By Tania Saili
Pics Courtesy: Sachin Chauhan
Dehradun, 6 Feb: It was a close-knit affair this Sunday afternoon at the VoW Café. The first season of ‘Authors from the Valley, 2023′ was hosted on the occasion. Senior journalist, academician, author and poet Dr Jaskiran Chopra took the audience down a nostalgic trip through a town she calls home, laced together with the magic of the written and spoken word, with moderator Chandrika Kumar, an Assistant Professor of German Studies at Doon University.
The session retraced the journey of the author from her first book Jashn-e-Tanhai, a collection of Urdu verse, published in 2004, and then on to Autumn Raga, published by Niyogi Books in 2011. Jaskiran’s third book, Memories of Another Day, published in 2015 is a collection of nostalgic stories about the vanishing charm of the Doon valley and Mussoorie, which hit a chord with her audience. Her PhD thesis, titled “Fiction and Film: Ruskin Bond’s Romantic Imagination” was launched at the “Valley of Words Literature Fest” in Dehradun in November 2017 by the then Governor of Uttarakhand, Dr KK Paul. Her collection of poems, titled Mera Sheher was published in 2018. Her book, titled Yesterday Once More, hit the stands last year, while her latest work, Galaxy-Golden Stars of the Silver Screen, is in the process of being published.
Chandrika Kumar’s keen interest in literary studies and translation, along with philosophy as well as poetry brought out the mutual love of both the moderator and the author for Literature, including Poetry. A short conversation, yet deep, brought people’s hearts together as they enjoyed the camaraderie between the two.
Sanjeev Chopra, Festival Director, added, “It is a privilege to have this versatile personality launch the 2023 series of Authors from the Valley. Jaskiran is a bilingual poet, writer, critic, journalist and academic – all rolled into one with a tremendous fan base in her beloved city of Doon.”
Jaskiran Chopra spoke about her childhood memories in a town once known for its green hedges and grey hair. How her first novel came into being and the journey henceforth. Her close association and interaction with author Ruskin Bond found a special mention as she forayed into the world of poetry in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.
An initiative of the Valley of Words team to consistently connect the reading community with the writing voice has been lauded by one and all. What makes it more special is the fact that a town like Dehradun has a sizeable community of enthusiastic readers but limited opportunities to connect with the writers. ‘Authors from the Valley’ is a step in that direction and is hosted every last Sunday of the month at the VoW Café which plays the perfect host for like-minded people, across all age groups, who have a flair for literature, both English and Hindi, and those connected with it.
The luminaries present on the occasion included Dr S Farooq, Sharmila Bhartari; Ashutosh Saklani; Dr Sadhana Malhotra; Amit Joshi; Aashish Joshi, Jasbir Bubbur; Anjali Bahuguna; Himanika Bahuguna Trehan; Col PC Saklani, Shivam Uniyal; Ameer Ahmad; Shiv Saklani; Kulbhushan Kain; Upendra Arora; Rashmi and Sanjeev Chopra, Sneha Bharadwaj, Sachin Chauhan among others.
