JOIN USCelebrating the work of Hungarian poets
It was an evening of poetry evening spiced with musical interludes at ‘Musings and Melodies’, an event organised recently at the India International Centre by the Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre (HICC).
The programme which saw the participation of members of clubs like Universal Poetry and Poetry Across Cultures, began with the commemoration of the Hungarian victims of the Holocaust in 1944. Poems by Miklós Radnóti were recited in memory of the victims.
The evening then dedicated itself to rendition of poetries on nationalism, nature and love. The event was chaired by Dr Rita Malhotra, vice-principal of Kamla Nehru College, University of Delhi and president of Poetry Across Cultures, and Sameer Kakkar, the well-known bilingual poet and the founder of Universal Poetry. The session began with the welcome address by Tibor Kovács, director of Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre and Attila Viezer, deputy head of mission, Embassy of Hungary to India, as chief guest. They also delivered a message to the audience and later recited a Hungarian poem.
Poets and individuals from different walks of life read out poems in Hungarian, English, and Hindi followed by the two chairpersons’ comments after each item.
Highlights of the evening were some of Hungarian poetry by Attila József, Bálint Balassi, Endre Ady, Gyula Juhász, Miklós Radnóti, Ernő Szép, and Albert Wass recited by both Hungarians and Indians.
Poets like Sheela Karki, Dr Rumki Basu, Dr Gunjan Jha, and the young generation’s Ankur Dang, Navkirat Sodhi, Rachna Joshi, Sanjula Sharma, Rupal Bhandari, who recited their own poems, were also focus of the event.
The evening turned out to be a common platform for the exchange and awareness of cross-cultural poetic and musical genres. Tibor Kovács gave an introduction on one of the Hungary’s greatest 20th century writers and poets Albert Wass and recited his famous patriotic poem ‘Message Home’. Solo musical performances and instrumental music made the
poetry evening more vibrant and appealing.