Mysuru: From khadi to #MeToo, Mysuru Literature Festival had them all

Mysuru: The second edition of the Mysuru Literature Fest was a unique treat for literary lovers with over 40 eminent personalities participating in discussions on subjects ranging from India-Pakistan and Kashmir, to conserving Khadi and the latest ‘#MeToo’ campaign.

Chairman of the 14th finance commission and former RBI governor , Dr Y.V. Reddy inaugurated the fest and sharing his experiences as a writer, said, “the heart speaks when one writes in one’s own mother tongue and the mind speaks when you write in any other language including English.”

On why there were not enough whistle blowers to talk about how the system can be improved, he explained his own experience as RBI governor “Our efforts to improve the financial system evoked mixed results. With public sector banks, we tried but failed. With private sector banks we tried and we succeeded. With rural cooperatives, we failed but with urban cooperatives we succeeded,” he said. At a session on ‘Why we should wear the fabric of freedom,’ fashion guru Prasad Bidappa said, “We call khadi the fabric of freedom because Gandhiji called on us to wear khadi by rejecting British products as a symbol of revolt. We don’t value khadi enough the way the Japanese do. If we lose khadi, we lose a large part of our heritage.”

The session ‘Nirbhaya Samaja-Yaara Javabdari (Fearless society: Whose responsibility)’ saw Dr Kanti Joshi speaking on the implications of the #MeToo campaign when he revealed that 80 percent of exploitation goes unreported. Dr Shantha Sagar quoted a study which said kids who do not get enough parental love upto the age of six, suffer from anti-social disorders, so boys should be trained to respect women.

The festival was hosted by Mysuru literary forum charitable trust and Mysuru book clubs.