The fifth edition of India Habitat Centre’s annual Indian Languages Festival “ILF Samanvay-2015” begins today with a marked difference from its previous editions. This edition zooms in on Indian languages beyond its verbal and literary idioms and point of view.
This four-day festival is pegged around the central theme “Insider/Outsider: Writing India’s Dreams and Realities”. Elaborating on it, Rizio Yohannan Raj, Creative Director, Samanvay, says: “Creative writers and artistes function in the middle space which on one hand is imbibed with a critique and self-critical elements entailing them to correct the space and make it progressive thus donning the role of an outsider. On the other hand, as an insider, they have are bound to defend one’s tradition against the world at large. This is insider/outsider phenomenon –– imperative for creative endeavour devoid of which it will become stagnant –– will be explored by the fest.”
The fest opens on an appropriate note with the inaugural lecture by Prof. Aijaz Ahmad titled “The Languages of a Union” which will explore that political unity in India does not automatically give or require a literary or linguistic unity. Hence the study of Indian literature should be historically grounded and organised primarily in terms of particular linguistic traditions and regional clusters and discussed on the model of comparative literature.
The focal languages to be studied in detail in Samanvay are Tamil, Bangla, Marathi and Dogri. The ILF Samanvay Bhasha Samman 2015 — which will be bestowed on Tamil writer Perumal Murugan — has undergone a major change. Instead of a lifetime achievement award for a distinguished writer, it is now classified as a book award for a writer in one of the focal languages of the event. Reacting to the announcement Murugan says, “The ILF Samanvay Award for ‘Madhorubhagan’ is a modern recognition given to Tamil, a classical language with a long and unbroken literary tradition.”
An important highlight this year is the institution of the Vani-Samanvay Distinguished Translator Award. Conceptualised in collaboration with Vani Foundation it will honour a translator for his or her contribution in a sustained and quality manner towards direct exchanges between two Indian languages. “Even though translation is a creative endeavour it has never been recognised and given a place of honour it truly deserves. This award fulfils this major anomaly,” avers Rizio. Attoor Ravi Varma, will be its first recipient.
Spread over four days, the festival encompasses a variety of sessions, workshops, volunteer sessions, conversations, book exhibitions, performances and activities, to ensure that the central theme flows into the extra-literary and epistemic fields too. For example, “The Writer as Insider/Outsider” session will witness poets K. Satchidanandnan, Meena Alexander, Subhro Bandopadhyay, Sharmila Seyyid, Padma Sachdev, Ashok Vajpeyi and Sachin Ketkar sharing their insider-outsider experience. In “Inside Outside: Who Asks”, T.M. Krishna, in a conversation with Sadanand Menon will explore his radical practices. “Earlier performances were included for their entertainment content. This time these are woven around the main theme like T.M. Krishna’s Carnatic concert and ‘Sharira’, the last choreographic work of Chandralekha,” points out Rizio.
Samanvay 2015 which is being significantly scaled up will take place at eight venues with workshops running simultaneously and a wider outreach programme. The creative director who wants the event to be viewed as a people’s festival instead as an elitist and niche festival hopes that it will make cultural thinking a part of public discourse.
