“CHAMBA ACHAMBA” AT SHOOLINI UNIVERSITY
Belletristic, the literary society of the Department of English, Shoolini University, organised a session wherein the tradition and the oral narratives of District Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, were discussed. This discussion proved to be a high point in the history of Belletristic which has been holding outstanding sessions on literature and culture. The chief panelist for the session was Prof. Malashri Lal, a former professor and chairperson at the department of English, Delhi University, an author and a member of national Sahitya Akademi. She was in conversation with Prof Meenakshi Paul, Himachal Pradesh University, and Priya Sharma, Assistant Professor from Central University of HP, Dharamshala. Apart from the invited guests, panel included the faculty of English Department, Shoolini University namely Manju Jaidka, Tej Nath Dhar, Purnima Bali, Neeraj Pizar, and Sakshi Sundaram.
The discussion took place between Profs. Malashri Lal and Meenakshi Paul, who discussed in detail about their project “Chamba Achamba” which focused on the collection of oral histories, narratives, stories, songs, lyrics and the traditional lifestyle of the areas of Chamba and village Bharmaur. They were a team of 10 members which was further joined by the noted lyricist, Gulzaar Sa’ab. Their main agenda was the women of the region and the basic idea was to bring out the traditional wisdom which women in the village had and to record the history and practices of the region.
The team prepared questionnaire for their research. Some interviews took place in village of Bharmaur and some in Chamba. There was discussion on the rural embroidery of Chamba, their deities, Cheli (one who was possessed by goddess and had prophetic powers), the gaddi community, etc. On the basis of their research they published a book 'Chamba Achamba' in which they gathered the information collected during their research. The book has opened the doors for further research on such histories and traditions of villages like Chamba.
In the course of the discussion, Priya Sharma rendered a few folk songs of Chamba which added a musical charm to the exciting ongoing session. An animated Q&A session concluded the event.
Belletristic meets online every Friday and holds live sessions that are streamed on various Facebook pages and have a very wide reach. The aim is to bring like-minded people together who share their love for literature and texts.
Next Friday Belletristic will hold another seminar for Undergraduate students from different educational institutions. The topic will be “Neo-Classical Sensibilities,” focusing on English literature of the 18th Century.
