The second day of the on-going Nepal Literature Festival kicked off in Pokhara on a traditional note with a musical performance by Gardarva artists, who played renditions of Swosthani and Lok Ramayan. The fest on Saturday also saw panel discussions on a range of topic including literature, politics, development, media and journalism. The annual festival is being attended by more than 100 authors, artists, politicians, media persons, intellectuals, economists and sociologists.

The first session on the second day saw the editor-in-chief of Kantipur Daily Sudheer Sharma in conversation with essayist Chaitanya Mishra on the topic: Samriddhi Kati Najik, where they talked about the economic situation of South Asia, and how despite having a rich history of prosperity, the region has fallen to the wayside when compared to the western world. At the talk Mishra said, “Politicians need to read up on the history of our own country rather than trying to mimic the successes of the West. We have had a glorious past that we need to study and perhaps emulate.” The conversation also touched upon education, health, unemployment and the nation’s economic problems.

The panel was then followed by the launch, as well as discussion, of the Nepali translation of Indian author Uday Prakash’s book Nail Cutter. This session moderated by CK Lal saw journalist Yagesh and Uday Prakash discuss the film industry and how it is a platform for visual communication. This was followed by a discussion moderated by Narayan Wagle titled Yo Ghar Hamro Pokhara with Amrit Gurung.

The fifth discussion of the day was on the topic The Making of the Bestseller where Hima Bista spoke with Indian author Durjoy Dutta. This was followed by discussion with popular authors Narayan Dhakal, Nayan Raj Pandey and Kumar Nagrkoti . The event also saw discussion on travel and travel memoirs with Jiba Lamichanne and Puskar Shah. The fest also provided tribute to the late poet Kamal Mani Dixit through a discussion of his works by Bairagi Kaila, Dhurba Chandra Gautam and Rajendra Dahal.

Speaking to the Post about the response to the fest, Ajit Baral, one of the organisers of the fest, said, “The response has been very positive. It was a bit hard yesterday due to the weather but as today was a public holiday, the attendance has been very good. And we hope that it continues in the next few days.”

The fest is slated to continue until Monday.