Noted authors advice gen-next writers at Sahitya Akademi

Eminent Hindi author Chitra Mudgal today urged young authors to write about stories of the rarely written about common man and place more emphasis on their native languages.
She was speaking at the 'Yuva Sahiti' Young Writers' Meet at the ongoing Festival of Letters in Sahitya Akademi.
Mudgal, the first woman writer to have received the 'Vyas Samman' a literary prize awarded annually by the K K Birla Foundation is considered a torch bearer for younger generation of writers.
"Mere seene mein nahi to tere seene mein sahi/ Ho kahin bhi aag lekin aag jalni chaahiye (If not in my heart let it be in your heart/ Wherever it is but the fire should be lit" she said quoting from the poet Dushyant Kumar's collection of ghazals "Saaye Main Dhoop."

Despite much of Indian literature including epics like the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and other sacred texts, narrating tales that have been passed on through generations Mudgal says the focus has always been about the royals.
"Where are the subjects of these kings? All we are told is that the king's subjects were happy. But, we don't know how they felt. We don't know their stories!" she said

She pointed out that literature was essentially the documentation of emotions of people, which she said was largely missing in the existing collection.
"Now open the doors of the hitherto unexplored minds and tell their stories," she said.

She cited the increasing inclination towards writing in English that led to the subsequent deterioration of the vernacular, and urged young writers to take pride in their mother tongues. She said the onus of preserving these languages rested on the next generation.
"Assume responsibility of saving your mother tongue. Write in it and take pride in it," she said.