As per ancient scriptures of South Asia, Navras symbolizes nine human emotions – love, laughter, compassion, anger, courage, fear, disgust, surprise, and peace. In the Navras Festival 2021, the Asian Literary Society celebrated art, culture, and literature interwoven with the vibrant hues of these emotions.
The coronavirus pandemic did not deter artists and literary luminaries from enthusiastically participating in the Asian Literary Society’s Navras 2020 festival – a nine days online festival of art, culture, and literature that was held in New Delhi from 20th June to 28th June 2021.
Mr. Manoj Krishnan (Founder, Asian Literary Society, and author) inaugurated the Navras 2021 festival and welcomed all the dignitaries in this nine days extravaganza.
Mr. Shahnawaz Hussain (Minister of Industries, Government of Bihar) and Ms. Meenakshi Natarajan (Former Member of Parliament) graced Asian Literary Society’s Navras 2021 with their august presence.
Ms. Zeba Tabassum, Ms. Anita Chand, Nisha Tandon, Vandana Bhasin, Dr. Aparna Bagwe, Dr. Bishakha Sarma, and Mr. Manoj Krishnan moderated various interactive sessions during Navras 2021.
A panel discussion on “multivalent societies mirrors south Asian literature” with Mr. Balmiki Prasad Singh (Former Governor of Sikkim), Mr. Amit Dasgupta (Former Indian Diplomat) and Dr. Kuladhar Saikia (President, Assam Sahitya Sabha&Sahitya Akademi Award Winner) provided insights into the literature of the subcontinent.
The festival encompassed poetry recitation by Mr. K. Jayakumar (President, the Poetry Society (India)), Dr. Varsha Das (Former Director, National Book Trust), Dr. Amarendra Khatua (Former Secretary, MEA), Dr. Subhashree Panigrahi (Director, Rajya Sabha), Prof. Nandini Sahu (Director, School of Foreign Languages, IGNOU), Ms. Mandira Ghosh, Dr. Om Nischal, Dr. Laxmi Shankar Bajpai, Mr. Ambar Kharbanda, Mr. Ayushman Jamwal (Senior News Editor, CNN-News18), Dr. Amit Kaur Puri (Founder, AKP Healing India), Ms. Neetu Singh Rai (Vice President, Mahila Kavya Manch), Ms. Renu Hussain, Ms. Nirmala Singh, Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra, Ms. Mamta Kiran, Ms. Madhu Madhuman, and Ms. Nidhi Sinha also participated in Navas 2021.
A panel discussion on Blogging for Starters with Brig. AP Singh (Blogger), Lt. Sandhya Suri (Publisher), and Ms. Meena Mishra (Publisher) provided valuable pieces of information to aspiring writers.
Mr. Yuyutsu Sharma (Himalayan Poet), Mr. Ashok K. Bhargava (President, EIN Canada), Dr. Pariksith Singh (CEO, AHCP, Florida), and Mr. Sudarshan Kcherry (CEO, Authorspress) discussed inculcating values through prose.
Another highlight of the Navras was panel discussions on “From Emotional Tsunami to Empathy” and “Special need Fathers- The Unsung Heroes”. The panelists Ms. Gulshan Kavarana (Founder, SFS, Dubai), Ms. Merry Barua (Founder, AFA, New Delhi), Ms. Meenakshi Agarwal(Founder, Tanay Foundation, Ahmedabad), Mr. Madhusudan Srinivas (Former. Sr. Editor NDTV), Mr. Ashim K Chowdhary (Philanthropist) and Mr. Praveen Kumar( Founder APH, USA) shared stories of their incredible journey as parents of special needs children.
In the arena of Arts, the live sessions with Dr. Madhavi Menon (Bharatanatyam Dancer), Ms. Isha Das (Odissi Dancer), Mr. Rahul Varshney (Odissi Dancer), and Ms. Kamini Natarajan (Classical Singer) enthralled the viewers. These dancers also performed on different rasas during these nine days on the ALS platform.
A highlight of Navras 2021 was the nine days, performing arts, poetry and prose, and art and craft challenge in which several writers and artists from India and abroad enthusiastically participated.
Mr. Manoj Krishnan and the ALS team thanked all the participants in the closing ceremony.
The Asian Literary Society’s Navras 2021 festival received an overwhelming response from viewers from all over the world who applauded ALS and its this initiative at the time of the coronavirus pandemic.
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