LITERATURE CONCLAVE

 

REPORT - LITERATURE CONCLAVE HELD AT DAV PUBLIC SCHOOL, SECTOR 14, GURUGRAM ON 5^TH NOVEMBER 2022

 

“Keep Reading. It is one of the most marvellous adventures that anyone can have.” (Lloyd Alexander)

The Literature Conclave held at DAV PUBLIC SCHOOL, SECTOR 14, GURUGRAM on 5^th November 2022 was a festival of reading and writing. The event was organized in collaboration with all the DAV schools of Cluster IV(DAV Public School, Sector-14, Gurugram,DAV Public School, Uppal’s Southend, Sector-49, Gurugram, DAV Police Public School, Bhondsi and R.R.J.S. DAV Public School, Hailly Mandi,), as an attempt to make literature enthusiasts delve into myriad forms of writing. Dr Nisha Peshin, Director, Public Schools, DAV College Managing Committee and Ms Prem Lata Garg, the Manager of the school presided over as the Chief Guest and the Guest of honour respectively. Eminent dignitaries from different fields – media, literature, entertainment industry among others graced the occasion and shared their experiences in the field of literature and the world of books. The event was attended by Principals, administrative heads,teachers, parents, media personnel and students.

As a countdown to the main day, a plethora of events were organized at the intra school level to spread the love for literature amongst the students.  This very idea was proactively taken up by our prestigious schools, in the form of multiple events; each different for every class. For the 7th Grade we had Book Cover Designing.  For the 8^th Grade, each language had its own activity; English- Story Pyramid, Hindi: Katha Maanchitra and Sanskrit: Svaranjali. The 9^th Graders expressed their creativity through the event: WeaveA Story.  The 10th Grade students enthusiastically participated in Shunya Se Srijan, a Creative Writing Competition. The 11^th Grade students brought out their multiple talents through the event Paint A Poem and 12^th Grade students expressed their calligraphic skills through the competition Penmanship. Each activity motivated the students and signaled them in every possible way about how literature is so very essential. These activities set pace and created a tempo for the main event.

 

On the day of the main event, the whole school was decorated with themes in sync with literature.  Characters from famous classical literary works were brought alive through character dramatization by the students of the Dramatics Clubs. Children portrayed as Sherlock Holmes, Shakuntala, Shylock, Nancy Drew etc welcomed and ushered in the guests.

 

A cordial welcome was accorded to the guests followed by the DAV GAAN and a Saraswati Vandana performed by the students to invoke the blessings of Goddess, Saraswati. A mesmerizing dance ‘Resilience’ based on the song “Jeete Hai Chal” was performed by the students of DAV Public School, Sector 49, Upaal Southend, Gurugram. The Principal of the host school, DAV Public School, Sector 14, Gurugram, Ms. Aparna Erry, addressed the audience and motivated children to inculcate reading habits in them as it is a gateway skill that makes all other skills possible.

 

Mr. Sanjay Singh Baghel was the first speaker to take the stage. He is an academician teaching Advertising, Public Relations, Media Management, Interpersonal communication, Media and Society, Media Language and Literature  at The Prestigious Delhi University. Professor Baghel is a true motivational icon and a career counsellor. In addition to this he is anactive academic member of the Asian Academy For Media Studies, Noida, The Public Relations Society, The Assosiation Of Business Communications and The Shiksha Foundation. 

 

In his talk, which was beautifully supported by an engrossing PPT, Mr. Baghel talked about the various avenues available in literature and motivated students through various real life anecdotes and inspirational stories. He also gave an insight to his motivational book ‘Udaan’ which he later gifted to the esteemed guests present there.

The next guest to take the stage was Mr. Arun Gemini, an Indian writer, poet and satirist and TV personality from Haryana, India. He was awarded Kaka Hathrasi Award for outstanding contribution in the literary field by the Hindi Academy, Government of Delhi in 2000. Arun Gemini was honored with Haryana Gaurav Samman (Award) by the Haryana Sahitya Akadami, Government of Haryana in July 2014.He hosted various TV shows including Doordarshan's Dharti Ka Aanchal, Zee TV's Darasal, DD Metro's Taal Betal and Zee India's Yahi Hai Politics. He has also appeared on Wah! Wah! Kya Baat Hai! and Sony TV's The Kapil Sharma Show.

