7 th Edition of Ahmedabad International Literature Festival started with inspirational and informational speeches from the distinguished speakers in a virtual mode. Founder Director Umashanker Yadav informed, “Physical gathering will be planned and the dates announced as soon as the ground situation becomes normal, till then and even after the offline gathering, the Online Sessions will continue throughout the year mainly on weekends. He also announced to start the literary awards in different categories from this edition onwards. The focuswill be to invite the speakers of far away and remote rural areas in this season, said Umashanker Yadav.”
Noted Hindi poet and former Deputy Director General of Akashvani (All India Radio ), Laxmi Shanker Bajpai, highlighting the value of literature in our lives , pointed to the importance and active role of writers and poets in highlighting the problems faced
by society. In his address, Alok Ranjan, IAS ( Retd.) former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh and author of three books advised authors and writers to bring out the honest stories of the people and society in order to make them more appealing and realistic. He also emphasised on broad mindedness of writers and readers to give space to conflicting and contradicting views as well, for the sake of creative freedom.
Kusuma Choppra, Senior Journalist and author of many books talked about the power of women characters in her novels and how she has been boldly and fearlessly portraying and writing about the issues of women in the various news papers and
magazines during her journalism days. Dr. SK Nanda , IAS ( Retd.) former Additional Chief Secretary ( Home ) Gujarat talked about the importance of literature and natural ways of life to overcome various difficulties of day today life particularly during the pandemic.