Dhani Ram Shandil flagged off the yatra and honoured the writers
The popular Baba Bhalku Smriti Kalka Shimla Sahitya Rail Yatra organised by Himalaya Sahitya Sanskriti Evam Paryavaran Manch in collaboration with the Department of Language and Culture was flagged off by the Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr (Colonel) Dhani Ram Shandil here today.
Before the start of the train journey, the Health and Family Welfare Minister, who was the chief guest, felicitated 31 writers from across the country by presenting them with mementoes. During this, he also felicitated the railway officials for providing important support to this literary journey. Thereafter, he flagged off the journey and himself also travelled till Summerhill. His daughter Professor Deepali and Director of Health Department Dr. Gopal Bairi were also present in this programme.
This event was beautifully conducted and organised by renowned poet, critic and motivator Jagdish Bali.
The Chief Guest appreciated such initiatives of Himalaya Manch, especially in the memory of Baba Bhalku of Harnot and the workers and said that Bhalku was an illiterate labourer with divine powers who played a vital role in the construction of Hindustan-Tibet road from Shimla to Kinnaur and helped in building many bridges on Satluj. Later when the British failed in the survey of the track for Kalka-Shimla railway, Bhalku not only did the survey from Parwanoo to Shimla but also played an important role in the construction of the longest tunnel like Barog.
He said that Himalaya Sahitya Manch is working with full commitment towards environmental protection. He also appealed to the writers to use their pens for prohibition so that we can give a better society to the coming generation. This is the reason why the railways also established a museum in the memory of Bhalku near the old bus stand. The link road from Mashobra that goes towards Theog is named Bhalku Road. He said that the government is also installing a huge gate on the Kandaghat highway in memory of Bhalku.
The main attraction of this journey is the literary seminars in the moving train and bus which promote literature and also publicise the Kalka-Shimla Railway.
President of Himalaya Sahitya Manch and eminent writer S R Harnot informed that 31 writers from various parts of Himachal including Mumbai, Kanpur, Madhya Pradesh, Ferozepur, Bihar have participated in this two-day trip. The writers organized many literary and musical seminars in the train from Shimla to Barog and back from Barog.
In the first session, tribute was paid to the demise of renowned writer and journalist Romi Arora, who had come during the last visit, in which her husband, famous poet and theatre artist Rajesh Arora read many poems from his poetry collection “Chitthiyaan” in her memory. After this, Dr. Vijay Lakshmi, Anju Anand, Dr. Dev Kanya Thakur and Hitendra Sharma read compositions from their poetry collections Gaon Poochhta Hai, Nazarband Lamhe, Sharang and Samvad. This session was organised and conducted by Deepti Saraswat Pratima in a very good manner.
In the third session, local writers recited poems and stories along with guest poets. Similarly, the fourth session was dedicated to music which was organized by musician Sunaini Sharma. While folk singer Om Prakash Garg enthralled the audience with Himachali folk songs, Seema Gautam, a well-known singer of religious forums, mesmerized the writers by singing many bhajans and other songs. Many writers also participated in the music session.
Forum President Harnot thanked Northern Railway Divisional Railway Manager Ambala Vinod Bhatia, Railway Officer Gaurav Saxena and Shimla Railway Station Station Superintendent Sanjay Gera, Station Master Joginder Singh Bohra and Kalka Shimla Railway Incharge Vyom for their cooperation in arranging the train journey. This journey is being organized every year since 2017.
This author was a part of the trip
The authors who participated in the tour included Prof. Hubnath Singh, Raman Mishra, Dr. Arjun Gharat, Dr. Pramod Yadav, Dr. Shashi Srivastava from Mumbai, Madhur Kulshreshtha and Neelam Kulshreshtha from Guna, Madhya Pradesh, Rajesh Arora from Kanpur, Harish Monga from Ferozepur, Sunaini Sharma from Chandigarh, Seema Gautam from Kiratpur, Punjab, Priyamvada Sharma from Sundarnagar, Rachna Pathania from Kangra, Anil Sharma Neel from Bilaspur, Anju Anand from Solan, Jagdish Bali and Hitendra Sharma from Kumarsain, Dr. Vijay Laxmi Negi, Salil Shamsheri, Daksh Shukla, Sneh Negi, Jagdish Kashyap, Lekhraj Chauhan, Deepti Saraswat, Dr. Dev Kanya Thakur, Vandana Rana, Hemlata Sharma, Shanti Swaroop Sharma, Virendra Kumar, Jagdish Gautam and Yadav Chand from Shimla.
