Srinagar: The Chinar Book Fair entered its second day with a vibrant celebration of Kashmiri culture, art, and literature. The day began witha workshop for the youth of Kashmir to showcase the art, culture, tradition of the valley and how to use it better in communication. Branding and social media expert Shobha Kapoor and renowned folk dance artist Madhu Nataraja inspired the youth of the valley to adopt digital or social media as much as possible in their lives and take the rich culture of the valley to every corner of the country and the world. Shobha Kapoor spoke to the youngsters on the impact of social media reels. She said that while making the reel, it is important to tell the necessary things in the first five-six seconds so that the audience can connect with it. The new ideas that come in the youth can be taken from local to global only by using social media in the right way. Madhu Nataraja inspired the youth to connect with the world by bringing their hidden talent on the global platform.
Poetry of Kashmir is the carrier of Indian tradition.
Furthermore, Eminent writer of Kashmiri, Urdu and Hindi language and SahityaAkademi Awardee Dr. Satish Nigam said, “India has developed literature written in different languages, which have different spirits. ReadMahadevi or read Laleshwari, her words will look the same. Sufi poetry from Kashmir has a deep imprint on Indian literature. There is religious faith in him, but she rises above him and talks at a level where we feel that India’s thousands of years of penance have yielded the fruits.” Talking about India’s knowledge tradition, he said that India’s knowledge tradition has been of thousands of years, in which poetic science, theatrical science, sociology have been talked about and how wonderful things of philosophy Kashmir has given to the world and all those things have been found in our lives. SangeetaGundecha, a professor at Central Sanskrit University, who was involved in the discussion, described the poetic science of Kashmir as the origin of poems not only in India but across the world. “Kashmir is called the cradle of knowledge. Poetry cannot be taught anywhere without talking about Bhamah, Kuntak, Abhinav Gupta. Kashmir is a very big tradition. The poetic science here has influenced poetry from all over the world. The poetic science here is very rich.”
The evening of the poplar book festival echoed with ghazals and Sufi songs. While Kashmiri folk singer Wahid Jilani’s team showcased the folk culture of Kashmir through folk songs and folk dances in Kala-e-Kashmir, Mehran Shah’s Kashmiri, Dogri, Pahari, Punjabi and Hindi Sufi songs and ghazals were also enjoyed by the youth.
Kashmiri folk songs and folk dances at Chinar Book Festival
The first Sunday of the Chinar Book Festival was very special for children. While the children of BHSS, Hazratbal sang Roni Daman folk songs, a group of children from high school, Hubble performed folk dance roaf wearing traditional costumes of Kashmir. Since morning, every stall of the book fair at SKICC was crowded with children. Here are books on their mother tongue and favourite subject for children of every age group and also the opportunity to meet and talk to famous writers. At the book fair on Sunday, renowned Dogri language writer Shivdev Singh told the children about the importance of mother tongue and told them his two stories translated into Hindi from Dogri. Children learnt the songs of caligraphy art from calligrapher Malik Mukhtar.
Chinar Book Festival is also the largest book fair in Urdu literature. There are more than 90 Urdu book stalls here, where a large crowd of readers gathered on Sunday. The Mahfil-e-AFSana session was organised by the National Council for Development of Urdu Language for Children, in which famous Urdu writer Deepak Tanwal narrated three child stories depicting Kashmiri art, culture and tradition. At the same time, Dr.Mushtaq Mehdi and Dr.Nazir also narrated his stories.
In addition to these events, the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi, in collaboration with the National Book Trust (NBT), organised an exhibition titled “Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh Through the Ages: A Visual Narrative of Continuities and Linkages” at the SKICC, Srinagar. Open to the public until 25 August 2024, this exhibition showcases the enduring cultural traditions and historical linkages of these regions. Through visual narratives, it explores their contributions to Bharatiya culture, religious heritage, and their historical evolution, offering a comprehensive view of their significance. It brings to the kind attention of the common people about the TrikaShavism as emblematic of Kashmiri belief; ShankhaLipi — the script of devotion; pre-Buddhist heritage and Buddhist heritage of Ladakh; Hindu Dharma in Jammu and Kashmir; sculptures of Hindu deities; Sarvabhauma of Kashmir; LalitadityaMuktapida, and; AdiShankracharya: Influence in Dakshina Bharat. It also depicts temples like MartandMattan, Awantipura, etc; temple architecture in Jammu and Kashmir; cultural legacy of Bharat’s North West, and; remnants of Indic culture.
The team led by Prof.RaghuvendraTanwar, Chairman, ICHR and the ICHR Research and Editorial team put enormous labour and untiring efforts in bringing out this excellent Exhibition.
The program scheduled for Monday.
On Monday, children will be able to listen to stories in Kashmiri language, participate in portrait art workshops and slogan writing competitions at the Chinar Book Festival. There will be a workshop on mental health for the youth, discussion with film director ChandraprakashDwivedi on the theme “Ancient Knowledge in Modern Leadership Methods” and also the famous poet on the theme “Tourism, Books and Life” and Dr. Rajesh Kumar will speak to Vyas, KankanaLohia. The cultural programmes will be organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy and the team of Rang-e-Chinar, Colors of India will showcase various folk dances of India and Kashmiri artists will spread the shadows of Kashmiri folk culture.
