'I believe that literature is a living entity – that books take on a certain life when we hold them in our hands...'

Chitra Banerjee @ MCC | A Report

The Ninth Edition of the T. G. Narayanan Endowment Lecture was delivered by renowned Novelist, Poet and Philanthropist Dr. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, at 9 am today.

The Endowment Lecture was arranged on the ZOOM Platform, [and streamed LIVE on YouTube today] from 9 am onwards.

Although every aspect of the Event was noteworthy, and so meticulously done, one singular aspect of the Endowment Lecture endeared itself so much to all the participants.

And that was - Time management!

So happy to note that, almost everyone who spoke stuck to time!

Short, succinct and to the point!

None was made to wait!

No glaring pauses!

No embarrassing waits!

No awkward silences!

No tedious ramblings!

Not a dull moment for anyone at any point of time during the entire duration of the programme!

There was a beautiful harmony and a balance to the entire event!

Pre-Talk Protocol – 20 minutes

Endowment Talk – 40 minutes + 27 minutes (Q&A)

Vote of Thanks – 6 minutes

Dr. Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee also, for her part, started off quite gracefully, on a warm and cordial note by saying, I’m going to try and make this talk fun and enjoyable, and meaningful’.

True to her words, it was such a delightful, inspiring and impactful session for all of us!

Dr. Chitra spoke on the topic, ‘Bridging Barriers through Literary Texts’.

The Endowment Lecture drew enthusiastic participants from across the world.

Dr. Chitra started by giving out a good news from her publishers - Harper Collins – that her latest novel The Last Queen, [that was released just a few days ago] has been the Number One Fiction title – the Number One Best seller in Crossword Books all across India.

‘A book release during the pandemic is very different and very difficult, because I can’t be there in person to talk to anyone’, said Dr. Chitra Banerjee, and added, ‘I was remembering that wonderful occasion at the Jaipur Literary Fest that you heard about, and of course this is very different’, she quipped.

Excerpts from her Lecture for us all -

‘I will talk today not only about The Last Queen but also of several other books, and some of the life lessons that I try to bring out from them, and how can we bridge barriers and cross boundaries through literary texts and the characters in them’.

‘One more piece of exciting news that I wanted to share is that, The Last Queen has already been optioned for a movie which I’m amazed by, and thankful to God’.

‘I appreciate the Principal telling me about Writer’s Café’.

‘I think in my all these years of living, I can’t think of anything that is more joyful and that I feel is more important than the writing I do’.

‘The writing and the teaching – both of these are more important to me’.

‘The writing – it seems like a gift, and I feel it comes from a divine source, and I wish that same feeling for all of you, and I wish much success as you go on to write about your own ideas, your experiences in the world, because our writing touches people more than we can imagine. Sometimes it touches people in ways that we cannot even think of’.

‘I’ve certainly been touched by other people’s writing and I hope that my writing in some way, has touched people’s hearts’.

‘It is very important of course to study literature academically as we do in English departments, at MCC, and also at my University, the University of Houston, and it is wonderful to criticize the texts and to analyse the texts, and to find hidden meanings, but that is only one segment of the power of literature’.

‘But literature’s power is much more. I believe that literature is a living entity – that books take on a certain life when we hold them in our hands or on our kindles, however we like to read!’.

‘But the magic that occurs when we are alone with a book and its characters is something special. It is a special kind of experience’.

‘I think one of the reasons books and literature are so important, is because of the ways in which it can touch us and change us is that, when we come to a book, we are not defensive….’

To be continued…

Break-up of the time-line -

Introduction & Invocation – 4 minutes

Welcome Address – 3 minutes

Principal’s Address – 4 minutes

About the Lecture – 3 minutes – Dr. Ranganarayanan

Intro of Chief Guest – 4 minutes

Inviting the chief guest for the lecture – 2 minutes

Endowment Talk – 40 minutes

Prize winners of Essay competition – 1 minute

Summing up - 2 minutes

Q & A = 27 min

Vote of Thanks – 6 minutes

The Research Department of English, Madras Christian College (Autonomous), Chennai, is grateful to Dr. Ranganarayanan, for having instituted this Endowment in memory of his father.

All credit to Dr. Mekala Rajan, our vibrant Head of the Department and all our cheerful, dynamic friends in the Research Department of English for having made this event a great, grand success.

PS: You may want to read the Report on the very First Edition of the T. G. Narayanan Endowment Lecture HERE on our blog.