Bhubaneswar: Internationally acclaimed literary platform, Kalinga Literary Festival, organised its 3rd KLF Corner to engage with the literary community and the youth of the state. Literary youth icon Biyot Pronja Tripathy joined the conversation with living literary legend Devdas Chhotray.
KLF Corner in Bhubaneswar was launched December 12 last year in collaboration with famous Oxford Bookstore at Pal Heights in Jaydev Vihar and this is the third edition.
On the occasion, founder Rashmi Ranjan Parida said he strongly believes that there is an urgent need to engage the youth icons with the legends in the literary world. Parida added that he has plans to invite all living legends of Odia literature and have conversations on their own writings, comparative insights, discuss their books and authors those who have won the national and global prizes like Sahitya Akademi, Jnanpith, the Booker and the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Programme Coordinator Debasish Samantaray felt that there is “no better opportunity than the KLF Corner” to listen to the great literary voices and “meet them in person and get their autographs and selfies!” He further emphasised on the need to celebrate the lives of our own writers and poets; their creative works, contributions and impact.
On the occasion Devdas Chhotray said, “Nothing is more important in my life than coffee and books.” About urbanisation in his poem, he said, “I didn’t realise it ever that I am an urban poet. Cuttack is the place to which I relate and where I live. If you call Cuttack an urban place then I would say it is rather an urbanised village because the British paved this place first in Odisha.” Cuttack is the place from where I have gathered all my urbanity and probably you see it reflected in my literature, he added. “I too write rural pieces like Gotie Saree and so its upto the readers who have divided into categories and about the rural essence in my poems and lyrics, I have got them from my mother, Chhotray mentioned. In the lyrics of Teeniti Jhia, you could see the rural essence in between the shadow of urbanity. However, the song is equally mine and of Akshaya Mohanty, he pointed out.
About women oriented writing, he said that the inequality between men and women has been prevailing since ages. Everyone wants the protagonist to be a male. The context always leans towards the male’s perspective or on the other part, audience or readers demand it passively, Chhotray highlighted.
When asked about his style of writing, he replied that he writes stories only when they find a way “to reach” him. Writing on and of your experience should not be a priority and when you write about experience, you are not the only character in it, rather, there are several people playing characters, he said.
Caption
Devdas Chhotray (R) addresses the audience