Ambassador of India to Madagascar and to Comoros Shri Abhay Kumar was recently hosted by Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence, during which he spoke on Kalidasa’s works and their beautiful diction. Focusing on his English translations of Ritusamhara and Meghaduta at the virtual event, the Poet-Diplomat drove the point home on how the 5th century Kalidasa poetry is hugely relevant to the 21st-century environmental degradation and other threats. He started his talk with the Earth Anthem, underscoring the importance of biodiversity on the planet. The Ambassador then highlighted Ritusamhara and its content, in which Kalidasa vividly describes the seasons, rivers, plants, flowers such as Malati, and insects, among other things. He read excerpts from the work that described a variety of animals suffering in the scorching sun and from intense thirst.
The Poet-Diplomat also underscored how at least one million species on the planet are at the risk of extinction and drew attention to how Kalidasa’s poetry enables us to understand and love nature so we could take care of our environment. Works by Maithili poet Vidyapati and world visionary Tagore were suggested to be read.
In an interesting Q and A session that followed, journalists, writers, community leaders and other attendees interacted with him, including Vijay Rana, Alok Agarwal, Madhava Turumella, Piyush Ojha, Manoj Talwar, Vedavyas Kasturi, Radhika Joshi, Sharad Jha, and Mukesh Karelia.
Ragasudha Vinjamuri, Founder of Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence, has given introductory and closing remarks, and Sushil Rapatwar rendered technical support to the session.
Abhay Kumar has been the recipient of the SAARC Literary Award in 2013 and has edited works such as 100 Great Indian Poems and CAPITALS. He wrote the Earth Anthem that has been translated into 50 languages. He spearheaded the celebration of International Diplomats Day in 2017 which continues to be celebrated worldwide.
Link to the video of the session as below:
https://www.facebook.com/Sanskruti100/videos/2824539800981635
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