nava Thakuria |

Creative writers, journalists, filmmakers, vivid appreciators, enthusiast observers from various parts of the globe now gather at Brahmaputra Literary Festival in the far eastern part of India. First of its kinds in the alienated region of the country, the festival witnessed the gala opening on Saturday precluding all serious panel discussions on literature and related other creative activities.

Eminent authors including Randy Taguchi from Japan, Neal Hall from USA, Carlo Pizaati, Giampaolo Simi & Alessandra Bertini from Italy, Francois Gautier & Nicolos Idier from France, Carlos Penalver from Spain, Subramani from Fiji, Dhunpal Raj Heeraman & Ramdeo Dhorundhur from Mauritius, Selina Hussain & Shaheen Akhtar from Bangladesh, Rajiva Wijesinha from Sri Lanka, Raj Heeramun, Ramdev Dhoorandhar & Niranjan Kunwar from Nepal, Yugyen Tshering from Bhutan have already graced Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra, the venue of the festival.

Many prominent Indian writers and cultural personalities like Asha Parekh, Shatrughan Sinha, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra Damodar Mauzo, Subhash Kashyap, Makarand Paranjpe, Narendra Kohli, Khalid Mohammed, Dipa Choudhuri are scheduled to participate in various sessions of the festival including open interaction with the audience.

Some famed north-eastern creative personalities and journalists including Sanjoy Hazarika, Arup Kumar Dutta, Jahnavi Barua, Mamang Dai, Pradip Phanjoubam, Monalisa Chankija, Dhruba Hazarika, Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, Leena Sarma, Jnan Pujari, Phanindra Kumar Debachoudhury, Kula Saikia, Rami Chhabra, Vimala Morthala, Aniz Uz Zaman, Monikuntala Bhattacharjya, Dileep Chandan along with Utpal Borpujari, Nilim Kumar, Suparna Lahiri Baruah, Mirza Ali Baig, Prasanta Rajguru, Mrinal Talukdar, Arindam Barkataki, Samrat Chowdhury, Nanigopal Mahanta, Imran Hussain, Ratna Barali Talukdar, Atanu Bhattachrya, Geetali Borah etc arrived at the venue for cohesive participation.

With this three-day fiesta, jointly organised by the National Book Trust India (under HRD ministry) and Publication Board Assam (under Assam’s education ministry), the city has emerged as an important venue of literary festivals in the country. With brain storming panel discussions, book releases & readings, cultural events including screenings of films based on literary pieces etc, the festival is expected to enrich the literary prospect of the region to many extend. Inaugurating the festival, the Union human resources development minister Prakash Javadekar appealed to the litterateur and authors to contribute for the mission to build a culturally sound society through their literary pieces reflecting the truth. Once a journalist, Javadekar also assured the government's support in ensuring the freedom of thought & expressions.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, State education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, celebrated authors Randy Taguchi, Mamang Dai and Damodar Mauzo, NBT chairman Baldeo Bhai Sharma & director Rita Choudhury also addressed the gathering under the winter sky. Earlier a spectacular literary carnival led the participants to the festival venue in the southern part of the pre-historic city.

  • 8983 reads

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Camp on Manual Therapy and Pain Relief

A free health camp on manual therapy and pain relief for media persons has been organized at Guwahati Press Club on March 9 (Sunday). The camp, to be conducted under the leadership of Dr Uma Shankar Mohanty, president of Manual Therapy Foundation of India, will begin at 10 am and conclude by 2 pm. Member-journalists are requested to participate in the physiotherapy camp.

Padma Shree Dr Sahariah to attend GPC programme

Padma Shree Dr. Sarbeswar Sahariah, MS, MAMS, FICS, FACS will attend the next 'Guest of the Month' programme of Guwahati Press Club (GPC) on 4th March 2014. The interactive session will start at 2 pm.Hails from Mangaldoi in central Assam and presently based in Hyderabad of Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Sahariah has performed more than 3000 renal transplant operations which may be a record for a surgeon in India. He has recently started a charitable organization tiled North East Care Foundation along with free medical clinic and dispensary at Pachim Baragaon of Guwahati for the benefit of weaker sections in the society.Dr. Sahariah, who has attended a number of conferences held in Singapore, Taipei,...

