Shillong, May 03: The Department of English and Communication Martin Luther Christian University celebrated World Book Day on the 3rdof May 2019 in the University premises with a day-long commemorative programme. The programme was attended by Padma Shri awardee Patricia Mukhim, author and poet, Dr. Ananya Guha and the students of various Departments of the University.
Speaking on the event, Dr. Guha urged the students to express their thoughts in the written form as writing plays a pivotal role. He further stated that the habit of reading should be encouraged especially amongst children who should be made to read outside their curriculum materials especially in this age of the aggressive incursion of fancy gadgets and the Internet that, in turn, slowed down reading substantially. He also narrated his own experience as an author where he described the writing process as one which crystallises the mind leading to mental clarity.
Dr. Guha also commended on the Internet as a platform which gives budding and aspiring authors an independent platform in the form of blogs and forums. He thus encouraged the young people to use these spaces effectively for creative purposes and not for malignity or for spreading fake news. However, all this should be done with a spirit of responsibility all the while ensuring that quality is maintained.
Patricia Mukhim, in her speech, lauded MLCU for organising such an event to celebrate a day that most often goes unremembered. However, she expressed concern over the fact that young people in educational institutions do not raise their voices in writing even when they see prevailing problems and ills around them and joined Dr Guha in encouraging the young varsity students to exercise their writing abilities. She also stressed on the importance of reading as a tool of fertilising the mind and developing an inquisitive mindset.
This was followed by a conversation between Patricia Mukhim and Dr. Glenn Kharkongor, the Chancellor of MLCU where a chapter from Patricia Mukhim’s Waiting for an Equal World: Gender in India’s Northeast, recently released by MLCU, pertaining to gender and human rights, was discussed and analysed.
As part of the celebration, the Department also organised a Cover designing competition where participating students designed a cover of their favourite books, a Character Costume Challenge where the students dressed up as their favourite literary characters and a story-telling competition. The event culminated with a book exchange ceremony.
