The first day of the Kanpur Literature Festival began with the screening of the film Pancham Unmixed, a documentary on the musical journey of R.D. Burman. The film’s director, Brahmanand S. Singh, was also present. He spoke to Dr. Alok Bajpai about the film. He explained in detail how the idea for the film came to him and the process of making it. Often, we see the work of creative people, but we should also see where these stories come from. This film shows all aspects of R.D. Burman’s life, from when he was at the peak of his success to when he was alone.

 After the film, the Kanpur Literature Festival was inaugurated. At the inauguration, Festival Director Anjali Tiwari thanked all the people and the people of the city for making the festival a success with their cooperation. She said that the festival is now standing on its feet instead of crawling on its knees. Pallava Bagla, Syed Naqvi, Atul Tiwari, Anandvir Singh, Dr. Rahul Goyal, Alok Bajpai, Dr. Paliwal, Brahmanand Singh, and Kalpyani Komkali were present during the inauguration.

 The second session was “Unique Signatures of Hindi,” in which well-known poet Pankaj Chaturvedi spoke to Mumbai-based poet Hubanath Pandey. During this discussion, many dimensions of poetry and the creative process were openly revealed, and the audience understood how serious this field demands. Where extreme despair comes, poetry is born there. He said that for those leaders who struggled, their stature fell.

 The third session was “ISRO Story: India on the Moon.” In this, famous science journalist Pallava Bagla spoke. He shed light on Indian and American space technology and compared and criticized them. During this time, he also showed some short films.

 The fourth session was “Kalajayi,” in which, on the occasion of the centenary year of Pandit Kumar Gandharva, his daughter Kalpyani Komkali shared her memories of her father with the people. She interestingly spoke to Dr. Alok Bajpai. Kalpyani ji remembered the life of her father with great affection and tenderness, and it showed a glimpse of the practice and penance of Kumar Gandharva ji’s life. This kind of performance is called LECDEM (Lecture and Demonstration).

 After the fourth session, under Kanpur’s Kalamkar, the city’s well-known writer, Amar Singh Deep, was honored. Introducing Deep ji, writer Anita Mishra said that Amar Singh Deep’s literature not only presents the pain of the working class and the deprived before us but also talks about women’s discourse, especially the lower middle-class woman. Despite all the difficulties, he did not leave the city.

 The last session of the first day was very interesting, which was called “Saag Meat.” Based on the story of famous writer Bhisham Sahni, it was presented in the form of a play by well-known actress Seema Bhargava Pahwa. Along with acting, she has also directed it.

 On 24 December, 2023 the program started with Anushka Agarwal’s short film, Sugar Spice and Everything Nice. Anushka is a resident of Kanpur, and her short animation film has been shown at many other film festivals. Talking about her film, Anushka said, “It’s not about the women in the house; it’s about all the women. This film expresses the feelings of women in a powerful way, even without any dialogue. The puppet and the house used in this film were also made by Anushka herself.

 Second session: literary meeting. In this session, Mohammad Anas Faizi, who came from Delhi, shared many stories of his life along with his Mazahia Shayari and entertained the people with the ‘Mulla Bano’ poem.

 In this sequence, IAS Pawan Kumar Ji from Lucknow presented his ghazals and some other songs. The session was moderated by Kanpur-based author Bhawna Mishra, who gave an interesting insight into the Urdu language, the technique of shayari, and the beliefs associated with it.

 The third session: The only singer of Hindi films in this session dedicated to the legendary singer of the Indian film industry, Shailendra, Vividh Bharati presenter Yunus Khan from Mumbai spoke in a very interesting way about all the aspects of Shailendra’s journey in the film world through songs. Yunus kept the audience engaged with his presentation with his interesting guffaws. Among the songs presented during this time were Hariyala Sawan, Awara Hoon, Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke, Barsaat Mein Humse Mile Tum, etc. 

 Fourth session: Atal Ji’s India and today’s India In this session, former PMO officer Sudheendra Kulkarni spoke on all aspects of communism, communalism, and consumerism. During the session, Sudheendra ji highlighted Atal ji’s efforts to resolve India-Pakistan relations, and while referring to the Gaza war, Atal ji’s poem “Jung Na Hone Denge” was recited.

 Fifth session: Bande me hai dum this session of Bollywood’s famous lyricist, writer, playback singer, and actor, Swanand Kirkire, stole the hearts of the people. He sang all the beautiful and melodious songs on the demand of the audience and narrated all the stories related to them by mixing these songs with interesting conversations. He entertained the audience with songs from films like 3 Idiots, Parineeta, PK, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, and the recent Shah Rukh Khan film Donkey. 

 Sixth Session: KaljayeeIn this session, Bhuvnesh Komkali, the grandson of Kumar Gandharva, a renowned classical singer of the Indian music tradition, remembered his grandfather on the occasion of his centenary year and sang hymns decorated with beautiful and melodious classical tunes.