Turn a green corner

Greenlitfest involves people who care about the environment. Representation pic

Bolai is a quiet, intuitive child who feels most at home in his uncle's garden. His heart is ensconced in a Shimul or silk-cotton tree. Every time his uncle plans to cut it down since the tree stands in the middle of the archway, Bolai protests. Rabindranath Tagore's short story, Bolai, wrought this writer's memory with the need for eco-consciousness at 13. Apart from its roaring call for action, environmental literature is a robust reminder of nature-assisted survival. The Greenlifest is a virtual literature festival that aims to take conversations around climate ahead and reroute green literature into the mainstream.

Benedict Paramanand is considered one of the leading global gurus of sustainability. Also, the Bengaluru-based founder of the fest calls their upcoming first edition an inaugural session of a long-term vision. "The pandemic is an at-hand example of years of environmental degradation. With that as our immediate reference point, we must realise that green literature solicits reactions beyond awareness.

Megha Gupta

People are aware now, but that awareness must be connected with a belief system and then, necessary action," Paramanand comments adding that talks push such transitions forth. The founder believes discovery is a process upheld by these festivals. Since specialised literature carnivals bring teachers, historians, activists and writers together, they help persons invested in a cause discover one another.

"I am delighted to be part of a festival that involves people who deeply care about the environment and weave narratives around it," shares author-editor Bijal Vachharajani. One of the speakers, Vachharajani hopes her session where she will be sharing will help children navigate their worlds. "Stories should be both empowering and entertaining. I hope to offer a safe fictional space and agency to children and young adults so that they can explore feelings of climate anxiety. They must also be able to understand climate injustices and vulnerability," she ends.

Jairam Ramesh and Chen Qiufan

The event will witness luminaries like Chen Qiufan, Hariharan Chandrashekhar, Jairam Ramesh, Nicola Davies, Radhika Suri and Rajat Chaudhuri speak on the topic. The fest will concentrate on three categories - business, general and children.

Megha Gupta, who has curated the children's segment, feels real-life occurrences need not always be broken down into easy nuggets for kids and that nature can play a key educational role: "Children are more perceptive than adults will give them credit for. They are usually nature lovers. They like getting dirty in mud, they are fascinated by plants and animals and enjoy being outside. So green literature is not new to them. It is in fact a catalyst to drive their inborn interest." She further explains that their honour awards had a jury consisting of children. "They read texts from our longlist and came up with observations that blew our minds."

On: Dec 8 to Dec 10
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