Translation of literature is imperative

Hyderabad: A two-day national seminar on ‘Samakalin Hindi Kavitha aur Kedarnath Singh’ was organised by the department of Hindi and centre for dalit and adivasi translation studies on October 20-21 at the School of Humanities auditorium, University of Hyderabad (UoH).

The objective of this seminar was to celebrate the contributions of Jnanpith awardee and well-known Hindi poet Dr Kedarnath Singh. Participants came from all across the country, many of them who have been disciples of the great poet. Many other poets and academicians from the city were also present to be a part of the honour for Dr Kedarnath Singh.

Welcoming the delegates Prof. E Haribabu, pro vice-chancellor said that it is a great honour for UoH to host the first of its kind seminar being organised after the Jnanpith award has been conferred to Dr Kedarnath Singh.

Dr Kedarnath in his speech stated that translation of literature from Hindi to other languages and vice-versa must be increased which will strengthen the integrity of the writers and the nation. He also opined that the ‘Hindi Divas’ which is celebrated every year must be renamed as ‘Bharatiya Bhasha Divas’ where all languages of the country are celebrated. He also said that the writers and poets must ensure that human values are respected in their literature.

Prof. V Krishna, head of the Hindi department spoke of the humane and soft nature of the distinguished poet which has made him popular among his peers and students.

Dr Arun Kamal, well-known poet and critic while delivering the keynote address said that Dr Kedarnath is a big motivation and influential factor in the present generation of writers in addition to his peers. He spoke about the greatness of Dr Kedarnath’s works that have been translated into many other Indian languages.

Later there was a poets’ meet where poets like K Shiva Reddy, Shikhamani, Venugopal Bhattad, Ahalia Mishra, Pankaj Chaturvedi, Pramod Tiwari to name a few read out their poems.