Literary festival to focus on wildlife conservation

Set in the foothills of Himalayas surrounding Nainital and Corbett, Kumaon Festival of Literature and Arts, this year, will focus on wildlife conservation and sustainable living.
The two-day long festival that begins tommorrow, will see speakers like conservationist M K Ranjithsinh, author-film maker Janaki Lenin and writer-conservationist Prerna Bindra among others.
Organised by Siyahi, a Jaipur-based literary consultancy, the festival will open at Abbotsford Heritage Hotel in Nanital and then move to The Gateway Resort in Corbett on October 8.
Mentored by author Namita Gokhale and Rishi Suri, the festival that strives to celebrate the cultural and literary aspects of the Kumaon region, this time, will raise sme pertinent questions about environmental issues.

"Looking forward to the autumn splendour of the mountains, and to the resonance of Himalayan Echoes, this coming weekend," Gokhale said.
Sessions like 'Sustainability and Organic Livelihood in Uttrakhand', and 'Saving the Lake District' have been carefully crafted to lend to this year's theme.

In a session titled 'Jungle Mein Mangal- Music of the Forest and Nature', actor Vani Tripathi will discuss Indian cinema and music.
During the festival, writer Ira Pande will re-create the iconic stories written by her mother Shivani, an eminent Hindi writer from Kumaon.
The festival will also see the launch of Kalptaru Magazine, an initiative of the Kalptaru Vrikshmitr Organisation, by Ranjithsinh, Ritesh Bhatt and Miteshwar Anand.

"It's a platform to encourage authors, poets and other creative minds to help make a change in peoples' mindsets and habitats. It's time to give back to Uttarakhand and what better way to engage the young and old, in a meaningful dialogue, to give a voice to the talent of writers, artists, singers of Kumaon in the most scenic setting of the lake town," Janhavi, festival director and founder of Nainital Book Club, said.