Last year, renowned Hindi writer and cultural activist Ashok Vajpayee had boycotted the event because the organizers had asked him to inform in advance what he would say on the stage. But this time there is more controversy over calling the item girl.… Instead of enhancing the beauty of that stage by decorating the entertainment platform in the name of literature, if writers join public movements and write, Wouldn’t it be much better if we decorated our reading platform?
There has been an uproar in the world of Hindi literature for the last few days. There is an uproar on social media due to the invitation of Bollywood stars along with writers to a literary program of a TV channel. Meanwhile, recently two officials of two writers’ organizations also resigned, due to which the matter gained more importance. A writer is said to have resigned after being taunted by his writer friend when he went to a TV channel’s literary festival.
People who are going to such festivals argue that writers should go to every platform and thus connect with the public because our writers’ organizations are not connected with the public. These writers say that no matter what platform we go to, we should express our views honestly. But those who are against the literary festival of this TV channel argue that if Bollywood people are to be invited then why is it being done in the name of literature, instead of ‘Sahitya Aaj Tak’ it is done in the name of ‘Manoranjan Aaj Tak’. Go.
After all, why is the item girl being invited to the literary festival? His argument is also that the platforms of such TV channels are run by communal people and they are engaged in marketing literature. Therefore, nothing can be said against him from his platform and even if someone does, it will not have a widespread impact because most of the speakers are supporters of the market.
Last year, renowned Hindi writer and cultural activist Ashok Vajpayee had boycotted the event because the organizers had asked him to inform in advance what he would say on the stage. But this time there is more controversy over calling the item girl. Now there has also been polarization among Hindi writers. There is division among writers also. One class is in support of calling her an item girl and the other class is against it. In this way, there is more turmoil in the world of literature these days. A section of Hindi writers, including some progressive and artistic ones, is participating in this event, while another section is continuously opposing it.
Among the participants are people like Purushottam Agarwal, Arun Kamal and Gauhar Raja and also poets like Babusha Kohli, Anuradha Singh and Lovely Goswami and Joshna Banerjee. A few years ago, there was a strong reaction to the participation of progressive democratic Hindi poet Rajesh Joshi in the literary program of the same TV channel. But despite this, democratic writers continued attending this function. Now the Progressive Writers Organization has recently passed a resolution in Chandigarh forbidding writers from participating in corporate functions. But two other left writer organizations have not passed such a resolution.
After all, what is the reason that a sharp reaction is being expressed in Hindi regarding such an event? In the last 10-15 years, the number of Hindi lit fests has increased significantly and Hindi writers are being invited to them. It is being said that those who are not being invited to the Lit Fest are protesting due to their frustration. But there are some writers in the Hindi world who never go to such forums. He considers these forums to be more of a spectacle, not serious, and more festive. Nothing legal can be said or heard from these forums. But a section of writers say that we should not avoid the market. After all, our books have to be sold in the market, so if we explore more and more markets, we will reach more readers.
Perhaps this is the reason why today’s author is seen promoting his book himself on social media. There are also writers in Hindi who do not do this work and believe that it is the responsibility of the publisher and not the author to promote the book. Earlier, Hindi writers did not promote and promote their books like this. All this responsibility was the responsibility of the first publisher. In such a situation, why are the authors doing this work of the publisher?
In fact, the market and capital have turned everything upside down. First he took politics into his clutches, then he took media into his clutches and now he is taking literature into his clutches. But it is also true that Hindi writers are also cut off from the public and because writers’ organizations are narrow and fanatic, they do not invite writers of other ideologies on their stage or publish them in their magazines. Therefore, a section of writers in Hindi have been complaining about which platform they should go to and express their views. But one thing is emerging in this entire debate that the writer is also trapped in this game of capital. In such a situation, what should Hindi litterateurs do? They do not have any big platform from where they can connect with the public.
In this debate, the question is also being raised that if Hindi writers have to connect with the public, then why do they not join the farmers’ movement? Why don’t they participate in the labor movement? Why don’t they start the tradition of composition lessons in their local colleges and schools? Instead of enhancing the beauty of any media group by decorating its entertainment platform in the name of literature, wouldn’t it be better if writers join public movements and decorate their own platform for writing and reading?