THE recent cultural and literary festival organized by Navodaya Cultural Forum in Jubail drew as many as 4,000 expatriates and their families, who thronged various stalls and pavilions of the fest, bracing the freezing winter wind. A literary seminar, book fair, valedictory function, handicrafts fair, and culinary show was held as part of the one-day festival of Kerala titled “Malayalolsavam” (Malayalam Festival). The fest, the first of its kind in the Kingdom, also saw a gathering of prominent Keralite writers, poets and cultural figures from all parts of the Kingdom. Children enthralled the audience with a variety of their artistic performance, including folk dances and songs that showcased the diverse cultures interacting with rich traditions of India at the sprawling Farmhouse venue in Juhaima on the Dammam-Jubail highway. The fest started with paying tribute to King Abdullah. A seminar with the theme of “Malayalam literature: Present and future” was the major highlight of the event. Eminent Indian writer and literary critic E.P. Rajagopalan was the keynote speaker in the seminar, in which Jubail-based well-known writer PJJ Antony was the moderator. In his speech, Rajagopalan highlighted the role of writers in protecting the values of society from the onslaught of consumer capitalism. He called upon writers to use their writing as a double-edged weapon to give a stiff resistance to the mass marketing techniques of multinationals as well as to save India's pluralist secular fabric from the growing threat of the Fascist Hindutwa forces. “As an aftermath of consumer capitalism, people in general tend to lead a much easier and comfortable life, and subsequently they are hesitant to take up challenges in life. They become more selfish, greedy, and hypocritical so as to lose their caliber and creativity in effectively responding and reacting to social evils,” he said while pointing out that this is more evident from their approach to literature and reading. Rajagopalan urged writers to strive to preserve their identity, and portray the real problems facing the society. “A comprehensive study about any people involves a critical analysis of their literature apart from their history. Literature is like a mirror reflecting the ethos of society, and hence writers have to play a historic role in portraying true problems of the society and guard it from degradation and potential threats,” he said. The writer also called for concerted efforts to defeat the capitalist techniques that aim to destroy the real strength of arts and literature to highlight the issues of society and protect their freedom of expression. “People are now more prone to consumer culture and thus becoming more and more formal with a growing tendency to withdraw into their own shells. Inaction and alienation are the alarming result of this undesirable scenario, and writers should understand this problem and counter it with their writings,” he said while demanding writers to speak for those segments who are marginalized in the society, besides working for a better world order. Navodaya patron Bashir Varod inagurated the literary seminar. Writers from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam also spoke on the occasion. They included Joseh Athirunkal, Abu Iringattiri, Jayachandran Neruvambram, Hassan Cheruppa, Gopi Nedungadi, Murali Ravindran, Pradip Kottiyam, Abdul Azeez, Peadeep Lakshmanan and Reena Therayil. Antony, who was also chairman of the literary festival, highlighted the new trends in Malayalam literature and main challenges facing writers. “Apolitical has become the politics of most of the contemporary writers. The gap between elite literature and pulp literature has narrowed and many writers are running after popularity and money by luring common readers with their pulp literature,” he said, while underscoring the need for more creative works on upholding the values of social justice and real issues of the common men without compromising on the dignity, ethics, and self esteem of writers. In his speech, Athirunkal drew attention to the tendency of sidelining some branches of literature in discussions and debates. “It is unfortunate that there is no inclusiveness and almost all discussions are restricted to mainly novels, short stories, and poetry. It is high time to change this trend,” he said while calling for creative works on the life and issues of expatriates. On his part, Iringattiri lamented losing the rustic beauty in homeland in the wake of emergence of a consumer-based society. “People have become more and more greedy and less empathetic, and they have no time to share the worries and concerns of others,” he said.
