From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, May 9: The two-day maiden prelude to the Shillong Literary Festival concluded here on Saturday, with writers, filmmakers, actors and public intellectuals gathering as part of a wider push to expand the festival’s national reach.
The event focused on literature, identity, ecology, food, cinema and indigenous traditions from the Northeast, particularly Meghalaya, alongside discussions on culture and governance.
The Shillong Literary Festival, launched in 2021, has emerged as one of the prominent literary gatherings in the region.
Participating in the session ‘Ecology and Identity’ on lessons from how Meghalaya’s stories and culture are rooted in nature, The Shillong Times Editor Patricia Mukhim strongly advocated sustainable tourism and balanced development in ecologically sensitive hill states like Meghalaya. She painted a grim picture of the state’s current environmental condition.
“Even heritage like the monoliths and the megaliths rooted in mystery are now sold among boulders in hundreds of trucks to neighbouring Bangladesh,” she said.
Such sacred heritage is now commercialised by the community itself, which is supposed to be its guardian, she added.
The state’s rivers are polluted, trees are felled and even the mountains are cut, causing irreparable damage in the name of development, Mukhim continued.
Citing the ongoing massive widening of the Shillong-Dawki national highway, she questioned whether it was necessary at such a huge environmental cost.
Giving another example, she said there are 21,000 unlicensed illegal rat-hole coal mines that have been abandoned uncovered, leading to water pollution, soil erosion and even landslides.
The government alone cannot do everything, and the community, to whom land belongs in Meghalaya, should introspect on the entire situation.
On the other hand, Sankirang Khongwi, an award-winning filmmaker, pointed out during the talks that the famed root bridges of Meghalaya, which are vying for recognition from UNESCO and drawing huge numbers of visitors, were not originally built for tourists.
“These were means of journey from village to village for various purposes starting from festivals to funerals,” he said, adding, “Most unfortunately such wonder has been vandalised by the common backpack tourists.”
Historian and author Narayani Basu anchored the programme through conversations during the sessions.
Mukhim also moderated the last session of the day, ‘Penning A New Future’, with D. Bandarilin Bairo and Barbara Sangma discussing the legacy and future of Khasi and Garo literature.
Among the key sessions was a lively conversation between Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta on the first day. Actor Naseeruddin Shah participated in a reading from Vikram Seth’s work, Beastly Tales From Here and There, that evening.
The festival discussed Northeast literature, ecology, food, translation and identity through sessions such as ‘Shillong on a Plate’ and ‘Once Upon a Time at a Literature Festival’. The second day featured prominent speakers, including Shobhaa De, Maharani Priyadarshini Raje Scindia, Sanjoy Hazarika, Namita Gokhale, Patricia Mukhim and several others.
The event concluded with vibrant performances by artists under the Chief Minister’s Meghalaya Grassroots Music Program (CM-MGMP), transforming the venue into a celebration of Meghalaya’s music, rhythm and cultural identity.