 

He enthralled the audience with his ‘Hasya Kavita’ Recital and left the audience asking for more.

 

 The next event was a PANEL DISCUSSION on the topic – Career Opportunities in the field of Literature.  The Panel comprised of three esteemed panelists, who are all stalwarts in their respective fields.

Ms. Aditi Maheshwari is the executive director at India’s oldest independent family managed Hindi publishing house, Vani Prakashan Group which celebrates secular, polemic and intellectual voices that reflect the movements in social and political spaces in the form of books and journals.  Ms. Aditi is also an alumnus of DAV. She completed her higher education from top reputed institutions like The TATA Institute of Social Sciences, Hans Raj College (New Delhi) and the University of Strathclyde. She is also an avid reader and a bibliophile.

 

RJ Raghu Raftaar a.k.a. Raghav Gupta is a popular radio jockey who has entertained listeners for over 9 years. His engaging personality, distinct voice, unique style, and quick wit have made him a household name in the city of Uttar Pradesh.Currently, RJ Raghu Raftaar is the On-Air host of the prime-time show on Kanpur Radio City owned by DainikJagran. In addition to his radio career, RJ Raghu Raftaar has also ventured into television anchoring & voice overs for many leading brands, like Tata Sky, Eggoz. He has also ventured into podcasts for many leading brands of India, Audio dramas, Ad vo, Showreel, Narration, AI voices & radio commercials.

 

Ms. Prem Lata Garg, Manager of DAV Public School, Sector 14, Gurugram has been honoured by the Delhi State with the ‘Rajya Siksha Samman’ for adopting an innovative approach in teaching, she was also conferred upon with the ‘Shikshak Samman’ by the Central Board of Secondary Education. Under her guidance, DAV Public School, Sreshtha Vihar was declared the All India Winner of Computer Literacy Excellence Award in the Schools Category by the Ministry of Information and Technology, Government of India. She has also been honoured by different State and National organizations for her result-oriented innovations and supremely effective use of modern technology as a teaching aid in the field of education. The DAV College Managing Committee too conferred upon her a gold medal for her important contribution in the field of education and for her commendable service to society.

The Panel Discussion was moderated by Mrs. Anju Joshi, PGT (English) and Ms. Anju Mishra, TGT (Hindi). As the discussion got on way, each panelist talked about their specialized fields. Ms. Aditi Maheshwari talked about Careers in publishing, editing and writing.  She enthusiastically interacted with the audience, raised questions and gave very practical answers and solutions.

The next panelist RJ Raghu talked about his journey as a Radio Jockey.  In a highly motivational way, he talked about the hurdles that came and how he overcame them through persistence and hard work. Ms. Prem Lata Ma’am gave the takeaways of the Panel Discussion and reinforced the power of literature.  She urged the audience to Read More and Write More.

 

 

After the Panel Discussion, our illustrious Alumni took the stage and shared their words of wisdom with the audience.  Mr. Hari Kumar Krishnamurthy is a screenwriter and bestselling author of spine chilling horror and psychological thriller fiction. He specializes in writing creepy stories with strong psychological reasoning.  His book, India’s Most Haunted comprising 50 short horror stories has been deemed by the TOI as a must-read horror book. His psychological horror, The Other Side of Her spawned the web series, Brahm starring Kalki Koechlin. His THAT FREQUENT VISITOR was the only novel written by an Indian writer to be featured on amazon.com’s list of bestselling horror titles.  He has also penned Malayalam Feature Film ‘e’.  DAKHMA, the psychological horror has been acquired for screen adaptation by national award winning filmmaker Mr Sanjoy Nag.

