Dialogues with Books - Indian Regional Literature

“Time was the arch fugitive, always on the run.” – Mahashweta Devi, Hajar Churashir Maa (Mother of 1084)

More so in India. Over seventeen hundred languages to read in and barely a lifetime to do so. India has had a monumentally rich tradition of regional literature. From pictorial stories and limericks carved on rocks and caves, to puranas and itihasa engraved on ragi-smeared palm leaves, to literature that emerged from the Bhakti movement and the Vachana movement, to protest literature that was set in ink in cobwebbed, dimly lit printing presses, to present day literature laid out on 80 gsm cream wove paper, regional literature in India exists with an abundance that leaves one feeling overwhelmed and unfulfilled.

Indianness resides in the diversity of our cultures and languages. Histories, heritages and world-views have manifested as stories in these languages. These are stories told about one’s own spirit in a language that is unapologetically one’s own too. These are stories written not with the intention of propagating them for the sake of glory but with the intention of simply telling them for their own sake. Regional writers in India, for the most part, wrote for audiences of a few thousands. The most successful among them could boast of having reached mere tens of thousands. It is almost as if they did not care if their stories were read; they wrote them because the stories just demanded to be written with an insolent insistence. That leaves us with an abundance of choice.

“When you have no choice, you have no discontent either.” – Vivek Shanbhag, Ghachar Ghochar

But we must face an eternal thirst for the stream is endless and the mind does not cease to drink from it. A small consolation we have, however, is to come together and share with each other our tryst with this thirst. Let us meet this Sunday for a Dialogue with Books, and with each other, on Indian regional literature (and their translations; bless those translators!). In this session, let us seek to witness a microcosm of the myriad cultures and languages of this great and wondrous land.

When: 4 PM, Sunday, April 5, 2020

Where: Online!

RSVP for the session and we will save you a spot! Limited slots available.

Please note that you will receive the link of the session via email. If, for some reason, you fail to receive the invite email by Sunday morning, contact us and we will send you the invite again.