The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR/ RANCHI, DEC 30
Keeping in view the health and safety of all concerned during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 edition of Tata Steel Bhubaneswar and Tata Steel Jharkhand Literary Meets have been put off for the time being.
On the development, Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel, said: “We are indeed disappointed to be unable to host the Tata Steel Bhubaneswar and Jharkhand Literary meets this year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a responsible corporate, the health and safety of our patrons is our greatest concern. We hope to be back with the next edition of the premier literary meets with increased participation of all our stakeholders.”
The Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Literary Meet and the Tata Steel Jharkhand Literary Meet were launched in 2016 and 2017, respectively, with the belief that culturally-rich regions like Odisha and Jharkhand need a festival that would celebrate literary and allied cultural pursuits – dance, music, recitation, and theatrical performances. The idea was to take Odisha and Jharkhand to a wider world audience and to bring the world closer to both the culturally-rich States in eastern India.
Malavika Banerjee, Director of the Tata Steel Bhubaneswar and Jharkhand Literary Meets said: “Tata Steel Bhubaneswar and Jharkhand Literary Meet’s plans for January 2021 are kept in abeyance in view of the pandemic. The edifice of this festival was hosting writers and speakers from India and overseas in Bhubaneswar and Jharkhand so that the discerning audiences there had a chance to hear and meet them. We will be back when a similar meaningful interaction is once again possible, with new speakers, new presentations and new energy. In the interim, stay safe and keep reading.”
Since its inception, the literary meets have drawn premier authors and speakers from across India and the world, having hosted eminent delegates such as Manoj Das, Ruskin Bond, Jayanta Mahapatra, Sitakanta Mahapatra, Ramakanta Rath, Nayantara Sehgal, Kiran Nagarkar, Sharmila Tagore, Ileana Citaristi, Mark Tully, Nandita Das, Amol Palekar, Uday Prakash, Harivansh Narayan Singh, Jairam Ramesh, Devdutt Pattanaik, Mahadev Toppo, Ashwini Kumar Pankaj, Vandana Tete and Rekha Bhardwaj among several others.
“The literary meets have become an integral part of Bhubaneswar (Odisha) and Ranchi (Jharkhand)’s annual cultural calendar and the overwhelming response encourages us keep our emphasis on a consistently-high quality of participants, and an inherent connection with the local cultural ethos,” the Company said in a statement.
