Day 1 of Dehradun Literature Festival enchants audience

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The first day of the 4th edition of the three-day-long Dehradun Literature Festival was hosted at Hyatt Regency. The annual festival commenced with an inauguration ceremony by the Cabinet Minister Ganesh Joshi, Actor Tusshar Kapoor, Founder DLF Samraant Virmani, Film Director Varun Gupta, General Manager Hyatt Harkaran Singh, and Sudeep Mukherjee from Big Bang.

During his address, Cabinet Minister Ganesh Joshi gave a special mention to the organizers of DLF 2022, especially the founder Samraant Virmani, and commended the efforts behind hosting the literature festival on such a large scale in the city of Dehradun.

During the day, an art and photography exhibition was also displayed by artists Anisha Khanduja, Amrai, Mowthika Subramaniam, Aloke Lal, and Maanas Lal.

Day 1 commenced with an interesting session by the renowned Bollywood Actor & Producer Tusshar Kapoor on his latest book ‘Bachelor Dad’. He was in conversation with the well-known publisher Milee Ashwarya.

Tusshar during the session said, “I never thought of becoming an author, but my friends used to encourage me by seeing the way I am bringing up my son. By the end of 2019, I decided that I can write a book and I should take out time for writing. Today, my book is my other child. I have nurtured it over time.”

On being asked about the difficulties he faced as a single parent, Tusshar said, “It’s as easy or as difficult for any parent. The trick is to become a good parent. It’s challenging but ultimately it’s a joy. You get that satisfaction to fulfill all those challenges after becoming a parent.”

Talking about deciding on becoming a single parent and sharing the same with his parents, Tusshar said, “I was way too much worried and had put so much thought before deciding on becoming a single parent. In the end, I listened to my heart. When I completed the entire process of IVF and the process of surrogacy started, after that I had a deep discussion with my family. My mother was surprised but very supportive of my decision. She said that she and my father will be mere grandparents, but I’ll be the one who’ll have to take the entire charge and it’ll be life-changing. I must say that there were numerous learning milestones at every step of my journey.”

Sharing some of the anecdotes, Tusshar said, “After all the processes were complete, my excitement level was at peaks, and so I went for my unborn child’s shopping. I even bought unisex clothes as the sex of my child was unknown. The night on June 1st, 2016 was one of the most memorable nights of my life as I finally became a dad.”

During the end of the session, members of the audience got a chance to ask questions from Tusshar regarding his book, him being an amateur author as well as his life as a single parent.

The first day of the three-day-long Dehradun Literature Festival concluded with an intriguing session on ‘Music from the Roots of India’ with famous Indian Folk Singer Malini Awasthi in conversation with Film Director Varun Gupta.

Addressing the audience, Malini shared about the Folk music of the country. She said, “Folk is a lifestyle that you believe in and live by. Folk hasn’t lost anywhere. It’s very much amongst us. Rock and Pop are there but our country is defined by Folk and Classical we’re an integral part of it. God has made us humans with a brain to think about notes and a heart to feel the symphony. Otherwise, we would’ve been born as sheep.”

She further added, “Folk music is the authentic connection to our tradition. It gives voice to the individuals of the rural geography, who are barely listened to. The younger era is shifting away from our ethos and society, barely displaying any interest in tunes of these lingoes. I started to compile these songs and discovered quite a few from my grandmother. Nearly every family in Uttar Pradesh has a dholak to play while singing. I recall, as a child, penning down the verses and attempting to sing them.”

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