By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 16: In a world saturated with social media and fleeting information, the art of deep reading faces challenges. The third edition of Shillong Literary Festival, held at the serene Ward’s Lake, sought to reignite the passion for literature among readers, especially the youth.
The festival concluded on Thursday, leaving the city’s youngsters inspired to explore the world of books and engage in meaningful discussions. From graphic novels to quizzes, the event explored diverse topics, including the state’s rich natural resources and living artefacts.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma later in the day paid a visit to the festival, along with his cabinet colleagues, Arts & Culture and Tourism Minister, Paul Lyngdoh and Revenue and Excise Minister, Kyrmen Shylla.
An excited Sangma on seeing the huge crowd that had gathered paid his gratitude to all the authors and speakers who were present in the three-day festival, and made it a resounding success.
Further emphasising how the festival had grown in the last three years, he added, “I really want our youngsters to take up writing as a means of livelihood, for which the state government is also coming up with a policy.”
Sangma also took the opportunity to invite the attendees to be a part of the Cherry Blossom Festival that is to begin from Friday, stating that this is set to be one of the biggest festivals of the country.
Sangma extended an invitation to the Cherry Blossom Festival and emphasised its significance on the national stage.
Paul Lyngdoh, the Arts and Culture Minister, shared an original short story, momentarily shifting from his political role to that of a literature enthusiast, as he had promised in the inaugural session.
Discussions featured prominent figures like Clement Xavier, Kenneth Thangkhiew, Lisa Lugrin, Parismita Singh, and Rohan Chakravarty, engaging in conversations ranging from the use of images and satire to discussions on difficult subjects.
Journalist and author, Sam Miller delved into his book The Migrants, exploring human nomadism and its modern manifestations.
Miller, who in his book has discussed how human’s tendency always has been nomadic, teasingly added, “Now the pilgrimages and vacations are proxies for what we used to be.”
The interaction further delved into the political definition and boundaries for migrants.
As the audience was still recovering from that profound discussion, the following session was about ‘The Living Artefacts: Bio-Humanities, Living Root Bridges, Natural Resources’, wherein Ian A Lyngdoh, Massimo Warglien, Naba Bhattacharjee got into a conversation with Desmond Kharmawphlang ranging from the living root structures and their conservation techniques to how the state can do better to not go the Uttarkhand and Himachal Pradesh way in terms of promoting niche tourism.
The serious discussions took a short break when the Shillong Quizzing Society’s ‘Ink and Think’ compelled the audience to scratch their brains, but at the end of it went home learning new things about the city and the state they live in.
Following it again were sessions about ‘Unpacking the Archive’, wherein prominent names like Kyntiewbor War, Nathaniel Majaw and Samira Bose discussed the importance of preserving and archiving with Mary Therese Kurkalang.
The evening session began with the book launch of Tears of The Dragon by Ankush Saikia following which there was a discussion about a book, The Abyss, by Jeyamohan.
The concluding literary discussion on the occasion of National Press Day was ‘Global Local-Journalists’ on ways of reporting, wherein a fantastic set of panel members including Patricia Mukhim, Editor of The Shillong Times, Ferdinand Rani, journalist, Sam Miller, BBC correspondent, and Swati Daftuar, Deputy Editor, The Hindu, engaged in a compelling conversation about internet journalism, navigating the lines between content and media, and how does a person in the business take care of their own mental health when being faced with distressing news every other day.
The festival concluded with electric local numbers by ‘The Dopos’, leaving the audience cheering and dancing at the Ward’s Lake, marking the end of the third edition of the Shillong Literary Festival.