 

Mr. Hari gave a brief description of his writing journey and shared with the students that persistence is the key towards being a successful writer.  He read a few lines from his book ‘Dakhma’.  He also shared a small trailer video of the same.

 

The next alumna was Damini Rathore, author of the book ‘In Good hours with Frost’.  She is a student of our batch 2013. She is a phenomenal poet and author. She graduated in BA History Honours from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, the Delhi University.

 

Damini presented a piece of Poetry called ‘Becoming’.  Her rendition in meditative style left the audience mesmerized.

 

Ms. Prachi Sachdev, alumna is a Poetess, Author, Blogger and Artist. She is synonymous with everything creative. She is a Millennium city native and a fearless writer who does not hesitate to express her opinion on topics that are not openly talked about. A passionate storyteller, Prachi specializes in crafting poetry in two languages, Hindi and English that are usually women-centric. As a featured blogger she has won several accolades for writing. She believes that words have the power to change our life

 

She gave a Book Introduction and summarized her newly launched book – ‘Dear Son, You Can’t Stay Little Always’.

 

The highlight of the Conclave was the magnificent dramatization of the book ‘Let Them Fly: My Tryst with Kids’ written by Dr. Nisha Peshin. The audience was thrilled when the characters from various chapters of the book suddenly became animated and came alive on the stage.

The characters enacted the anecdotal stories.  Then, the breathing book unfolded the ‘Takeaways’, which were learning lessons for parents and teachers.

The author, Dr.(Mrs.) Nisha Peshin, was delighted to watch her book breathing, acting and talking. This dramatization was followed by the BOOK COLLOQUY: ‘LET THEM FLY’. In the engaging session, many teachers and parents present in the audience raised queries regarding various nuances of the book, which Nisha Ma’am answered aptly.

 

Budding Authors from D.A.V. Public School, Sector 14, Gurugram brought zing and zest to the stage while talking about their thrills and travails in their journey towards becoming published authors.

Shubham Sharma of IX F acquainted the audience with his fictional genre ‘The Troubled Trip’.

Manasvi Yadav of VII A delved passionately in her book ‘Flights of Joy’ where she discussed about the short story penned by her. But the star of the Budding Authors Parade was Archini Sarangal of Grade III who stole the show as the youngest and the most adorable author for her book ‘The Handsome King and his Magical Ring’.

 

The authors of the first student authorship book ‘World in my Palm’ of DAV Public School Sector -49 Gurugram – AamyaDhingra, AritraChakrabarti, Chitra Gupta, Disha Jaiswal, Harshda Chhabra, Himakshi Kapoor, Krishna Yadav, Mishthi Kumar, NitaraKataria, Priya Pandey, Renisha Arya, Ria Yadav, Shashwat Goyal, Vidhotma Yadav, all from grade XII answered the questions related to the stories written by them. They also shared their journey of writing the stories featured in the book. It was quite delightful to see the talented budding authors talking about their inspirations and ideologies.

 The other budding authors of DAV Public School, Sector-49, Gurugram who got their books published independently also participated in the event. These authors were from grade IX- TanviChanana and Samridhi- Co authors of ‘Besties Forever’ talked about their experience of writing this book together and how they wish to continue writing with each other’s support.  Vanshika Saxena- author of Living a Joyful Life talked about how the pandemic motivated her to write about ways to take care of our mental health and Anika Joshi- poet of poem ‘My Mother’ published in the book ‘The Void’ expressed her gratitude to her mother who is her constant source of  inspiration and support.

All the Budding Authors displayed creativity, clarity, attention to detail, originality and discernment in their style of writing and inspired their peers to exercise their creative freedom while writing their literary pieces. The young authors were proud and elated to share the stage with the luminaries. They were congratulated by ma’am Nisha Peshin and they also presented a copy of their book to the worthy guests.

A Vote of Thanks was extended to the entire team who were instrumental in bringing together the Literature Conclave.

The event concluded with the NATIONAL ANTHEM.  The Guests, Panelists, audience and all the participants enjoyed a sumptuous lunch.

The Conclave certainly ignited the love for reading and writing in the audience.