Kitaabnama's 50th episode on DD features Gulzar

'Kitaabein Karti Hain Baatein...'
Penned by lyricist Prasoon Joshi and sung by Oroon Das, these words form a beautiful musical prelude to Doordarshan's weekly book-based show ‘Kitaabnama’. India's only multilingual book show, Kitaabanama: Books and Beyond which first went on air last August will complete fifty episodes this weekend. The 50th episode which marks the first anniversary of Kitaabnama will feature none other than the maestro of verse and rhyme, writer/lyricist/director Gulzar.
Conceptualised by author Namita Gokhale, who is also the co-director of Jaipur Literature Festival and Mountain Echoes, Bhutan, Kitaabnama has given writers, poets, artists, filmmakers, academics, publishers and journalists a platform to ponder on a variety of literary concerns through dialogue and debate.
Each and every episode has been wonderfully enriching. From understanding the dynamics of what goes into the art of book designing, difficult choices a writer has to make while translating an author's work into different languages to the inconclusive tussle between short stories and novels; discussions on this show have gone beyond the realm of the known and ordinary. Ask Namita about the energy on the sets of the show during the shoot of the 50th episode and she says, "Gulzar saab's recent interview was so moving, that the entire crew was listening transfixed. It was truly a memorable afternoon".
Some of the prominent literary figures and authors in this series were Amish Tripathi, Ashok Vajpeyi, Arunava Sinha, Gloria Steinem, Indrajit Hazra, Nilanjana Roy, Dipankar Gupta, Rana Dasgupta, Oroon Das, Sumanyu Satpathy, Rakhshanda Jalil, Mahesh Dattani, Mahmood Farooqui, Kedarnath Singh, Ramchandra Guha and Urvashi Butalia among others. "From famous and established names to budding talents, we have been fortunate in having a cross-section of literary personalities participate in Kitaabnama. Since we shoot principally in Delhi, we are constrained by who might be available on particular dates. We also try to be present at some select literature festivals, including Samanvay, Bhutan and Jaipur, to add to the range. We still haven't had Javed Akhtar, Mahasweta Devi and many others. Hope to make it up this coming year,” says Namita on being asked whether she feels she has missed inviting particular authors as guests on the show.
All book lovers who think the 50th episode with Gulzar might be the curtain call for Kitaabnama can breathe a sigh of relief, for the show shall go on in the same format for a while. "The season will continue. We are in the meantime working on making it more interactive with an element of audience participation. Also to use Doordarshan's enormous outreach and far flung resources to have stations from different states send us material," informs Namita.
It is quite worrisome to notice how book-based shows like Kitaabnama have not really made a presence on other private television channels. Will the trend change? "When most channels are dumbing down even further, it is only DD that has found space for Kitaabnama and other literary and cultural programmes. I'm hoping to use some of our archival material for a radio show on AIR," asserts Namita.
Sumanyu Satpathy, Head of English Department, Delhi University, who was on the show a few weeks back to talk about the book, 'TheTenth Rasa: An Anthology of Indian Nonsense' (edited by Michael Heyman, Anushka Ravishankar and himself), was all praises for the show and appreciated its efforts to popularise books and reading habits among people. "Doordarshan is the right forum for this endeavour since its various channels have a wide reach, which the common, educated man can access in the remotest parts of the country. My conversation with Jaslin Vohra, for example, drew viewership from Balasore, Janla, Rourkela and so on in Odisha; Kolkata and Shillong as well as from Tezpur and even Vasant Kunj. Many said that they learnt a lot from the discussion and enjoyed the show," said Sumanyu.
Do not forget to watch Kitaabnama this weekend where Gulzar saab would be giving us insights into his literary journeys, struggles and inspirations. He will be in conversation with Yatindra Mishra and talk about the meaning of silences and pauses in fiction and reality and comment on the impact of technology on writing.
Here are a few lines from Gulzar’s poem titled, ‘Kitaabein’
“...magar woh jo kitabon mein milaa karte thay sookhay phool
kitabein maangne, giraanay, uthaane kay bahaane rishty bante thay,
unkaa kyaa hoga?”
Seminar: To mark the 50th episode of Kitaabnama: Books and Beyond, a panel discussion will be held at Oxford Bookstore, Connaught Place, on Friday, August 29 2014 at 6.30 PM. Jawhar Sircar (CEO, Prasar Bharati) and Namita Gokhale will be in conversation. Soon after, a discussion on ‘Talking Books, Watching Books’ will follow with Ashok Vajpeyi (poet and author), Nilanjana Roy (journalist and novelist), and will be moderated by Jasleen Vohra.
When: Kitaabnama: Books and Beyond’ is aired weekly on Saturdays at 5:00 PM on DD National and on Sundays at 8:00 PM on DD Bharati.
Gulzar recites ‘Kitaabein’ at JLF, 2010

(Originally published on August 27, 2014)