Ooty literary fest comes to a close

Udhagamandalam: The two-day ‘Ooty Literature Festival -2019’ that enthralled readers as well as writers concluded on Saturday.

The second day of the literary festival, which was held at the heritage building, The Nilgiri Library, in Ooty, saw panel discussions on topics like ‘Is reading dead?’ and ‘The many facets of desire’ among other events.

At the panel discussion on ‘Is reading dead?’, writer Umanath Selvan said ability of children in the present generation to be creative and their thought process have changed. “Story telling enhances the bonding between parents and their children,” he said, adding, “Reading habit among the younger generation is definitely not dead.” The other participants in the discussion include writers Khyrunnisa, Veera Das and Arthy Muthanna Singh.

Writers Madhavi Menon and Jerry Pinto talked on ‘The many facets of desire’. Madhavi Menon elaborated on various perspectives of traditions prevailed in India and how the country is drifting away from the original traditions. She said, “We live in an extending western space.”

The day also saw an audio-visual show, ‘Taj Mahal Foxtrot’, which explored ‘the delight and bafflement of jazz’.

Stating that the two-day literary festival was utilized to the fullest, Geetha Srinivasan, trustee of the Ooty Literary Festival organizing committee observed that open exchange of thoughts between writers and audience would bring in new dimensions in storywriting.