Udhagamandalam: The third edition of the two-day Ooty Literary Festival began at the Nilgiri Library on Commissioner’s Road here on Friday. The event saw participation of a good number of readers as well as authors. Among them were 20 students from Aditi Malya School in Bengaluru.The occasion was graced by the presence of eminent writers such as Shantha Gokhale, Patrick French, Pankaj Sekhsaria and Jerry Pinto, among others.The showstopper, however, was a poetry session by Ranjit Hoskote, Mustansir Dalvi and Srividya Sivakumar. The environment and writing green session by Pankaj Sekhsaria was also well received by the audience.Besides the toxic effects of social media and demand for its regulation, credible mainstream journalism was also discussed on the first day of the literary festival.Speaking on the occasion, Shanta Gokhale, who was awarded the lifetime achievement award by the literary festival committee, said, “Nowadays, republic of hope has turned into a republic of fear for thinkers and writers.” The lifetime award comprised a citation and a cash prize of Rs 1lakh.The Sangeeth Natak Akademi awardee said public interest litigation (PIL) was originally created to help the powerless individual seek justice against the all-powerful state. “It was a huge blessing then. Today, it has become more of a curse for writers and artists. They use the old weapon of ostracism to make life unbearable for the writers and artists.”Stating that the event was meant to celebrate books and libraries, Geetha Srinivasan, president of the Nilgiri Library, said the literary festival would continue as an annual event. “With more topics, the festival could inspire local authors. It’s also an earnest effort to make books reach the younger generation.”With Jerry Pinto as advisor, the organizing committee of Ooty Literary Festival has Geetha Srinivasan as managing trustee, Yash Muthanna and Gerard Pinto as trustees and Greaves Henriksen as convener.

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