Successful completion of VoW 'Sahitya Spriha'

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'Sahitya Spriha', organized by Valley of Words and the Sahitya Akademi at the Welham Girls School, Dehradun, concluded successfully on Sunday. Spanning a total of 13 sessions across August 22nd and 23rd, the event featured seven sessions on the first day, comprising of discussions with authors shortlisted for the VoW Book Awards and a poetry symposium. Five panel discussions on the second day expanded the weekend's conversations around contemporary Hindi literature. 

Devendra Mewari discussed his autobiographical non-fiction work Yayavar Ki Yaadein with Sushil Upadhyay, returning to memories of his childhood, literary journeys, encounters with renowned litterateurs, deliberate effort to blend science and literature, and much more. In conversation with Someshwar Pandey about her translation of Samantha Harvey's Booker-Prize winning novel Orbital, Kumari Rohini explained the choice behind retaining the English title in her Hindi edition as well as various other themes including global politics and community. From Paandaan author Mujtaba Khan with Anjum Sharma spoke of the joys of storytelling, the words we inherit, and differences of pronounciation.  

In the fourth panel with Shailendra Kant discussing Navneet Neerav’s book for young adults, Naach, the author shared his understanding of social stereotypes, gender expectations, and issues of identity. To conclude the day in conversation with Sachin Chauhan, translator Suchita Mittal read an excerpt from Daakini (originally written by N. Hari Kumar) and shared her thoughts with the audience on the differences between traditional and contemporary society, especially regarding their perceptions of women. 

Each session featured two students from Welham Girls' School as interlocutors, and the young students hosted the event over both days. Students from _____ were also in attendance, and asked insightful questions as part of the audience. Students had the opportunity to engage directly with the authors and have their books signed. 

In the valedictory session, Lakshmi Shankar Bajpai highlighted the enduring contribution of literature, while Sudha Rani Pandey noted the contributions of Sanskrit to Hindi literature and commended all the authors on their books and contributions. Both also congratulated the organizers on the successful event.

Sanjeev Chopra commended the efforts of VoW and Welhams Team for putting together the Hindi Vertical for this tenth edition, Dasham, of the Valley of Words. Welham Girls' Principal Vibha Kapoor described the event as a unique experience for the school and concluded the proceedings by expressing a desire to host the second edition of ‘Sahitya Spriha’ next year.

On Sun, Aug 23, 2026 at 5:45 PM tania saili <tania_saili@hotmail.com> wrote:

'Sahitya Spriha', organized by Valley of Words and the Sahitya Akademi at Welham School, concluded successfully on Sunday. Spanning a total of 13 sessions across August 22 and 23, the event featured seven sessions—comprising book discussions and a poetry symposium—on the first day, followed by five discussion sessions on the second day.

During a discussion on Sunday regarding Devendra Mewari’s book Yayavar Ki Yaadein with Sushil Upadhyay, the author shed light on his childhood, life, literary journey, and more.

Someshwar Pandey discussed the Booker Prize-winning novel Orbital, translated by Kumari Rohini. The discussion covered various aspects, including teamwork, society, and politics.

In a discussion with Anjum Sharma about Mujtaba Khan’s novella Pandan, the author engaged in an interesting conversation covering not only the story of Pandan but also the pronunciation of the Hindustani language.

In a discussion with Shailendra Kant regarding Navneet Neerav’s book for young adults, Naach, the author spoke at length about issues such as gender discrimination, social stereotypes, and identity.

In the final session, Sachin Chauhan discussed feminism, contemporary society, the art of translation, and other topics with Shuchita Mittal, focusing on the translation of ‘Dakini’.

In the closing session, Lakshmi Shankar Bajpai highlighted the contribution of literature, while Sudha Rani Pandey shed light on the contribution of Sanskrit literature; both congratulated the organizers on the successful event.

Sanjeev Chopra commended the efforts of VoW and Welham Team for putting together the 1st edition of Hindi Vertical. Welham Principal Vibha Kapoor described the event as a unique experience for the school and concluded the proceedings by expressing a desire to host the second edition of ‘Shanty Spriha’ next year.