It was the soaring oratory of Rajendra Singh, the raffish poetry of Hoshang Merchant, the poignant narration of her travails by Chinmayi Sripada, debates over demonetisation, and the status of Aadhaar that held the audience in thrall on the first day of Hyderabad Literary Festival in the city on Friday.
The three-day festival saw throngs of people with a good sprinkling of school students who turned up take part in various events, talks and workshops at the sprawling Hyderabad Public School.
Setting the mood for the day was a panel discussion on #MeToo movement that had both Sandhya Menon and Chinmayi Sripada sharing their experiences as well as expectations from the movement. “Instead of consent, the issue was turned into one of caste. They caste-profiled the women who were speaking out. It was turned into a political issue,” said Ms. Sripada, who shared her thoughts from the time where she chose anonymity to the time where she chose to identify herself as well as the perpetrator. “If women were treated better, 100 more stories about sexual harassment would have come out,” said Ms. Sripada.
“Irrespective of gender, sexual harassment is unacceptable. Companies should organise workshops on sexual harassment so that everyone is sensitised about the issue. Bosses should tell employees where to draw the line,” said Shutapa Paul, who has authored Didi: The Untold Mamata Banerjee and was among the first women who shared her sexual harassment story on social media.
But it was not all literature at one of the youngest lit fests in the country as there were art installations, an interactive art session, poetry reading as well as an installation with Kaifi Azmi’s songs and poetry juxtaposed with dozens of photographs of a rakishly handsome Kaifi Azmi.
Bringing in a frisson of political excitement, Rajendra Singh, known as India’s waterman, spoke on corruption in big-ticket projects. “They say ₹20,000 crore has been spent on saving Ganga. That is so much money. Even if the currency notes are spread, it will cover the river,” said Mr. Singh, who had a word of caution about Telangana’s Mission Kakatiya. “The programme was fantastic in the early stages and planning. Unfortunately, it has been taken over by contractors. Unless it’s a community-based project, the money will disappear,” said Mr. Singh.
Charles Assisi likened Aaadhar to a video sharing platform. “You can create great music and share. Or you can make bad music and share. Both are possible. Unfortunately, the nature of the discourse is such that either you are for Aadhaar or against it. This is an evolving system and how it will be implemented is the key,” said Mr. Assisi, who has co-authored The Aadhaar Effect.
As the evening sun covered the domes of HPS in a golden light, the visitors to the lit fest were treated to a musical soiree of S.D. Burman’s songs as authors Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal shared their stories about the legendary music composer.