Bhopal: We are the only nation whose national anthem celebrates different ethnicities, says retired IAS officer Sanjeev Chopra at Bhopal Literature Festival

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The three-day Bhopal Literature and Art Festival began with thought-provoking sessions at Bharat Bhavan on Friday. Festival director Raghav Chandra, Abhilash Khandekar, American-Indian architect Christopher Benninger, Harur Habib and industrialist Govind Dholakia inaugurated the event.

An art exhibition by Padma Shri Bhalu Monde was also inaugurated. The talk sessions organised in Bharat Bhawan auditorium have been named as Antarang.

Retired IAS officer and writer Sanjeev Chopra spoke on Notion of Identity Is Fluid. The first session began with a presentation on his new book, Maps and Milestones - The Making and Remaking of India's Boundaries.

While discussing how and why the political map of India changed between 1947-2019, he said, "The notion of identity is fluid. We are the only nation whose national anthem celebrates different ethnicities.”

Lakshmi Viswanathan, author of Women of Pride: The Devadasi Heritage, conducted the second session. The writer talked about 1000-year-old temple dancers of Tanjore who preserved legacy of music and dance. However, society exploited Devadasis in the name of religion.

Kalki Subramaniam was the speaker of session, Making Literature LGBTQ Neutral. She talked about her awaited book, We Are Not the Others, and said, “Each piece of writing deconstructs the idea of transgender as others. It offers an insider's account of their dreams, desires, hopes, pain and suffering.” She further talked about problems faced by the transgender community in India, the indifference that society treats them with, and how they are taken for granted.

Second session

In the second session, industrialist and author Govind Dholakia said that business should be value-based. Always prioritise quality over quantity. Don't stress about future. Work on your present for a better tomorrow, he added.

Lending advice on prize-winning story, PK Dash said, "Write a story every week. It is possible that few stories are not good but all 52 stories can't be bad."

During the discussion on, Making India a $5 Trillion Economy, Aruna Sharma said, "We are working for a $5 trillion economy. We should not have any shortcut approach. Instead, we should work with a planned and holistic approach. We have 80% of the domestic market and need no one's assistance."