The fifth edition of the Dehradun lit fest will be held over the weekend in Jubilee Hills. Its founder, Sanjeev Chopra, speaks to CE about what got him to start Valley of Words, why he chose to hold it in Hyd & his love for literature
HYDERABAD: This weekend, bibliophiles have a good reason to celebrate and come out of their home s for some thought-provoking discussions on their favourite books. You read that right, Valley of Words (VoW), the International Literature & Arts Festival, has finally reached Hyderabad.
The fifth (2021) edition of VoW will be a two-day extravaganza from November 13-14 at Akshara Hall, MCRHRD Institute in Jubilee Hills. We catch up with its founder, retired IAS officer Dr Sanjeev Chopra. Excited about the event coming to the city, we ask him how that happened after five years since the inception of the festival. “Owing to the pandemic, we realised that we couldn’t have the event at one place with thousands of people attending it.
That’s when we thought of holding it in five cities across the country. We will have the event online, it will be phygital too, and be archived forever,” shares an equally excited Sanjeev. The knowledge verticals of VoW will be held in the physical- cum-digital format at Lansdowne Cantonment in Dehradun, Vadodara, Kolkata, Panchkula (Haryana), and Hyderabad. Sanjeev points to the beautiful advantage of a small gathering in many cities, over a single gathering of thousands in just Dehradun.
“I realised that the problem with the other festivals, such as the Jaipur Literature Festival and Kerala Literature Fest, is that there are too many distractions. There are just too many sessions by too many people that eventually lead to people having to sacrifice many sessions of their choice. Some even told me how they couldn’t concentrate on even one session, with so much happening around.
Thankfully, that won’t be the case with the VoW Lit Fest.” Asked what one can take away from the fest, Sanjeev says that their aim is three-fold. He explains, “Our primary focus is to have an inter-generational dialogue on the various books we will be discussing. You see, a youngster’s perspective on a book is going be different from an older man’s like me, and a kid’s understanding could be even more insightful. This is something we hope to bring to the table at our discussions.
Next, we hope to encourage the practice of listening among readers, after they have finished a book. Third, we want to promote the art of critical appreciation of any book that one reads, whether or not they enjoyed reading it.” An avid reader himself, Sanjeev finds listing his favourite books a daunting task, almost impossible, he says. “How can one even pick one, especially if you’ve read so many.
But, I can tell you that I’m enjoying what I’ve been reading recently: Shanti Parav, a Punjabi Dalitnovel by Des Raj Kali; Ratno Dholi: The Best Stories of Dhumketu; Vinodhini; and Jinnah by Ishtiaq Ahmed.” He hints at enjoying non-fiction more, but rightly talks about how it’s no longer possible to make a clear demarcation between fact and fiction today.
The theme for the VoW fest at Hyderabad is ‘Writings for Young Adults and English Translations’, given the city is home to the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Institute of English and Foreign Languages (IEFL) and the Urdu University, to name a few. Talking about his love for translated literature, Sanjeev says the best part about these is that they give an insight into a world one was never exposed to. He’s looking forward to the fest for several reasons, the best one being, his not having to be a judge on any panel!