Book Reading Session with Mrs. Champa Srinivasan & Mrs. Meena Chaturvedi

On September 16th, 2023, The Bhawanipur Education Society College, ushered yet another gathering of literary enthusiasts and Wordsworths, featuring Mrs. Meena Chaturvedi, author of ‘Sneh Spandan’ & Mrs. Champa Srinivasan, author of ‘Jar of Marbles’, who also happens to be a faculty member of BESC under the Department of B. Com Hons (Morning Batch). The event was from 11:30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.

The event started off with a warm welcome from Prof. Vasundhara Mishra, who set the tone for the session, touching upon the achievements of both authors. The introduction had the audience enlightened on how our roots are deeply connected with literature and how its use is sometimes seen to be lost for Gen-Z. Next Rector and Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Dilip Shah acknowledged the achievements of the authors and the amalgamation of languages, especially English, Hindi & Bengali being read in the college. Taking over, Prof. Vasundhara Mishra invited Dr. Rekha Nariwal to sing us a Guru Vandana in Hindi which paid tribute to all Gurus or Teachers.

The authors, Mrs. Champa Srinivasan & Mrs. Meena Chaturvedi were felicitated by Prof. Shah. Then arrived the most awaited moment for the audience when the authors started sharing the insights of their authored books, exchanging thoughts & opinions, and question-answers based on audience reviews. The greatest triumph of connecting with Gen-Z was the takeaway for the authors where a few students, Kashish, Kaavya, Sohel, Shubhankar, Ujjwal, Tiyasha, Maanav, came up with several thought-provoking questions that left the room thinking, but answered wisely by the authors.

During their talk, both the authors shared fascinating chronicles of their life & their journey from an ordinary individual to an author. In her book, ‘Jar of Marbles’, in English Mrs. Champa Srinivasan talks of 16 different stories or as she says, marbles which she dedicated to her mother. An interesting fact about her book is the title of her Chapters inspired by Bollywood movies namely, “Namesake, My Half Love Story, 2 States” etc. The author’s book indulges in humor with mature themes & musings of a woman’s heart with her growing up from a girl to a woman. But the journey is still ongoing as she sees herself as an individual, highlighting the evolution of a woman, shedding & growing, and discovering the art of being “YOU.” She concluded her talk with the note, “IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO BEGIN”.

The other author, Mrs. Meena Chaturvedi, author of ‘Sneh Spandan’, who compiled 29 stories in Hindi, featured mature themes like the ugly truth of society, some of her Chapter titles being Farishta, Ashiyana, Libas, Shahtoot Ka Pedh” etc. The moral of the stories made a lasting impression on the attendees & made the room freeze with the thoughts provoked. The story “Libas” was spun around the fact of a woman’s evolution of identities which ultimately results in the fading of a woman’s true identity. The author signed off by quoting one of the Hindi statements from the story “Ashiyana”, i.e., “Bari khushi thi hume ashiyana bananeki, bana chuke toh nazar lag gayi zamaane ki”.

The event came to a close with a few words from our special guest, Mrs. Reema Pandey, who is also an accomplished author. Thank you note was then given by Prof. Minakshi Chaturvedi, Coordinator B.com (Morning) & Prof. Vasundhara Mishra.

Reporter – Samriddha Nandi
Photographer – Suvam Guha