Literature lovers across generations throng to meet living legend Ruskin Bond

The second day of the Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Literary Meet (TSBLM) witnessed a large turnout of students who came in the hundreds to listen to and interact with iconic author Mr Ruskin Bond. Arguably the country’s most recognised contemporary author, Mr Bond enthralled the audience with anecdotes and snippets from his illustrious career. Mr Bond also spoke about the importance of reading and how it is critical in sharpening one’s writing skills.

Mr Bond’s session was preceded by an engaging exchange promoting Odia literature. Moderated by author and academician Mr Gourahari Das, the session saw writers and proponents of Odia, Mr SN Sahu, Mr Jatindra Nayak, Mr Sangram Jena and Sahitya Akademi awardee Mr Dash Benhur trace the journey of Mahtma Gandhi through the state of Odisha.

Celebrated thespian and actor Jayant Kripalani joined spoken word poet Hussain Haidry to talk about the past and future of cinema and entertainment. “The future of literature lies on the silver screen. With the acceptance of the digital medium to consume entertainment and the success of web series shows that today’s audience consume literature through the screen,” said Mr Kripalani.

Entrepreneur and successful author Vineet Bajpai captivated the audience as he described his journey to become an author. Budding authors and students alike were eager to understand from Mr Bajpai how one can strike a balance between one’s vocation and interest. The day concluded with a poetry session under the stars. Mr Kripalani and Mr Haidry were joined by poet-authors Ms Nabina Das and Ms Sucheta Mishra to recite their works to a spellbound audience

The fourth edition of the Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Literary Meet concludes tomorrow with several engaging debates and performances in store. These include sessions with journalist Charles Assisi, ornithologist and conservationist Bikram Grewal, celebrated author Aatish Taseer and acclaimed singer Rekha Bhardwaj.

About Tata Steel
Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2018. It is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $20.41 billion (INR 133,016 crore) in FY18. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000. Tata Steel retained Industry Leader position in FY18 and ranked second overall in the DJSI assessment, 2017. The Company has been recognized as the Climate Disclosure Leader in ‘Steel category’ by CDP (2017). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel was felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2014-15 and 2015-16, Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2018) and ‘Corporate Strategy Award’ by Mint (2018). The Company also received the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from Ethisphere Institute for the sixth time (2018), Steel Sustainability Champions (2017) by the World Steel Association, Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards (2017 & 2018), Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award by Institute of Directors (2017) as well as 'Asia's Best Integrated Report' award by the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards (2017), among several others.

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