India News | In Crisis, Literature Poses Most Relevant Questions; Comes Up with Pertinent Answers: VP

New Delhi, Aug 27 (PTI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said literature opens pathways to new experiences filled with hope and optimism in difficult times and poses the most relevant questions and comes up with pertinent answers.

The last 17 months add up to the most difficult period the world has endured in generations, he said referring to the coronavirus pandemic.

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"It may be no exaggeration to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has touched us all at a personal level. People we care about have suffered and much that we took for granted has been shattered. The pandemic turned life upside down," he said at the inauguration of the Times Lit Fest 2021 here via a video bridge.

In a crisis, Naidu observed, it is literature that poses the most relevant questions and comes up with pertinent answers.

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"Literary figures, through their work, appeal to our imagination in a number of ways - as creative writers, moralists, guides and philosophers, among other things," he said. Literary texts recreate places, events and experiences providing a magical escape into a world in which we lose ourselves, he observed. The pandemic has overturned the very notion of going to work, the vice president noted.

"A consequence of it has been that circumstances have forced many of us into a sort of isolation, cutting us off from our everyday work environment. Unfortunately, this is one of the most unhealthy dimensions of daily life, which is a matter of concern today to experts in mental health as well," he said.

The innate empathy that we develop when working in physical proximity with other humans has perhaps been seriously impacted by this new approach to work, he felt.

"One of the underlying aims of the Lit Fest is to offer all of us a chance to connect again in conducive surroundings. Man, by nature, is at his best in a social setting. The Lit Fest not only allows us to hear authors expand on their ideas and catalyse thought, but also allows readers to articulate their response," Naidu said. Noting that great writing reaches out to us in ways that nothing else can, he said, "We lose ourselves in the world of words in an experience that transcends all limitations of time and space. There is no such thing as an appropriate time to immerse oneself in great writing."

Naidu noted that literature, through multiple forms, appeals to the inner being. He observed that it shapes our consciousness and helps us evolve into more refined human beings. "At different stages in our lives, various writers and themes appeal to us. Literature has the variety to provide each one of us something that we can relate to at different moments in time," he noted.

Asserting that India has been a repository of knowledge and wisdom from ancient times, he said, "It is a celebrated cradle of culture which has given the world the Vedas, priceless treasures of philosophy including the Upanishads and The Bhagwat Gita, immortal epics like The Ramayana and The Mahabharata, fables packed with wisdom such as The Panchatantra and Hitopadesa and Kalidasa's magnificent literary texts including plays, to cite only a few examples."

Observing that since the early ages to contemporary times, a thread of unbroken tradition could be traced in all our languages, across all regions, Naidu said that every single language in India was pulsating with vibrant literary activity in multiple forms today.

"Perhaps, no other country in the world can lay claim to such a rich, diverse, cultural, linguistic and literary heritage," he added.

Naidu said the silver lining of the last 17 months has been a rapid increase in the pace of digitalisation of activities. It has demolished barriers of access in a way that nothing else has and is without doubt, a manifestation of human creativity in the face of adversity. Not only is human imagination capable of finding ways to cope with extraordinary circumstances, but can also convert adversity into opportunity, he observed.

He expressed happiness that literature festivals have no entry barriers and are thrown open to all for participation.

Naidu said he is certain that the literature festival will emerge once again as a healthy platform for the exchange of different ideas and diverse views.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)