The sixth edition of the three-day 'Bhopal Literature Festival,' a renowned literary event in the city of lakes, commenced with grandeur at Bharat Bhavan on Friday. The inauguration, marked by the enchanting solo sitar performance by eminent sitar player Smita Nagdev in the morning, concluded in the evening with the splendid presentations by the 'Indian Pop Queen' Usha Uthup. The Jazz queen started the eve, with jazz versions of various rock hits, like Stand by me, Imagine and Frank Sinatra's classics, later she turned on the mood of audience with her mesmerizing Bollywood numbers.The inauguration of the Bhopal Literature and Art Festival was done by Dr. Sara Keller from Germany, Dr. Susen Rau, Secretary of the Department of Culture, Shiv Shekhar Shukla, and former chairman of the SBI, Rajneesh Kumar.The event witnessed the participation of a large number of literature enthusiasts from Bhopal, including the Chief Secretary of the Department of Culture, Shiv Shekhar Shukla, President and Founder Member of the Society of Culture and Environment, Raghav Chandra, Society Member Abhilasha Khandekar, and Dean of the National Institute of Fashion Designing, Sudha Dhingra, among others.
On this occasion, Raghav Chandra, President and Founder Member of the Society of Culture and Environment, mentioned that the festival does not just focus on one type of literature but also emphasizes perennial and traditional themes. Shivshekhar Shukla, the Chief Secretary of the Culture Department, highlighted the importance of the festival on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda's Jayanti, emphasizing his significant contribution to globalizing Indian literature and culture.The inauguration of the festival saw the commencement of an art exhibition by senior artist Ritu Jhunjhunwala in the Rangdarshani Gallery. In these paintings, Ritu beautifully portrayed the emotions of her mind on canvas.
In a session organized by Life and Times on Emperor Vikramaditya, Dr. Raj Purohit and R.C. Thakur extensively discussed the life of Vikramaditya. Dr. Purohit stated that Vikramaditya is a symbol of Indian pride. Vikramaditya initiated the Vikram Samvat, defeated the Shakas, and organized power to defeat them with full valour. Vikram Samvat is an Indian achievement.
In a session centred on social media influencers, Avinash Lavania stated, "When marketing is done like an agency, it has an agenda. But when social media takes it up, it has a different impact because it's a platform connected to people. Not only does social media influence pages with millions of followers, but the power of AI and deep learning behind it also helps in reaching accurate information to people. The dual aspects of any city depend on us, and it depends on whom we want to show it to." Anand Sharma initiated the session with a song about Bhopal - "Ye Shahar Hai Kitna Bemisal, Iska Naam Hai Bhopal..." Meanwhile, Himanshu Sharma stated that to increase reach on social media, you have to choose your topic.
During a conversation with Vartul Singh, Satya Saran revealed that Jagjit Singh's family initially named him Jagmohan. His father used to say that change his name to Jagjit because one day he will conquer the world. In those times, there were several renowned singers like Rafi and Hemant Kumar, making it difficult to carve a niche in the industry. Therefore, Jagjit Singh started singing ghazals. During this session, various aspects of Jagjit Singh's life were discussed in detail.A discussion on Patrick Geddes' book "Town Planning and Environmentalism" took place in the Vagarth Auditorium. Abhilash Khandekar and Savita Raje discussed the book authored by Patrick Geddes. Patrick Geddes, originally a sociologist and a passionate urban planner, reshaped several historical Indian cities.