Punjabi University organized “Ru-Ba-Ru: An Evening with Javed Akhtar”
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ September 21,2023
September 20th, 2023 marked a red-letter day in the history of Punjabi University, Patiala as the University welcomed poet, lyricist, scriptwriter, activist Javed Akhtar. Two prestigious events were jointly organized by Professor Gurdial Singh Chair (Department of Punjabi), Dhahan Prize and EMRC (Punjabi University). The special lecture in honour of legendary Punjabi litterateur Professor Gurdial Singh was organized in the Senate Hall titled, “Samkaal Vich Sirjanatmak Lekhan: Chunautiyan ate Sambhavnavan”. Later in the evening, “An Evening with Javed Akhtar” was organized in the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hall.
During the special lecture, Javed Akhtar was accompanied on stage by Nashir Naqvi (Retired Professor, Department of Urdu, Punjabi University, Patiala) and eminent Punjabi poet Dr. Surjit Pattar. The event was presided by the University Vice Chancellor, Professor Arvind. Professor Gurmukh Singh, Coordinator of the event, welcomed the guests. Professor Naqvi introduced the guest speaker. He gave a brief background of Javed and talked about his secular outlook towards human beings beyond geographical, religious, gender and caste boundaries.
Javed Akhtar in his impeccable style wowed the audience with his trademark humour and wit. At the same time, he began the lecture referring to the relevance of creative writing in the contemporary times. He distinguished between a historian and a poet and added that a historian documents life in general; which empire ruled, which was lost in the sands of time but s/he does not document the rapidly depleting rations in a household, the aspirations of poor young boy to buy a bicycle and not having courage to convey it to his father. These are facets of literature. Literature, he argued, is essentially the history of the masses. For him, literature is a magical art that internalises a sense of justice and duty. He gave the analogy of fishing suggesting that the fish, when hooked, chokes and cannot cry for help as it does not have vocal chords. He concluded that the society has turned into a fish and literature acts as the vocal chords of society.
The Presidential Remarks were delivered by Dr. Surjit Pattar who reiterated Javed ji’s concerns and stated that our greatest singers are those who sing our silences, our fears. He referred to the prevailing intolerance in the society and how a poet plays an active role in addressing the fears of the society. The Vice Chancellor, Professor Arvind also addressed the gathering and talked about the need of institutions in knowledge production as a serious endeavor and responsibility. He said that the institutions owe it to society.
Punjabi University organized “Ru-Ba-Ru: An Evening with Javed Akhtar”. The vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Rajinder Pal Singh Brar, Dean Languages, who reminisced about being inspired by Javed’s lyrics and screenplay in his youth and he reiterated that he still drives the younger generation with his youthful lyrics. The audience was mesmerized by his presence and enthusiastically clicked selfies with him and took autographs.
Later in the evening, during the “Ru-Ba-Ru: An Evening with Javed Akhtar”, the GTB Hall was packed to the rafters. Professor Nashir Naqvi and Professor Gurmukh Singh (Coordinator, Professor Gurdial Singh Chair and Head, Department of Punjabi) carried the conversation with the distinguished guest, Javed Akhtar. The range of issues brought up varied from the relationship between literature and cinema, various dimensions of art, his personal journey, and his observations on Punjab and farmers’ protest. Javed sahab asserted that Punjab does not only produce grains but also produces individuals of strength and character. The questions that were raised by the audience also touched various socio-political issues, contemporary cinema, poetry etc. Javed sahab addressed the audience with clarity and wit and emphasised on the necessity to read books by both classic and progressive writers. He entralled the audience by reciting some of his poems namely “Andhere ka Samander”, “Naya Hukumnama”, “Ye Khel Kya Hai?”