Jubail Navodaya Secretary Umesh Kalarikkal welcomed the gathering and Renjith Panikker proposed the vote of thanks. A poetry collection of Bappu Thenjippalam titled “Pokkuvail” was released by Abu Iringattiri by presenting a copy to Jubail Navodaya Chairman Premraj Manikkara. In their speeches, Manikkara and Kalarikkal emphasized that Navodaya, one of the largest expatriate organizations in the Gulf, is focusing more on the cultural and literary activities of expatriates as well as on humanitarian activities. The fest also witnessed spectacular performance of traditional Indian dance forms such as Mohiniyattam, Bharatha Natyam, Margamkali, Oppana, Kathak, Daff muttu, Kolattom, Odissi, and Dandiya Garbha along with regional folk dances. About 150 talented teens mesmerized the audience with their marvelous performance and display of talent showcasing India's unique cultural diversity and folk art forms, and delivering a wonderful mood of ‘unity in diversity'. The dances were choreographed by Vidya Pramod, Amrutha Murali, Jaini Jojo, Kala, Clint Kalabhavan, Sowjanya, and Nisha. A skit named “Kunjunnimashum Kuttikalum” written by Asha Murali and directed by Sajida Sabu captivated the audience. MK Jayakrishnan played the role of eminent Malayalam poet Kunjunni and made it memorable with his subtle performance supported by his physical features resembling the late poet. “Meet the Author” program was also held for students who have proved their talent in creative writing. The participants were given three short stories for advance reading and authors of the stories PJJ Antony, Abu Irungattiri and Joseph Athirumkal were present to answer children's curious queries. Jubail International Indian School teacher Sanil Kumar presided over the session. The festival marked the culmination of the three-year long program ‘Ente Malayalam' (My Malayalam) conducted for children in order to acquaint them with their mother tongue and culture. There was an unprecedented response from the Indian community living in Jubail and Dammam who thronged the stalls selling traditional Indian cuisine and handicrafts. The festival was steered by an organizing committee comprising Premraj Manikkara (chairman), P. Rashid (program coordinator), Bennet Raj (chairman of Reception/Logistics Committee) and members — Vivek Nair, M.C. Sunil Kumar, Lakshmanan K, Shahida Shanawaz, Asha Murali, Renjith Panikker and Reshmi Murali. Welcome arches, display arrangements and stage was designed by a team led by Vijayan Chelari. Politician seeks initiatives to highlight India's rich diversity Prominent cultural activist and member of Kerala Legislative Assembly K.T. Jaleel made a clarion call to Indian writers and cultural figures to rise to occasion to resist the onslaught of Fascist Hindutva forces to destroy the secular fabric and diversity of India. Inaugurating the valedictory function of Jubail Navoday's Literary Festival, Jaleel underscored the need for more and more initiatives to highlight the rich diversity of India. “Writers shall be in the forefront of the fight against the growing trends to sow seeds of hatred and venom in the minds of India's predominantly secular 1.2 billion pluralist society. It is high time to lead a struggle to defeat forces of division through creating intensive awareness among people about upholding the secular credentials and harmonious coexistence of all segments of the society,” he said. Jaleel, who is also a prominent academic, emphasized the decisive role language and culture have to play in strengthening bonds of friendship and unity among followers of various religions in India. “Unity in diversity is the strength of India and any attempt to undermine this concept would be detrimental to the country. Our culture, arts, literature and languages are playing much bigger role as a unifying force and they should be used to save the nation from the threats from communal forces.” While drawing attention to the silence of writers about the threat of fascist Hindutva forces, Jaleel cited the famous quotation of prominent German Protestant Pastor Martin Niemoller, an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler, about the inaction and cruel silence of writers about the impending threat of Nazis. “If we continue the inaction, the country will eventually lose its tolerance, diversity and inclusiveness which are the pillars of our pluralist society. There should be concerted efforts to defeat the tendency of imposing religious fanaticism in the name of faith,” he said while noting that even multinationals are using godmen to market their products. Premraj Manikkara presided over the meeting in which E.P. Rajagopalan, PJJ Antony, T.C. Shaji, and George Varghese delivered speeches. P. Rashid welcomed the gathering.
Grocery seller runs library for expats A book fair, exhibiting more than 1,000 books, was a major highlight of the Malayalam Festival. Books in different categories of novel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticism, dictionaries, world classics, children's literature, travelogues, and religious books were on display at the fair. Such a fair, with an extensive display of books meant for expatriates, was being held for the first time in the Kingdom, Antony told Saudi Gazette. Antony, an avid reader and literary critic, contributed about 500 books from his home library to the fair. A special display section was arranged for books authored by gulf based Keralite writers. Books of over 30 writers, including Sithara, Muzafer Ahmed, Benyamin, PJJ Antony, Abu Iringattiri, Joseph Athirumkal, Karunakaran, Hassan Cheruppa, Asmo Puthenchira, AM Muhammed, Dr. TP Nazer, Surab, M. Faizel, and Beena Faizel were on display. “There was a continuous flow of visitors to the exhibition throughout the day, and many of them disappointed after realizing that the books were not for sale. Many fans found spending long time going through the works of their favorite authors passionately,” Antony said. The section for books of A.K. Basheer from Kozhikode was the major attraction of the fair. Basheer, who works at a grocery store in Jubail, is also running a home-library. “There are more than 500 books at the library and tens of thousands of expatriates have so far benefited from these books. As a passionate reader I am proud that I was instrumental in making large number of expatriates good readers.” Basheer said that Navodaya workers, as well as his relatives and friends including George, Francis, and son in law Anwar Sadiq are doing a great voluntary work in making available of books to interested expatriates and collect them after reading free of charge. “Only those books that I read and found good for readers are included in the library. Whenever any book found not good for reading, I used to withdraw them immediately and destroy them,” he said. Basheer expressed happiness that his children have inherited his reading habit and that helped them to score success stories in academic field. “It was their reading habit that helped them substantially to get admission to study medicine, chartered accountancy and mechanical engineering courses,” he said while urging expatriates to encourage their children to develop the habit of reading as part and parcel of their life.
