Honourable Mr. Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Judge, Supreme Court of India presented the inaugural address for The Hindu Lit For Life 2023 on February 25 at The Music Academy, Chennai.
There was a pressing need to rediscover and retake the public places in these uncertain and deeply polarised times, said Justice Kaul, Supreme Court of India Judge on Saturday.
Justice Kaul went down his memory lane to recollect how a landmark judgement he delivered in the case of celebrated author Perumal Murugan, ensuring his freedom of expression, led him to an enquiry on the role of literature and writers and drew parallels between the work of writers and judges.
He expressed his firm belief that the next frontier of Indian literature will be in Indian regional or vernacular literature. Highlighting the need for more translations from Indian languages to hit bookshelves across the world, he said festivals like The Hindu Lit for Life will play a role in sparking such revolution.
Nirmala Lakshman, director, of The Hindu Lit for Life, said, that, coming from an independent media house, the festival’s cornerstone was its firm commitment to freedom of expression. The festival, while mirroring the values of The Hindu, went one step further by actively engaging with people directly.
Stating that the tax imposed on the import of books in India since 2019 was in fact a tax on knowledge, N. Ravi, chairperson, Kasturi and Sons, expressed hope that it would be done away with.
N. Ram, director of The Hindu Publishing Group spoke on the dangerous repercussions of the amendments proposed by the government to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules. Suresh Nambath, editor, of The Hindu, briefly traced the newspapers engagement with books.
The Hindu Lit for Life 2023 is powered by Life Insurance Corporation of India in association with Ajay Toothbrushes. The Associate Partners are NITTE Education Trust, Hindustan Group of Institutions, State Bank of India, Sai University, and Vivek’s. Jewellery Partner: Joyalukkas. The Mobility Partner is Hyundai, Banking Partner is Indian Bank Realty, the Author Lounge Partner is VFS Global, the Realty Partner is Casagrand, the Knowledge Partner is SSVM Institutions, the Bookstore Partner is Higginbothams, the Gift Partner is Anand Prakash, and the Water Partner is Repute.
