HYDERABAD: Dazzling conversations, new ideas and eminent personalities were at the forefront during the second day of the multi-faceted Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF) on Saturday.
In the morning, the major crowd puller was the literary session, ‘The Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom’, which featured renowned author and journalist P Sainath in conversation with Sunita Reddy of the HLF. They discussed the book, which features stories from diverse groups including Adivasis, Dalits, OBCs, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus, about what freedom truly means.
Another interesting discussion was led by Priya Ramani, Samar Halarnkar, and Niloufer Venkatraman, the founders of India Love Project, an Instagram account that serves as a safe space for interfaith couples. The panel discussed the hurdles that interfaith couples face in society and the importance of acceptance and support.
Sharing her future plans for the project, Ramani told TNIE, “I want to explore lessons interfaith couples can learn from the queer community regarding coming out to their parents and battling the lack of acceptance from those closest to them.”
The event, Kavyadhaara, where storyteller and writer Ulka Mayur captivated the audience with her mesmerising performance in the show, titled ‘Cast Off All Shame’. “My show explored the connections between ancient poets and their writings with current societal issues. Through my lively performance, I brought to life three main characters — Devi, Uma, and Ambika — and connected their stories with relevant poets, sharing their poems and inspiring the audience,” Ulka told TNIE.
Another new addition to this year’s festival was Story Box, an ATM-like device which prints out a variety of literary content. Visitors could choose from a wide selection of stories, poems, puzzles, and even parts of classic novels like ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes.’ Visitors also had the option to play sudoku, word search, and crossword by printing them out.
This apart, Rock Beat, a band, also performed Telugu, Hindi and other hits at the festival, making the audience groove to their beats. Their performance ended with a rendition of AR Rehman’s ‘Humma Humma’.
(With inputs from Alka Elizabeth, Roopa Ramakrishnan, Ramya Vennapusala, and Kishore Guguloth)