All the way from Bhopal, for love of literature

BENGALURU: It was a weekend spent among books and interesting talks for a group of school students from Bhopal. Fourteen students of Sagar Public School in Bhopal were in the city to attend the Bangalore Literature Festival.  Students from Classes 7 to 9 were picked for the tour to the lit fest. While for a few of the youngsters, the sessions inspired them to buy more books, the others said they would take back a different ideology. Pragya Sharma, a Class 9 student, said she had a different perspective on looking at Indian literature after she attended a session. “There was a session on women and mythology. Typically, we have been looking at male protagonists. This session helped me see characters like Radha, Kaushalya and Sita in different light,” she said. 

Pragya was quick to add, “Even characters like Shurpanaka and Draupadi are underplayed. Without Shurpanka, Rama would never have met Ravana.” She said that the literature festival gave her a new perspective into looking at stories that was perceived to have male protagonists. All the students agreed that it was the sessions with cricketers Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid that inspired them most. 

“We were told about the hardships that cricketers had to face those days. They were paid `250 only for playing a test match. Even out of this, `50 would be deducted based on the time that it would consume. I did not know this,” said an excited Priyanshu Makhwana. The students were also motivated by the cricketers to pick books authored by them or about them.

“I have picked books of both Kumble and Dravid. I was so inspired to hear their stories,” said Class 7 student Daksh Mehta. The students were accompanied by the school staff. Alpa Prabhu, vice-principal, Sagar Public School said, “These kids aspire to be writers. We take them to lit fests across the country as it gives them an insight into the works.”