Poets, writers ambassadors of India's rich culture, heritage:

Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma today said that poets, writers and artistes were the mirror of the society and the ambassadors of India's rich culture and heritage.
Speaking at the inaugural event of the Jashn-e-Adab poetry festival here, he said that by calling a spade a spade, poets, writers, and journalists do a great service to the society.
The minister also paid tribute to Indian classical singer Girija Devi, who passed away earlier this week.
"The ambassadors of India's rich culture, heritage, and arts makes it the strongest in the world. A part of that strong wall, Girija Devi left us recently.

"But I believe, one is not known for what they get in legacy, but for what they leave behind. We will forever be indebted to her for the legacy she has left behind," he said.
The sixth edition of the poetry and literary festival began today at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).

"Artistes, poets, writers and journalists are the mirror of the society. And if the mirror is removed, we will never be able to know what is real.
"If these people were not there, we would become untamed. When a writer picks a pen and a poet comes to the mic, they put out everything truly that's in their hearts. You need the heart of a soldier to do that," the minister said.

The evening also witnessed poet-politician Karan Singh speaking about the spiritual aesthetics of Indian culture and Member Secretary of the IGNCA, Sachchidanand Joshi, deliver a speech on the social relevance of art and culture.
The evening concluded with a Hindustani classical performance by Padma Bhushan awardee Chhannulal Mishra and a Sufi singing session by Ustaad Ahmed Hussain and Ustaad Mohd. Hussain.
The three-day festival will have panel discussions, poetry sessions, film screenings and 'mushairas'.
The event will be attended by actor-lyricist Piyush Mishra, actor M K Raina, poet-lyricist Irshad Kamil, poet Shamim Hanfi among other eminent personalities from the world of literature and cinema.

It will end on October 29 with a 'kavi sammelan', which will be attended by Ashok Chakradhar, Gopal Das Neeraj, Farhat Ehsaas and other renowned poets of Hindi and Urdu.