Key Points
A recent gathering of Hindi writers in the national capital became a platform for one-upmanship with panellists indulging in name-calling and deciding who is a writer and who is not..
In a talk at theIndia Habitat Centrethat was supposed to dwell on the question Hindi pathak ko kya pasand hai what does the Hindi reader like the speakers turned out to be self-indulgent...
IHCs Gulmohar Hall, packed with writers, professors, students, journalists and Hindi lovers,saw the readers taste being placed lower in the hierarchical relationship the two parties enjoy..
Writing is a journey that is completed by both the writer and the reader, said Ashok Kumar Pandey, stressing that the reader just wants to be able to trust what authors write.. Hindi writers tend to perceive themselves as overly elite, he added..
The Gulmohar Hall at IHC appeared full of purists out to impose their worldview and treat readers as an afterthought.They appeared borderline narcissists, giving their own references and stressing that the reader had no rights.The role of the reader begins when the book comes into their hands, said Geeta Shree, quoting veteran Hindi writer Mannu Bhandari...
