HYDERABAD: The Family Saga: A Novel Set In The Time of Partition’, the last book penned by Narendra Luther, is finally out. In this book, the civil servant-cum-author, who died in January this year in Hyderabad, focused on the journey of an Indian family through partition and their life in the modern world. The work of fiction written by Luther, who was also a rock conservationist, was released at the Valley of Words Literary Festival held at MCR-HRD in Jubilee Hills, on Saturday.
From Lahore to Delhi and Amritsar to Berkeley, the Khanna family is an embodiment of Indians who struggled, shaped and established a place for themselves across the globe. In short, the story is a celebration of life beyond boundaries. “My father was over 85 and sick, but he did not refrain from writing. The book was completed shortly before his death,” says Rahul Luther, Narendra Luther’s son.
Sanjeev Chopra, former director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) and the director of the literary festival, Harpreet Singh, director of MCR-HRD, E Suresh Kumar, V-C of EFLU, T Vijay Kumar, director of the Hyderabad Literary Festival, and Rahul together released the book
during the inaugural session of the fifth edition of Valley of Words. Meanwhile, the Valley of Words (Hyd chapter) also discussed ‘Young Adult Literature and Translation’.
Another book released on the day was ‘Understanding India’s Geopolitics: Post Covid-19 Era’, edited by Dr Kanegati Ramesh and Dr Katiyani Juneja Sharma from the Centre of Human Security Studies (CHSS). Besides, an MoU was also signed between the festival board and the CHSS for further collaborations in literary festivals.
“The current generation must inculcate the habit of reading as it opens up the mind to new experiences, provides new avenues of knowledge and leads to professional success,” E Suresh Kumar said.
Sanjeev Chopra said, “India is contributing a lot to western English. Our country is developing its form of words and we must celebrate reading translations, from the many languages that we have.”