JFA urges PCI to intervene on Guwahati newspaper-distribution impasse

Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA) has expressed utter dismay at the prolonged strike of newspaper hawkers in Guwahati since February 16 and urged the Press Council of India (PCI) to intervene on the matter as the agitators have directly implicated on people's right to get essential information.Taking queue from the PCI chairman Justice Markandey Katju's comment on Arunachal's recent media-deadlock, following the conflict between the Itanagar authority and media persons, that the suspension of newspapers is 'not in public interest', the JFA pointed out that similar situation is now prevailing in Assam as the hawkers have neither distributed nor allowed others to do the same inside Guwahati city...

JFA condemns assault on journalists

Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA) has condemned the incident of physical assault to Anup Sharma, a city based journalist and Pronib Das, a Dibrugarh based photojournalist today by a group of unruly youths near Maguri Motapung Beel under Guijan police station in Tinsukia district.Both the journalists had gone there as a part of their training & workshop under the supervision of HICAP in association with the nature conservation organization Aaranyak. Both Anup and Pronib had gone to the Maguri Motapung Beel as part of their study assignments on Tuesday and preferred a boat ride with necessary payment to the boatmen there. However, a group of local youths prevented them from taking the boat...

JFA urges Tuki for ending Arunachal media deadlock

Expressing grave concern over the ceasing of publications of all seven daily newspapers in Arunachal Pradesh for successive second day on Sunday, the Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA) has urged the authority to resolve the matter for the sake of thousands of esteemed readers. The indefinite shutting down of all publication houses in Itanagar, the capital city of frontier State in northeast India, came into force since February 14 in protest against the authority's anti-media ruling.The journalists based in Itanagar sat together in Arunachal Press Club (APC) on Saturday and decided to continue the movement that involved local newspapers and cable news channels. The meeting under the supervision...

AAMEF welcomes SC verdict on Majithia Wage Boards: Demands implementation in Assam

All Assam Media Employees Federation (AAMEF) welcomes the recent landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India upholding the constitutionality of the Majithia Wage Board for journalist & non-journalist media employees. The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and consisting of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Shivkirti Singh has dismissed all 14 petitions filed by some newspaper owners of the country. The apex court rejected all contentions of the employers including the procedures adopted by the Wage Boards for preparing the recommendations.AAMEF president Hiten Mahanta and general secretary Keshab Kalita, in a statement issued to the media, advocated for...

Dental and oral health check-up camp concludes at press club

Most of the media persons of the city were diagnosed with various dental problems, where it was found that everyone has been using wrong brushing process and irregular cleaning of teeth. The participants in a daylong dental & oral health check-up camp & oral health awareness programme, organized at Guwahati Pres Club today, were so advised by the doctors for follow-up actions to maintain the dental hygiene.Organized by the department of public health dentistry (PHD) in association with 25th junior doctors association (JDA) of Regional Dental College (RDC) Guwahati, the camp witnessed the participation of hundred media persons.A team of over 30 doctors from the department of PHD and...

Health check-up concludes at Guwahati Press Club

No major ailment was reported among the media persons who went for a daylong health check-up camp organized by down town hospital today in Guwahati Press Club. However, most of the participants in the health camp were diagnosed with gastrotriches, back pain and spondylitis.Over hundred participants joined in the health camp, where their BP, blood sugar and also ECG & BMD were checked in need. Doctors from different departments offered consultations to the participants. In an earlier health check-up camp, organized by the down town hospital last year, the physicians witnessed some absurd reading regarding their blood pressure and blood sugar content. However this time all the readings...

Health check-up camp for scribes

The down town hospital, which is observing silver jubilee year, in association with Guwahati Press club has organized a health check-up camp for scribes on 6 February (Thursday). The health camp, to be held at press club premises, will start at 10 am (and continue till 3 pm)."We will provide free consultations from the departments of General Medicine, Diabetology, ENT, Orthopedics, Cardiology, General Surgery, Obs. & Gynecology, Physiotherapy and Diet Counseling. Moreover free blood pressure checking, blood sugar test with ECG and BMD will also be provided in the camp," informed the hospital authority.

Tibetan movement to continue: Dalai Lama

His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama today met the Tibet Support Group, Assam and said that the non-violent movement for freedom of Tibet will set an example for hundreds of other nations who are struggling for freedom across the globe.The 14th Dalai Lama was in Guwahati to take part in the ongoing Tibetan Art Festival, which is underway at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwhati. He appreciated the efforts of the Tibet Support Group, Assam for its continued support for the movement of millions of Tibetans in the northeastern part of India."We must continue the freedom struggle through the way of non-violence, which is the Buddhist way. It is important for us to win the struggle. If the...