BHOPAL: The recently concluded second edition of the Tagore International Literature & Arts Festival, Vishwarang 2020, witnessed 70 book launches, besides performances by 1,000 artists and the participation of authors and performers from 16 countries. The 10-day-long global celebration of Indian literature, art and music was organised by Bhopal-based Rabindranath Tagore University, in collaboration with the Tagore International Centre for Arts and Culture Bhopal and the AISECT Group of Universities.
Speakers at this virtual festival included well-known writers, critics, poets, academicians, filmmakers and artists from around the world. Renowned authors who were a part of Vishwarang 2020 included Ruskin Bond, Amish, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Ashwin Sanghi, Sahitya Akademi awardee Chitra Mudgal, Gyan Chaturvedi, Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles.
The festival hosted several ‘Meet the Author’ sessions, which touched upon a range of interesting facets of writing and provided insight into the process followed by many path-breaking authors. During her session, American-Indian author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni spoke about her process of crafting characters, saying, “The character is always at the heart of my books. So I spend a lot of time humanizing my characters and making them complex, especially with ‘The Palace of Illusions’ and ‘The Forest of Enchantments’ where I was working with the characters of Draupadi and Sita. I wanted to go into the heart of these women. I think that’s what people respond to—a complex character that can reach across countries, ages and cultures and from whom we can learn something and relate to in some way.”
Meanwhile, Ashwin Sanghi, author of three best-selling novels, talked about the effects of the pandemic. “My creative output as a writer has been higher during the COVID lockdown. Also, it has given me a tremendous opportunity to introspect. If you have more time to be sitting at home, then I would imagine that your imagination and creative instincts would multiply. You will see far more literary output in the coming years because of this period or lull of almost one year,” he said.
Jacinta Kerketta, an Adivasi poet from West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand, talked about how her writing reflects the trials and tribulations of her community. She shared, “As a journalist, when I left urban journalism and started focusing on rural areas, I felt enlightened. The discrimination towards tribal people became evident and I could see it happening with my own eyes. I started reading about it a lot more. This is what gives my poems the edge and emotions that they carry.”
The festival also featured a series of panel discussions on the impact of COVID on various sectors and other issues of current relevance. The sessions dealt with topics like healthcare, technology and entrepreneurship in a post-Covid world as well as the Indian perspective on education, women in Indian arts, Hindi around the world, poetry by poets of the third gender, and the philosophies of Tagore and Gandhi.
The 2020 edition of the festival also saw the first Vishwarang International Film Festival. The four-day-long film festival saw the screening of 26 Indian and international short and documentary films and awarded prizes to the films submitted under the ‘Competitive’ category. Another major attraction of the film festival was the series of masterclasses which gave audiences an opportunity to learn from masters like actor Mohan Agashe and National Award winner Dr Bijukumar on subjects like cinematic language and heritage.
The festival also had something for the children with art and literature sessions designed for them. These included interactive sessions with beloved children’s writer Ruskin Bond, bestselling Indian mythological fiction writer Anand Neelakantan, writer-illustrator Ashok Rajagopalan, author and philanthropist Rohini Nilekani, award-winning author Nandini Nayar and actor and storyteller Janaki Sabesh. Other highlights of the children’s carnival were action-packed sessions by Amar Chitra Katha, workshops on Gond and Madhubani art and Claude Monet’s paintings, theatre and illustration workshops as well as performances by the Puppet Art Theatre Company and the Shillong Chamber Choir.
Performances were also a part of the evenings, which concluded each day’s sessions. The musical evenings included a recital by Grammy Award Winner Ustaad Shujaat Khan, performance by singer Ankur Tewari, a Rabindra sangeet session by Jayati Chakraborty, dastangoi by the Delhi Gharana and and a mushaira in fond memory of Rahat Indori.
Vishwarang reached more than 15 million people across the globe, making it one of the biggest virtual festivals from India. Regarding its grand success, Festival Director Santosh Choubey said, “When we decided to organize the second edition of Vishwarang as a virtual event, one of our main objectives was to make use of the digital platforms to break the geographical barriers and reach out to a larger audience. I am gratified with the response that we have received not only in India but also in the 15 other countries which partnered with us to make it a truly global celebration of Indian arts, literature and culture.”