Nine contemporary poets recited verses in Hindi and Urdu here at a 'Kavita Samay' organised by Bharatiya Jnanpith, to commemorate 70 years of its establishment.
The event sought to recognise the art of writing poetry in the two languages.
The convention, an annual affair begun 11 years ago by the then management trustee of Bharatiya Jnanpith, Akhilesh Jain, in the memory of his late father, Sahu Ramesh Chandra Jain.
"Kavita Samay is among the highest poetry conventions organised by the institute. It is dedicated to poets who excel in the art of expression through their words. Contemporary poetry is incomplete without these poets," Leeladhar Mandloi, Director, Bharatiya Jnanpith, said.
Recitations were conducted by the poets Mohammad Alvi, Naresh Saxena, Hasan Kamal, Shakeel Azmi, Sheen Kaaf Nizaam, Jayant Parmar, Vishnu Nagar, Savita Bhargav and Madan Mohan Danish.
"Originality is the forte of these poets. Their compositions offer a ray of hope to fight all odds even in the most adverse of circumstances," Mandloi said.
Amidst exclamations of appreciation from the gathered audience, the event began with a recital by Madan Mohan Danish. The 54-year-old poet from Gwalior recited a composition on the deceitful nature of Time.
Themes like hypocrisy, inequality in society, loneliness, and gender discrimination were put to verse by the poets.
The 2015 'Garima Manad Alankaran' award to Urdu scholar Shamim Hanfi was also announced at the event.
Founded earlier this year, the award recognises the contribution of writers in Indian languages.
The Bharatiya Jnanpith was founded to undertake systematic research and publication of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali and Apabhramsha texts and covers subjects like religion, philosophy, logic, ethics, grammar, astrology and poetics.
It annually publishes books in Hindi (both original and translated works) and other languages, and also presents the literary awards, the Jnanpith Awards and the Moortidevi Award, besides awards for upcoming writers.
