Madhya Pradesh News: In today’s era, where discussions are being held on different topics, the need for serious thinking regarding children’s literature is also being felt. Often children’s literature is considered to be limited only to the poems and stories of textbooks, but children’s curiosity and their imagination demand much more than this. It is not enough to just give children information about any object or person, but it is also necessary to connect them with history, mythological events, national religion, bravery, relationships, environment, policy, knowledge and entertainment, so that their character can be built.
Taking this thinking forward, litterateur and actress Geetika Vedika organized ‘Children’s Literature Seminar and Discussion’ in the first week of May under the aegis of Samarpayami Foundation Tikamgarh. The event was named ‘Amma ki Bagiya’ under the chairmanship of Balagopal, which attracted everyone’s attention.
Dr. Vikas Dave was the chief guest
The chief guest of this grand children’s cultural event was Dr. Vikas Dave, Director of Sahitya Academy of Madhya Pradesh Government. Many litterateurs of Tikamgarh were present in the program. These include RP Tiwari, Gulab Singh Bhau, Rajiv Namdev Rana, Pramod Gupta Mridul, Munnalal Mishra, Satyanarayan Tiwari, SR Saral, Swapnil Tiwari, Ravindra Yadav, Vishal Kada, Anwar Sahil, MS Srivastava, Leena Kulathia, Rashmi Goyal, Meenu Gupta, Preeti Singh Parmar, Ajit Srivastava, Puranchandra Gupta, Kaushal Kishore Bhatt, Pandit Mahendra Dwivedi, A large number of boys and girls including Sheelchandra Jain, Vijay Mehta, Ram Gopal Raikwar and Chand Muhammad Akhir were also present.
Event organized on the birthday of Uma Devi Parashar
This event was organized on the birthday of Geetika Vedika’s mother Uma Devi Parashar. It was organized not just as a seminar but as a children’s literature workshop. Uma Devi Parashar used to teach children’s songs through music in Saraswati Shishu Mandir in her youth. Taking inspiration from him, Geetika Vedika played an active role in the field of literature.
The program started with lighting of the lamp and ‘Ya Kundendu Tusharhar Dhawala’ Saraswati Vandana. After this, Dr. Vikas Dave was welcomed by applying tilak, presenting him shawl, quince and Samarpayami’s mascot symbol Jyotideep. Yogeshwar Parashar, an alumnus of Geetika Vedika and Saraswati Shishu Mandir, honored him. In the ‘Guest Book Launch Session’, litterateurs presented their self-written books to him.
Need for innovation in children’s literature
In his address, Dr. Vikas Dave said that Uma Devi was his predecessor Acharya and he has come here to pay his respects to her. He suggested that children’s literature and children’s songs written by Uma Devi should be collected.
Dr. Dave said that Geetika Vedika has done a new experiment by getting Laddu Gopal to preside over the children’s literature seminar and such innovations are needed in children’s literature today. Referring to his life, he said that after completing Higher Secondary, he became Acharya in Saraswati Shishu Mandir and later also remained the Principal. Later, he edited Vidya Bharati’s children’s literature magazine ‘Devputra’.
He told that when the popularity of newspapers and magazines was continuously decreasing, ‘Devputra’ magazine had set a world record by achieving a circulation of three lakh seventy one thousand.
Concern expressed over the demise of magazines like Parag and Nandan
Dr. Dave expressed concern over the closure of popular children’s magazines like Parag and Nandan. He said that in such a time, the event being organized by Geetika Vedika regarding children’s literature is very important and commendable. He praised Geetika Vedika’s psychological and interesting children’s literature and said that she should continue to fulfill this responsibility.
There is a need to connect children with real heroes, not imaginary ones.
Dr. Dave, who has directly interacted with seven to eight lakh children in his life, said that the great men shown in comics and other mediums are mostly imaginary and cannot become ideals. He said that great heroes like Veer Shivaji, Veer Savarkar and Maharana Pratap are our real role models and children should take inspiration from their lives.
Giving the example of Maharana Pratap, he said that this great warrior, who showed bravery in Haldighati, had protected the honor of the nation. He used to lift a spear weighing eighty kilos and his armour, protective chains and headgear were made of heavy iron. His name is immortal in history for his bravery, courage, bravery and sacrifice. Dr. Dave said that children’s role models should be such superheroes and not imaginary characters like Sabu and Chacha Chaudhary. He said that children should be protected from leftist and western influences and should be introduced to historical bravery stories.
Appreciating the idea of respecting parents
Dr. Dave said that he has come to this program not as the director of Sahitya Akademi, but on the invitation of Geetika Vedika, who is doing serious work in the field of children’s literature. He said that he has come here to pay his respects and best wishes to his predecessor Acharya Uma Devi Parashar. He also appreciated the idea of Geetika Vedika, in which it was said to celebrate the birth anniversary and other events of the parents in front of them, so that they experience happiness and respect.
Message of environmental protection also given
Home made dishes and gourmet items were served during the refreshments program. Food was served in bowls and contaminated materials like thermocol were completely prohibited. This initiative also made the environment friendly idea of ’Amma Ki Bagiya’ meaningful.
‘Children’s meetings’ will be held regularly
Operator Geetika Vedika looked emotional while expressing her gratitude. He said that Dr. Vikas Dave, who has a keen eye on the thinking of children’s literature, came to his house and made the event more beautiful than his imagination. She expressed gratitude to all the litterateurs, children and colleagues present and announced that now such creative seminars will be organized regularly in ‘Amma Ki Bagiya’, which she calls ‘Balsabha’.
Organizing such an event keeping children’s literature at the center by a small organization like Samarpayami in Tikamgarh city is indeed considered a commendable and inspiring initiative.