Hyderabad Literary Festival kicks off

It was poet Gulzar who did the honours by inaugurating the 11th edition of Hyderabad Literary Festival on Friday evening.

“I thought I will not be able to go see Hyderabad, roam near the Charminar and where women’s bangles are sold. Enjoy the flavour of Deccani language. But you have kept alive the festival,” said Gulzar, sitting in his drawing room, inaugurating the all-digital literary fest.

“Hyderabad is the land of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the first Sahib-e-Diwan of Deccani, which is considered the precursor of Urdu language. I accepted the invitation out of curiosity and thought about how I will be able to work with this new format. I am learning from this experience,” he said.

“We are a nation of so many languages. Every language is a complete nation by itself, and carries its own nuance of culture. Circles within circles but our languages and culture keep us bound to each other,” said Gulzar, as he switched between, Hindustani, English and Hindi.

“I always dreamt of having one literary festival where all the Indian languages could be put together so that we hear the poets reciting in their own language. We tried but it didn’t happen in physical format but with the digital medium that looks very much possible. We must meet and see each other to hear voices, in their own language. To hear the music of that language,” he said during the inaugural.