My recount on the first day of All India Young Writers' Festival, 2018

Thokchom Imosana *

With an invitation card in my office messenger bag , surmising myself as I was armed to the teeth, for an appearance as the rapporteur of the mega literary event of India , organised by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, at Tribal Research Conference Hall , Chingmerong, I drove onto my scooter over a speed limit since I set off for the destination only a few minutes left when the programme was about to commence.

It was my usual habit to do anything at the last hour of a schedule. And in the course of it I used to face a lot of problems, tensions , nervousness and other disadvantages . I tried several times to reform this habit yet I could not. Nevertheless, on another perspective I feel it is very welcoming as it enhances my creativeness.

It was on the grand opening day of All India Young Writers' Festival, I faced another similar trouble. Hardly before reaching the venue, that was about 25 yards away from the spot I supposed, I was detained by some khaki men ( not security personals but state transport dept. employees ), who were discharging their duty of road frisk led by a young officer for not wearing my head gear.

I pleaded the officer to relax my case since I was in a great hurry for the appointment that it had almost not occurred in my mind to put on the safety wear. But the officer did not pay heed to my urge rather counter charged gravely. However, at last the matter was solved by compromising with some amount of Rs 300. Just when I reached the place, everyone had already gathered at the hall and the programme was nearly starting.

The festival was to be conducted for three days, i.e. from October 26 to 28 , 2018 and as a part of the festival , the Yuva Puruskar for 2017 was also to be awarded to the winners .The Yuva Puraskar , also known as Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar , is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi , India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers to young writers for outstanding works in one of the twenty-four major Indian languages. It recognises young writers under the age of 35 years, with the aims to encourage and promote young writers. The award comprises a cash prize of ¹ 50,000 and an engraved copper plaque.

On the first day of the festival , recipients of the Yuva Pruskar were solicited to their their nicely furnished designated seats on the podium , attended by the noted English writer , Esther David as the Chief Guest, Madhav Kausik, Vice -President , Sahitya Akademi as the presidium member. While Chandrasekhar Kambar, President of the Sahitya Akademi who was supposed to preside the function was absent due to his some personal reason.

The programme kick-started with Manipuri traditional "Penna" song by the artists of the Jawaharl Nehru Manipuri Dance Academy, Imphal as the curtain raiser . It was followed by the welcome speech of K. Sreenivasarao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi. In his address, Sreenivasarao stressed the significance of literature through the ages .

He also asserted the recent emergence of a literature with angry writers who wield their pens on the turmoils, conflicts and restlessness of the society. And he reminded that the Akademi has been promoting the diverse, 24 schedule languages of India through their contributions in literature.

The programme continued with the speech made by Shri Madhav Kausik. In his delivery he praised and encouraged all the young writers present there that they were the one who have represented the whole of India. Their contributions are indeed commendable as they have vividly reflected every bit of the social issues and any political changes through their writings. He also reminded that the young writers are truly important in the current context of India and they should play the proactive role in bringing the change and should fight against the injustice, oppressions and all forms of social evils.

After which the awards, YUVA PURASKAR, 2018 were handed over by Madhav Kaushik to the winners along with a traditional shawl and a bouquet each presented by Esther David to the 22 recipients, namely,
Samaragnee Bandyopadhyay in Bengali for her collection of poems, "Khelnabatir Din Shesh" ,
Purna Brahma in Bodo for his collection of stories , " Onnaimi Gubun Mwnse Mohor",
Esha Dadawala in Gujarati for her collection of poems, " Janmaaro",
Aasteek Vajpeyi in Hindi for his collection of poems, " Thartharahat",
Padmanabha Bhat in Kannada for his collection of short stories, "Kepina Dabbi",
Dheeba Nazir in Kashmiri for her collection of short stories, " Zareen Zakham",
Wilma Laveena D'Souza in Konkani for her collection of poetry, " Mukhaddim" ,
Umesh Paswan in Maithili for his collection of poetry, " Varnit Rasa" ,
Amal M in Malayalam for his novel , " Vayasan Samuchayam" ,
Tongbram Amarjit Singh in Manipuri for his collection of poems, " Loubukki Manam",
Navnath Sopan Gore in Marathi for his novel, " Fesati",
Chuden Kabimo in Nepali for his short stories collection , " 1986",
Jayadratha Suna in Odia for his poetry collection , " Shosa",
Gurpreet Sehji in Punjabi for his novel, " Balora",
Dushyant Joshi in Rajasthani for his collection of poems, " Ekar Aajay Rai Chaand",
Muni Rajsundarvijay in Sanskrit for his poetry book , " Chitrakavyadarshanam",
Rani Murmu in Santali for her short story collection, " Hopon Mayak Kukmu" ,
Champa D. Chetnani in Sindhi for her one act play, " Sabla Nari",
R. Suneel Krishnan in Tamil for his short story collection, " Ambu Padukkai",
Balasudhakar Mouli Sambhana in Telegu for his poetry collection , " Aaka Kadalani Chota",
Shahnaz Khatoon in Urdu for her collection of short stories, " Nairang-e-Junoon".

Then, the Chief Guest delivered her speech. In her address Esther David expressed her happiness with the Sahitya Academy for choosing Manipur as a venue for the presentation ceremony since the region is very rich in tradition, culture and crafts which is very much related to literature. She also talked about literature and the importance of creative translation, in which it provides a medium through which it can reach to all despite people speaking various languages. She was overwhelmed with the inniative of Sahitya Academy for promoting the regional scheduled languages of the country. And in her speech , she showed her interest in folklores and oral literature that the young writers of India and reminded them to love these genres of literature.

David also appreciated the young writers for their deep conscious of the society and the trend of the social changes. She encouraged them to move ahead on their journey , however she cautioned them that they must be careful in their tread.

She was followed by the concluding remarks of the Vice-President of Sahitya Akademi , Madhav Kaushik . He thanked to one and all of the Sahitya Akademi members, especially Shri N. Kirankumar Singh, Convener , Manipuri Language Advisory Board and N.Lokeshowor Singh of the Board member for their logistical and physical support, with which the ceremony had a grand success. He also thanked the awardees, the invitees , literary enthusiasts for their presence at the function.

The first day programme was concluded with the spectacular presentation of Pung Cholam , a classical Manipuri dance and another world acclaimed classical dance of the state, Vasanta Ras by the professional artists of the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipuri Dance Academy. At the close of the day, the artists were presented a shawl each by K. Sreenivasarao as an act of appreciation for their performance in the ceremony.