MILAP 2018 off to a memorable start

Manipal: The three-day second edition of Manipal Academy of Higher Education’s Literature Fest began at the Dr TMA Pai Halls here on Thursday. The theme for this year’s Manipal Literature and Arts Platform (MILAP) is, “Millenium Revisited: Tradition and Transformation”. The festival includes theatre and photography workshops, children and youth-oriented events, and art exhibition.

Convenor of the Fest, Dr Neeta Inamdar gave an overview of the event in its second year. MAHE Vice-Chancellor, Dr H. Vinod Bhat in his presidential remarks toyed with the idea of having the events spread through the year and culminating in this kind of festival.  He said, “The idea behind this fest is to have a space for every expression in the university. There should be a platform not to rebel but to speak, to hear and to express”.

Punjabi Playwright Dr Atamjit Singh inaugurated the meet and delivered the inaugural address and Kannada poet and playwright, Prof H S Shivaprakash who is also a professor of Theatre Studies at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University delivered the keynote address.

On the occasion, two books, 137^th and 138^th, by Manipal University Press were also released. One was  Kannada Theatre History 1850-1950 by Akshara K V and the other Shrinivasa Vaidya’s acclaimed work ‘Halla bamtu halla’ translated into English as “A Handful of Sesame” by Maithreyi Karnoor.

A ‘Screen and Stage’ event with Ramakrishnan Ramanathan and Alok Rajwade, in conversation with Anusha Ravishankar, was held. Enlightening the audience about the relevance of present-day theatre, Ramakrishnan Ramanathan, an Indian playwright-director from Mumbai, said, “Theatre is a living repository of languages. Being a minority art, it has the freedom to state certain things that mainstream films could never dream of. Also, India being a country with an “oral tradition”, the theatre will always be an important part of its culture.”

The panel discussion was on ‘A Negotiation with the Millennium through Four Modern Kannada Writers’. The panellists included S Diwakar, a well- known Kannada writer and journalist, Rajendra Chenni, professor of English at Kuvempu University, Shimoga, Karnataka, G Rajashekar, a renowned writer and literary critic and Raghavendra Patil. It was moderated by T.P. Ashok, a noted Kannada critic and scholar.

The discussion centred around modern Kannada literary writing which took prominence from the twentieth century and the influence of English, Sanskrit and other regional languages on it. The four panellists spoke about legendary writers, D.V. Gundappa, D.R. Bendre, Kuvempu and K. Shivaram Karanth, who have contributed immensely to the field of Kannada literature.

The theatre workshop focused on the ‘Overview of Kannada and Marathi Theatre Traditions’. K.V. Akshara and Prasad Vanarase conducted it. The workshop dwelt on the history and heritage of both Kannada and Marathi Theatre. Speaking of the bond of literature with theatre, Akshara said, “The understanding of the 150-year-old art form and tradition is always intertwined with literature.”

Carnatic music legend and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee R Paramashivan’s harmonium lightened the mood up in the workshop auditorium. Accompanying him was “A Life in 3 Octaves” author and the deputy editor of the Hindu, Bangalore, Deepa Ganesh. True passion and dedication showed as the 89-year-old music maestro sang a piece from the 1995 play “Vasantsena” followed by a piece from the “Jarasandha”. Ganesh acted as the translator as both the guests conversed in fluid Kannada.