Literature sparks the imagination and enables technology at VOICES!

Jaipur: The University of Engineering & Management (UEM), Jaipur organized the “UEM Jaipur Lit Fest 2024” in collaboration with “VOICES” at the Rajasthan International Center. The day-long event sponsored by the First India Group was a first-of-its-kind collaborative event, where technology and literature came together to organize, ‘Revisioning Voices’ at the Rajasthan International Center that brought together eminent literati and figures in the field of ‘Interdisciplinary Critical Explorations.’

Literature & Engineering? How can the duo be connected was on everyone’s mind. So, after the customary lamp lighting by the trio of inter-disciplinary fields - Prof. (Dr.) Biswajoy Chatterjee, Vice Chancellor, UEM Jaipur, Prof. Rajul Bhargava, Founder and Editor, VOICES, and Retd. IAS Pawan Arora, CEO of ‘First India’, the day kickstarted deliberations on the inter-connections between language, be that prose, poetry or translation.

Speaking on the occasion, Pawan Arora elucidated coming together of First India with the event was a result of the tutelage of Prof. Rajul Bhargava which goes back a long way to 1986 when he was preparing for the civil services. “We launched VOICES in 2011. Since then, we have held five roundtables, brought out 14 journals, and run 30 issues,” said Professor Rajul Bhargava.

“Literature sparks the imagination and enables technology. Take the instance of Steve Jobs a true visionary whose imagination and relentless pursuit of perfection revolutionized the technology industry,” said Prof. Anisur Rehman a bilingual poet in English and Urdu, translator, literary critic, & former professor of English at Jamia Millia Islamia.

In a session, “What Lies Between Mirrors: Poetry-Urdu-translation,” chaired by Prof. Sudhi Rajiv, Prof Rehman shared his well-researched knowledge about the development of Urdu Poetry in India, the story of how Urdu developed from Persian and Hindi. He showcased a contrast of how Urdu brought and borrowed diverse elements like Krishna Bhakti and Love. In the session on “Riverscapes and Cultural Memory,” Prof (Dr.) Lakshmi Kannan also known by her Tamil pen name ‘Kaaveri,’ in conversation with Prof. Sudha Rai spoke on her “Nadistuti” poems.

Other equally engaging sessions dwelled on ‘Feminist Poetry from Colonial to Contemporary Times with Prof. Sangeeta Sharma and Prof. Sanjukta Dasgupta and Landscapes of Inner Selves: Fluidities in Poetry with Prof. Malashri Lal& Gopal Lahiri in conversation with Prof. Mini Nanda. Prof. Sukrita Paul Kumar in conversation with Dr. Rima Hooja deliberated on “Contextualizing Writers: Writers in Context” and the concluding session chaired by Prof Rashmi Chaturvedi with Prof. Nilufer Bharucha spoke about ‘Indian Diaspora Across Time & Space: Reflections in Literature & Cinema. The vote of thanks was given by Prof. Mukesh Yadav Coordinator, UEM Jaipur.