Sunday marked the third and last day of the 5th Bhopal Literature and Art Festival, organised by the Society for Culture and Environment at Bharat Bhavan. Acclaimed authors from various walks of life discussed, debated, and deliberated on thought-provoking topics in the three-day Knowledge Mahakumbh.
The successful event ended with a mesmerising dance performance by Lata Munshi. It also honoured the winners of the poetry competition in the valedictory session. BLF awarded Hitesh Rupayana of the Ruapayan Book Store of Indore the Gyan Prasarak Award. The one-of-its-kind honour is to facilitate the bookstore owners who are preserving the reading culture.
BLF Director Raghav Chandra thanked everyone and congratulated the team on the successful event. In his address, he promised to return next year even bigger and better. The final day of the Bhopal Literature and Art Festival began with a soulful session. Girija Sinha, the renowned meditation guide and wife of the Chief Information Commissioner, YK Sinha, captivated the audience with her guided meditation. She talked about the importance of meditation and Pranayam and urged everyone to practice the same daily.
The second session of Antarang hosted the most insightful and stimulating mind Bibek Debroy in conversation with BLF Director Raghav Chandra. The acclaimed author discussed the 'Essence of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Upnishads, and Puranas'. While talking about his inspiration behind translating the Indian texts, he said, "I have two answers. One is for the Western audience, and another for the Bharat audience.
For the western audience, I would say there are 40 million manuscripts in India, and we have only translated 5% of them. Britishers focused more on the Vedas, Kalidas, and Upanishads, concluding that Hinduism is all about salvation. However, there are more texts that talk about daily life. But we don't know about it. For the Bharat audience, I would say it would be arrogant to say I did it. My destiny took me on this path."
Bibek Debroy said, on Mahabharata and Ramayana's validity, that one can validate the historicity of it with the help of archaeology, geology, and astrology. He further noted that the Hindu texts don't moralise and assert that what it says is the ultimate truth. The same is present in the religion emerging from the Middle East. Quoting the story of Princess Revati, the writer exclaimed, "Space and relativity, curtsey to Einstein is science, but curtsey to Purana is a myth."
The second session saw Indian economist and former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, in conversation with Rajiv Kumar, ex-VC Niti Aayog. The author of Backstage: The Story Behind India's High Growth Years talked about his book and discussed economic reforms in India.
While talking about the 1991 financial planning, Montek Singh Ahluwalia said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech as a Finance Minister in 1991 was historic. He further noted that dismantling controls sanctioned by the Britishers was revolutionary. On the Civil Services, the writer said, "Every sector needs to go through reforms, including Civil Services.