Mystery of the Girl in Blue Skirt Unveiled

The mystery is finally over. There were 135 versions that people from as far as New Delhi and Noida sent to us for CLS Annual Story Writing Competition that was announced in May.  

Ms Sumita Misra, chairperson, Mr. Vivek Atray, Mr. Madhav Kaushik, and Mr. V.K. Kapoor of Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) gave away the prizes to the winners of its annual short-story writing competition at Beant Singh Memorial Cultural Centre at Chandigarh.

The first prize went to Tript Kaur, who travelled all the way from Delhi to receive the prize.  The second winner was Panchkula SDM, Radhika Singh, and the third winner was Srishti Sood.  The jury had also shortlisted three other stories for special mention, written by Pankaj Sharma of Ambala, whose sister came to receive the prize, J.S. Ghuman, and Sherein Bansal.

The short-stories were adjudged by the panel of judges which comprised former chairperson of Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi Dr Manju Jaidka and Chairperson of Deptt of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University, Prof. Pratibha Nagpal.

Sumita Misra handed over to the winners prizes gifted by Capital Book Depot of Chandigarh along with the certificate.

CLS Chairperson Sumita Misra informed that there was an overwhelming response again this year with 135 entries to the competition that involved completing a short-story from an opening cue, “He was sure that it was her...almost! He walked briskly down the pavement, overtaking several fellow pedestrians.  She wore a white top and a flowing blue skirt. Her hair flew tantalisingly behind her as it used to all those years ago..."

The judges had the tough time reading each story, evaluating it and finally deciding on the winners, said Dr Puneet Kapoor who coordinated the competition.

Sumita Misra informed that the 3rd edition of Chandigarh Literary Society’s signature annual event, Literati 2015, will be held on 6-8 November at the Chandigarh Lake Club in which over 50 noted authors from around the country are participating with book releases, on-the-spot competitions, and exciting cultural evening programmes.

Literati 2015 preparations in full swing

Noted actor, writer, playwright, actress, director Sohaila Kapoor visits Chandigarh for the cultural evening performance

The team of Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) congregated at the city’s landmark spot, the Lake Club, to finalise the arrangements for the upcoming lit fest, LITERATI 2015.

This is the third edition of Literati which is scheduled for 6-7-8 November informed festival director and chairperson of CLS Sumita Misra.

Sohaila Kapur’s latest play Maqalaat would be premiered at Literati, and would be one of the major highlights of the lit fest, and would be performed on the Saturday evening, the 7th November at the Lake Club, she added.

Sohaila was in the city to meet with the team Literati as well as make logistics arrangement for her play. Speaking about her play which revolves around the great 13th century poet Rumi, Sohaila said that we as authors and interpreters of Rumi’s great legendary works are mere “dharohar ke rakhwale” and through this play I attempt to bring back his universal message of love and peace which must lift the veil of darkness full of envy, anger and fear that envelopes the people around us.was in the city to meet with the team Literati as well as make logistics arrangement for her play.

Speaking about her play which revolves around the great 13th century poet Rumi, Sohaila said that we as authors and interpreters of Rumi’s great legendary works are mere “dharohar ke rakhwale” and through this play I attempt to bring back his universal message of love and peace which must lift the veil of darkness full of envy, anger and fear that envelopes the people around us.

Sohaila was in the city to meet with the team Literati as well as make logistics arrangement for her play.

Mr. Vivek Atray informed that Literati 2015 would have noted columnist and author M.J. Akbar at the inaugural session with host of celebrated national and international authors including Vinod Rai, Hugh & Colleen Gantzer, Kiran Nagarkar, Sohail Hashmi, Rakshanda Jalil, Manju Kak, Malvika Karlekar, Jonathan Gil Harris, Ashok Vajpeyi, Sandip Roy, Tishani Doshi, Mridula Koshy,  Nayantara Sahgal, Gul Panag, Anusha Yadav, Nighat Gandhi, Amitabha Bagchi, Amrita Chatterjee, Payal Dhar, Chitra Viraraghvan, Krishan Shastri Devulapalli, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Renana Jhabvala, Munna Dhimman, Himanjali Sankar, Devika Rangachari, Aditi Chaudhary, Surender Mohan Pathak, to name a few who have confirmed their participation.

Other highlights of the Chandigarh lit fest would workshop sessions for budding writers, on-the-spot activities for children, evening cultural entertainments, and live performances.

CLS has ignited interest amongst people of all age group in the region towards creative writing and city has become the perfect launching pad for many of the established as well as the debutant authors to release their books including Anupam Kher, Preeti Shenoy,  Pavan K. Verma, A.S. Dulat, Navtej Sarna, Prof Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Kamla K. Kapur.

Since its formation in 2012, CLS has activated the Chandigarh literary scene by hosting some of the celebrated authors including Anupam Kher, Navtej Sarna, Pavan Varma, Ketan Bhagat, Yousuf Saeed to name just a few, besides organizing various workshops for budding authors, and short-story and poetry writing competitions.