The two-day Think Fest, Speaking Allowed, organized by the Elsewhere Foundation, noticed a free move of evocative concepts, debates, and discussions.

The occasion was organized at two places in Chandigarh – CII Northern Region Headquarters, Sector 31, and Chandigarh Club on March 30 and 31, respectively.

Day 1 kicked off with the session, Writing Kashmir, by creator Ashish Kaul and writer-artiste Inder Salim. It was moderated by city-based senior journalist Manraj Grewal.

The session centered on the necessity to convey alive completely different narratives from the Valley. Kaul, who has authored bestsellers like Didda: The Warrior Queen of Kashmir, Refugee campand Rakht Ghulabmentioned, “The need of the hour is to look at Kashmir from a fresh perspective and focus on the problems of the common man – be it food, power, equal rights, or peace.”

Inder Salim staged a brief efficiency, Lost Phirenand talked in regards to the position of artwork as activism.

The subsequent session, Who is Afraid of Indian Literature, was held by JCB Prize-winning creator Khalid Jawed, Crossword-prize successful translator Arunava Sinha, Speaking Tiger writer Ravi Singh, and award-winning poet Nirupama Dutt. It mirrored on vernacular literature making headlines and successful awards after being translated into English.

The panellists spoke about translations bringing to heart stage narratives from throughout the nation.

On the kind of writing coming ahead from younger and new writers, Ravi mentioned, “New age writing is diversified content.”

Khalid mentioned, “Urdu is taken into account the language of Muslims. But that is not true because it has the flexibility to attach individuals; whereas Arunava mentioned, “More translators will result in more readers of vernacular literature, which is much needed.”

The third session, Gazing at Punjab by Art, had celebrated singer Rabbi Shergill and acclaimed artistes Thukral and Tagra speaking about modern Punjab, and reflecting their ideas, concepts, and imaginative and prescient by artwork. The session was moderated by filmmaker Daljit Ami.

“I perceive the glamor and glory that comes with Punjabi music as we hear it in the present day. I do know it and I resist it. Yes, we must always know what individuals are pondering however one has to know what artwork is and what it stands for. Where are the voices of Asa Singh Mastana, Surinder Kaur, Bulleh Shah, Sultan Babu, and Dheeraj Kumar, which made Punjab cosmopolitan? Where are the feminine voices? mentioned Rabbi Shergill.

“I contemplate Waris Shah the Shakespeare of Punjab. His invocation of the character of Heer is the cornerstone of Punjabi literature and we’ve got collectively failed that literary heritage. Our accountability is to take cost and convey change,” he mentioned, including that he’s engaged on music impressed by poet Sultan Babu.

The final session of the day, Reading Young, busted the parable that younger generations usually are not studying sufficient. Children’s creator and filmmaker Samina Mishra and graphic novelist Ita Mehrotra talked about what younger adults are studying.

Day 2 ends with melodious tribute to Begum Akhtar

The second day had vocalist, musician, social activist, and author Vidya Shah stealing the present along with her melodious tribute to Begum Akhtar.

Shah’s performances introduced collectively tales, visuals, music, poetry, and textual content, together with problems with gender and sexuality.

Shah mentioned, “My tribute voices the feisty, feminist facet of Begum Akhtar by her music. She was a rockstar in a time when there was no social media. Akhtari is my tribute to her.

Shah, who’s of the opinion that the making of music is the making of an individual, mentioned, “I wish to show the slim but topsy-turvy street of Bai to Begum by music. I wish to present how she navigated by life and confronted challenges head-on. That period was dominated by robust girls and Akhtari is my ode to them.

(With inputs from Lavanya Sharma)