An annual literary meet that had too much politics and little literature!
89th All-India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Camil Parkhe, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Marathi literary festival,
The 89th All-India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan which concluded in Pimpri Chinchwad on Monday truly has lived to the legacy and tradition of the nearly 125-year-old Marathi literary festival. Those people who have attended the earlier Marathi Sahitya Sammelans and who attended this Sammelan would vouch that this was the most expensive, most celebrated and most hyped literary meet. Justice M G Ranade, who had convened the first session of the Marathi Granthkar Sammelan in Pune in 1887, may have never imagined that the seed of the event he sowed would achieve such a remarkable height over a century later. But there were many controversies too and some feeling in the literary sphere that the whole event was too politicised!
Marathi Sahitya Sammelans, like the Diwali special of issues of Marathi periodicals, are unique not only among Indian languages but perhaps also all over the world. This is the only literary event which is being held on a regular basis for more than a century and is patronised by book lovers, littérateurs, publishers and all those associated with the books publishing industry. However, the downside was that including the Sammelan President’s speech to most events, everything revolved around politics and at many stages before the meet and during the three-day meet, it became an NCP versus BJP game! The whole literary meet had a super political undercurrent with literature and creativity taking a back-seat!
In the past, popular literary giants have been honoured with the coveted post of president of this literary festivals. They include Pu La Deshpande, Acharya Atre, Veer Savarkar and Shanta Shelke. Some of these Sahitya Sammelans like the one held at Karad during the Emergency period and presided over by firebrand author Durga Bhagwat, have turned out to be milestones in the struggle for freedom of expression in the country. That is why the post of the president of this literary festival has an aura and many writers and poets vie to win this honour.
The process for electing the president of the literary meet has however dissuaded the veteran littérateurs from seeking this post. The election process has always drawn criticism as less than a thousand registered persons are involved in the poll process which often denies the post to veteran littérateurs. There was open grumbling that not many people had heard of Shripal Sabnis until he was elected to preside over the Sammelan. In the game of numbers, veterans like poet BB Borkar had to face a humiliating defeat in elections and therefore many literary giants shun entering the poll arena.
Controversy is yet another invariable aspect of the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan. Soon after being elected as president of the literary meet, Shripal Sabnis lived up to this legacy with his comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Fortunately, much to the relief of the organisers D Y Patil University, the row over his remarks turned out to be a storm in a tea cup.
Visitors to the four-day literary festival thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance at the venue. The hosts had indeed worked hard to make this literary event a ‘celebration’. The huge statues of Sant Dnyaneshwar, Sant Tukaram and others created the desired atmosphere for a literary fest. The presence of youngsters at the literary festival was most striking and these also included students from various institutes of the D Y Patil University campus. The red carpets spread at the various pandals of the festivals, at the two sections of the books exhibition comprising hundreds of books stalls and also on the long passages leading in various directions also underlined that this was one of the most luxurious Marathi Sahitya Sammelans.
Most book stalls at the venue were crowded. The literary meet offers the Marathi book industry a golden opportunity to showcase its products and as usual, sales of crores of rupees were registered during the four-day meet. Most publishers this time were taken aback with the huge demand for some books and were required to get refills from their godowns in Pune on day-to-day basis. Last year, the book industry had to miss this opportunity when despite protests, the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan was organised at Ghuman in Punjab where there were hardly any takers for the Marathi books.
Notwithstanding the criticism, charges and counter-charges levelled before and during the literary meet, this Sahitya Sammelan will be remembered for a long time by those attending it. And as is the tradition, in future too there will be attempts to organise the Sammelan in a more lavish and impressive style. Readers too would not mind it as long as the literary fest also serves to help the interests of Marathi literature. The hope for the future is that the meet is less about politics and more about literature, language and creativity.
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Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Tuesday, 19 January 2016 AT 02:48 PM IST
Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Tuesday, 19 January 2016 AT 02:48 PM IST
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%20and%20little%20literature
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%20and%20little%20literature
89th All-India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Camil Parkhe, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Marathi literary festival,
The 89th All-India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan which concluded in Pimpri Chinchwad on Monday truly has lived to the legacy and tradition of the nearly 125-year-old Marathi literary festival. Those people who have attended the earlier Marathi Sahitya Sammelans and who attended this Sammelan would vouch that this was the most expensive, most celebrated and most hyped literary meet. Justice M G Ranade, who had convened the first session of the Marathi Granthkar Sammelan in Pune in 1887, may have never imagined that the seed of the event he sowed would achieve such a remarkable height over a century later. But there were many controversies too and some feeling in the literary sphere that the whole event was too politicised!
Marathi Sahitya Sammelans, like the Diwali special of issues of Marathi periodicals, are unique not only among Indian languages but perhaps also all over the world. This is the only literary event which is being held on a regular basis for more than a century and is patronised by book lovers, littérateurs, publishers and all those associated with the books publishing industry. However, the downside was that including the Sammelan President’s speech to most events, everything revolved around politics and at many stages before the meet and during the three-day meet, it became an NCP versus BJP game! The whole literary meet had a super political undercurrent with literature and creativity taking a back-seat!
In the past, popular literary giants have been honoured with the coveted post of president of this literary festivals. They include Pu La Deshpande, Acharya Atre, Veer Savarkar and Shanta Shelke. Some of these Sahitya Sammelans like the one held at Karad during the Emergency period and presided over by firebrand author Durga Bhagwat, have turned out to be milestones in the struggle for freedom of expression in the country. That is why the post of the president of this literary festival has an aura and many writers and poets vie to win this honour.
The process for electing the president of the literary meet has however dissuaded the veteran littérateurs from seeking this post. The election process has always drawn criticism as less than a thousand registered persons are involved in the poll process which often denies the post to veteran littérateurs. There was open grumbling that not many people had heard of Shripal Sabnis until he was elected to preside over the Sammelan. In the game of numbers, veterans like poet BB Borkar had to face a humiliating defeat in elections and therefore many literary giants shun entering the poll arena.
Controversy is yet another invariable aspect of the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan. Soon after being elected as president of the literary meet, Shripal Sabnis lived up to this legacy with his comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Fortunately, much to the relief of the organisers D Y Patil University, the row over his remarks turned out to be a storm in a tea cup.
Visitors to the four-day literary festival thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance at the venue. The hosts had indeed worked hard to make this literary event a ‘celebration’. The huge statues of Sant Dnyaneshwar, Sant Tukaram and others created the desired atmosphere for a literary fest. The presence of youngsters at the literary festival was most striking and these also included students from various institutes of the D Y Patil University campus. The red carpets spread at the various pandals of the festivals, at the two sections of the books exhibition comprising hundreds of books stalls and also on the long passages leading in various directions also underlined that this was one of the most luxurious Marathi Sahitya Sammelans.
Most book stalls at the venue were crowded. The literary meet offers the Marathi book industry a golden opportunity to showcase its products and as usual, sales of crores of rupees were registered during the four-day meet. Most publishers this time were taken aback with the huge demand for some books and were required to get refills from their godowns in Pune on day-to-day basis. Last year, the book industry had to miss this opportunity when despite protests, the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan was organised at Ghuman in Punjab where there were hardly any takers for the Marathi books.
Notwithstanding the criticism, charges and counter-charges levelled before and during the literary meet, this Sahitya Sammelan will be remembered for a long time by those attending it. And as is the tradition, in future too there will be attempts to organise the Sammelan in a more lavish and impressive style. Readers too would not mind it as long as the literary fest also serves to help the interests of Marathi literature. The hope for the future is that the meet is less about politics and more about literature, language and creativity.
