It
was a pleasant poetic morning at Kala Academy, yesterday, as a number
of eminent dignitaries from the field of literature, and poets from
all over India, both renowned and amateur, gathered for the opening
of Kavya Hotra 2016, a 76-hour,
non-stop poetry recitation. Organised by Kala Academy in
collaboration with Department of Art and Culture, Department of
Official Language, Department of Tourism and Goa Tourism Development
Corporation, the poetry marathon was inaugurated at the hands of
Vishnu Surya Wagh, Deputy Speaker and Chairman, Kala Academy.
After
comperes Rupa Chari and Govind Bhagat commenced
the poetic morning by quoting poets of
different
Indian languages, Sushant Khedekar, Vice-Chairman, Kala Academy,
welcomed the guests and the delegates. “Literature is a very
important factor required for the formation of a civilised society,
and poetry is one of the most beautiful forms of literature. Goa is
known for a number of different things. We wanted to make our state
shine in the field of literature as well, and thus we came up with
the idea of having a poetry marathon. Debuting last year, we had our
sessions for 52 hours. This year, we’ve
increased it
to 76 hours;
with more than 800 poets to recite their works in 25 Indian
languages, we are all set to put forth a world record for Limca Book
of Records,” Khedekar stated.
Dignitaries
representing different Indian languages too were present on the dais
to share their thoughts at the opening event. The other special
invitees were, Dr K
Shrinivas Rao,
Secretary of Central Sahitya Academy,
Dr Aziz Hazini, Secretary of Culture and Languages, Jammu and
Kashmir, Venimadhav Borkar, President of Goa Konkani Akademi, Anil
Samant, President of Goa Marathi Akademi, Premanand Lotlikar,
President of Dalgado Konkani Akademi, Sanjay Harmalkar, Chairperson
of Institute Menezes Braganza, and Rajendra Kishor Panda, a Sahitya
Academy Award Winning
Odissi poet. All the dignitaries, who are working in their respective
field for the propagation of literature, appreciated Kala Academy’s
efforts to promote poetry and poets. Dr Rao, in his addressed,
opined, “It’s great to see the response this event has received.
This kind of initiative not just helps to promote the talent of the
poets, but also motivates others. When I mentioned this event to a
poet in Tamil Nadu last week, he was highly inspired and pledged to
start a similar initiative in his state as well. I think this is
where the success of the initiative lies.”
This
unparalleled event in the history of Indian poetry will see a
participation of around 50-60 Central Sahitya Akademi Awardees out of
80 national level invited poets. The
others are
prominent State level awardees
from
different
states. According to Nilkant Singnapurker, Member Secretary, Kala
Academy, “Kavya Hotra will provide approximately 300 Goan poets a
platform to display their art in front of other eminent poets, and
give them an opportunity to learn from them as well as gain works of
appreciation from their idols. And I would like to emphasise on the
fact that as opposed to the general belief that youngsters today are
drifting away from literature, here we have seen a significant amount
of registration from young amateur poets as well.”
Speaking
at the occasion, Vishnu Surya Wagh
reminded the audiences of the glorious poetic past Goa has had by
quoting a number of eminent Goan poets. He also congratulated and
motivated the organisers as well as participants for the successful
start to the beautiful event. “Kavya Hotra is the celebration of
poetry. The sole objective of this initiative is to reinstate the
importance of poetry and its impact, something which seems to have
been lost over the course of time. Through Kavya Hotra, we hope to
show to the people the power of poetry,” he maintained.
Kavya
Hotra, a multilingual poets’ meet, will be held till July 24, 2016
in the Kala Academy Complex, Panjim
