Even as we await the sixth edition of The Hindu Lit for Life (January 15-17), which is dedicated to the city — a salute to Chennai’s gritty spirit and her citizens’ rescue efforts and initiatives — it is equally pertinent to concentrate on the arts as well. Lit for Life is, at the end of the day, a platform to interact with authors, discuss literature and celebrate the written and spoken word. It goes beyond what we know as literature — writing about the arts is literature in itself.
This year, due to the floods and the following relief work, Lit for Life will not host its pre-event programmes and workshops. But there’s still a lot to look forward to. Like the session Sing My Song , where singer Sanjay Subrahmanyan will be in conversation with Nirmala Lakshman, Director, The Hindu Group, and Director, Lit for Life, on the duality of performance and creativity, of tradition and individuality. Look forward to a concert-like session that will highlight the varied repertoire of the singer, who is also the recipient of the Sangita Kalanidhi in 2015.
Emphasising the significance of music is yet another session on the intangible art, aptly-titled The Kural , which will see former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi in conversation with historian, author and professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, A.R. Venkatachalapathy. This isn’t, however, your commonplace conversation on music. Instead, the verses will be set to tune by Chitravina N. Ravikiran, who has composed over 700 pieces that include operatic dance productions such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata , and vocals by Tiruvarur Girish, grandson of late Carnatic vocalist T. Brinda.
With music given its due prominence, poetry can’t be far behind. The session Poetry of Andal and Akka Mahadevi focusses on the ‘crazy’ words that swept away taboos. Akka Mahadevi was one of the earliest female poets in Kannada; a radical yet household name for female emancipation in the 12th Century. Andal, the only female Alvar saint, penned the Thiruppavai and Nachiar Thirumozhi — works that are still recited during Margazhi. This session will see ‘intersectionist’ dancer Anita Ratnam and performer, choreographer, educator and arts entrepreneur Madhu Nataraj in conversation with award-winning writer-poet Arundhathi Subramaniam.
It is without doubt that the city (and the State) leaves a lasting impression on everyone — whether residents or outsiders. Memory, Dreams, Desire, Statues and Ghosts will put in perspective the images of the city, from the paintings of Indian contemporary artist and art critic Gulammohammed Sheikh, who will also be in conversation with cultural journalist Sadanand Menon. Artists from the erstwhile Madras School of Art, talk on colouring the palette in the session Mapping the Madras Line : S.G. Vasudev, a founder-member of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village, and Velu Viswanadhan, a known face in international art, will be in conversation with A.S. Panneerselvan, Readers’ Editor of The Hindu .
For the politically inclined among us, the session, Dalit Aesthetics and Politics , will provide much food for thought. Dalit activist and current president of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Thol. Thirumavalavan, Dalit intellectual, poet, short-story writer and translator Ravikumar, and Tamil Dalit playwright Dr. K.A. Gunasekaran will converse with Justice Krishnaswami Chandru on how Tamil Dalits reclaimed their identity. This session will be in Tamil.
The festival will be incomplete, of course, without a look at literature in other Indian languages: well-known Tamil critic, author and scholar Sa. Kandasamy, and Tamil writers Prapanchan and S. Ramakrishnan, will be in conversation with The Hindu Tamil Features Editor D.I. Aravindhan, on the impact of urbanisation and industrialisation as reflected in Tamil literature. The session Aham, Puram will take place in Tamil. No Longer ‘Vernacular’ will look at challenges of publishing in Indian languages with editor-publisher Kannan Sundaram, writer-actor-activist Prema Revathi and editor-publisher Rubin D’Cruz in conversation with publishing consultant Vinutha Mallya.
Then there are the sessions that are quite vital to understanding the functioning of society and its various pressures. Take the one on Shifting Notions of the Nation State . In discussion from the feminist perspective are Galician translator-writer Maria Reimondez, poet-writer Thamizhachi Thangapandian and Malayali poet and critic K. Satchidanandan. What are basic human aspirations? They might be deep human needs or materialistic pleasures, but the session Dilemmas of Existence highlights the aspirations that deny ecosystem survival — Neha Sumitran, Senior Editor, National Geographic Traveller India , Navroz Mody, environmentalist, and Lawrence Surendra, environmental economist, will discuss the effects. Artist Vivan Sundaram and documentary filmmaker and cinematographer R.V. Ramani will present an illustrated talk on the 409 Ramkinkars in the session Santhal Family to Mill Re-call . Award-winning filmmaker Deepa Dhanraj, R.V. Ramani and Venkatesh Chakravarthy (Regional Director and HOD-Direction at the LV Prasad Film & TV Academy) will discuss Representing the Real .
