On the second day of the biggest Mahakumbh of literature ‘Sahitya Aajtak 2024’, ‘Books, Academy and Fair’ session was organized on the stage. In this session, Secretary of Sahitya Akademi, Dr. K. Srinivasrao, Director of National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language, Prof. Ravi Prakash Tekchandani participated. In this session, the conservation of literature, the promotion of languages and the role of book fairs were discussed. In addition, reflections were shared on the changing definition of literature, the future of books in the digital age and ways to motivate young generations towards reading.
Secretary of Sahitya Akademi, Dr. K. While talking about himself, Srinivasrao said that during his studies he felt the desire to advance in literature. I should do PG in Literature. I can speak in Marathi. My Hindi is not good. He earned a doctorate and a master’s degree in philosophy. I have been a secretary for the last 12 years. Sahitya Akademi organizes many programs every year. There is no threat to literature. The academy also publishes many magazines. The young generation also shows great interest.
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K. Srinivasrao said that people of all languages are committed to their language. 24 Indian languages receive equal treatment at the Sahitya Akademi. Works by writers from many languages have been included in the curriculum. Experiments are being carried out in all languages. Publishing groups also publish good books. Still, good writing should be included in the curriculum. Indian languages are very rich. Indian literature is very rich compared to world literature, there can be no comparison in it.
He said that the job of Sahitya Akademi is to translate a literature into another language and make it available. After the language in which the award is given, we translate the work into 23 other languages, so that people know it. India is a multilingual country. Rajasthani and English are not in the calendar.
Apart from this, there are other languages as well. There are so many languages here that until now we have not been able to exchange literature in each other’s language. If we talk about Koraput district of Odisha, there are 64 languages in one district. Unless we are able to translate our own languages, we will not be able to showcase our translations on international platforms.
What did the director of Sindhi Language say about the Sindhi language in the country?
Ravi Prakash Tekchandani, director of the National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language, said that on April 10, 1967, Sindhi, the language of Sindh, was included in the Constitution. Society brings its own language. It took 20 years for the Sindhi language to be included in the Constitution. There is no harm to the Sindhi language in the country. I was born in Ayodhya, there are very few Sindhis there. From there we traveled to Delhi. It is a journey full of emotions. It is a journey of exiles.
The educational policy has opened doors for the promotion of Indian languages in India. Now medical studies can also be done in Hindi. Many things are going to change regarding language in the next 15 to 20 years. The entire world reads Hindi for the Indian market. Don’t adopt the language as a medium, read a lot of English, but you will see a change in Hindi in the coming years. You must read the National Education Policy.
When we talk about coordination of Indian languages, we say: let us take life with us, let us take the whole world with us. This feeling is inherent to the Indian language. This is what Indian languages teach. Indian languages will continue to be prosperous and this will also provide us with employment.
