KLF reflects nation’s mood on love and global take on nationalism

Bhubaneswar: The second day of Kalinga literary festival (KLF) saw engaging discussions, debates and disagreements on love, dance, exclusion and nationalism. The sessions were built on the first day’s focus on peace, harmony, lived experience and feminism in literature.
The inaugural session of the second day was graced by leading names like Kedarnath Singh, Tarun Vijay, Ashok Maheswari, Bijayananda Singh and Zameer Uddin Shah. Kalinga Literary Youth Award was conferred upon 30 promising writers of Odisha.
There were sessions on Akbar, Indian cinema, short love stories, resurgence of nationalism, exclusion and poetry and popular lyrics. The Mystic Kalinga session saw poets reciting their work.
The session on Akbar saw Vineet Kumar in conversation with Shazi Zaman. KLF director Kamala Kanta Dash, who introduced the book, described it as highly relevant to the understanding of peace and harmony.
The session on Indian cinema with Sagar Sarhadi, Soumendra Padhi, Monedeepa Sahoo, Baqir Shameem was moderated by Santanu Ganguly. Sagar Sarhadi of the Silsila and Baazar fame rued lack of attention span and attributed it to the fall of popularity of cinema.
The panel contended that films should reflect the ground realities for them to play the transformative role.
The short love stories session was full of one liners and witty comments by the panellists, Ravish Kumar, Vineet Kumar and Grindranath Jha. The trio lead a literary movement, Laprek (a short name for Laghu Prem Katha) in support of Satyanand Nirupam and Rajkamal Publications. Ravish Kumar read excerpts from his book ‘IshqKa Sahar Hona’, Grindranath from his ‘Ishq Mein Mati Sona’, Vineet Kumar from ‘Ishq Koi News Nahin’.
Kedar Mishra moderated the session on Odissi – the way ahead with Aruna Mohanty, Subas Pani, Meera Das and Ileana Citaristi.
The session on nationalism revolved around the proper use of the term. The panellists, Tarun Vijay, Sandeep Mohapatra, Haraprasad Das, Zameer Uddin Shah and Kamala Kanta Dash, discussed the developments globally, including that of Trump and Brexit phenomenon. The session was moderated by Suhasini Haider.
The sessions on exclusion discussed the space for the disadvantaged in literature. Satyananda Nirupam moderated the discussion between Ashwini Kumar Pankaj and Manohar Mouli Biswas.
Piyush Mishra’s new book on Bhagat Singh ‘Gagan Damama Bajyo’, was released by renowned poet Kedarnath Singh, publisher Ashok Maheshwari and editor Satyanand Nirupam. Mishra read some excerpts from his book.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who inaugurated the festival, appreciated the KLF’s approach which this year expanded to create Kalinga Art Festival and Mystic Kalinga. He said, “Art acts as a medium to explain literature to common people. KLF should be appreciated for creating a fusion of art & literature.”
Celebrities like Anand Neelkantan, Sudarsan Pattnaik, Suhasini Haider, Ravi Mantha, Tarun Vijay tweeted thought-provoking and entertaining sessions at KLF. It was also appreciated by Team Bahubali and its renowned director SS Rajamouli.