HYDERABAD: Wide open fields. Winter sunlight. Evenings at Dera Baba Nanank, Dist Gurdaspur in Punjab saw a melange of cultural and literary activities in the 100-acre land dotted with pristine white tents housing the devotees and delegates, though unwarranted showers played spoilsport. This was to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
The Prakash Parv among a bouquet of multiple events held a poetry festival honouring the Sikh Guru, whose poetry and teachings call for oneness, equality, and love for all. The poetry event brought together several poets writing in different languages like Tamil, Bangla, Urdu, Dogri, Kashmiri, Odia, Santhali, Rajasthani, Konkani, Maithli, Punjabi among others from various parts of the country. Two Telugu poets were invited for the prestigious poetry festival at Dera Baba Nana
Utsav organised by Ministry of Culture, Government of Punjab. This also coincided the opening of Kartarpur Corridor, the border between India and Pakistan. It connects Dera Baba Nanak and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the final resting place of the first Sikh Guru.
The two local poets read their works on Guru Nanak at the event. The Telugu versions were translated into Punjabi. B Sreekanth, a teacher in a government school wrote the poem ‘Sansakara Sampannad Nanak’ while Gunti Gopi who teaches Telugu Literature at SVG Junior College says, “The world needs the teachings of Guru Nanak ji as he talks about equality, no-caste, brotherhood and communal harmony. I am deeply influenced by this and hence when I was invited to contribute two poems for the festival, I wholeheartedly agreed.” All the delegates, invited for the literary event, were asked to write two poems each which were later translated into Punjabi. Shortly an anthology containing all the originals and translations will be launched. In all 117 poets participated in the event.