JAMMU: An Eco- Intellectual meet was held today by Jammu Cultural Forum (JCF) at Raika Environmental Park, bye- pass Jammu. Pritpal Singh Betab, a noted urdu Poet presided over the event whereas Prof. Lalit Magotra, President Dogri Sanstha was the chief guest, noted educationist Sureshta Khajuria, Chairperson, MD Shangrilla Public School Sarwal Jammu was the guest of honour and Er. Kamal Kant Gupta was present as special guest on this occasion.
Multilingual poetry recitation and musical performances were performed by the well known poets and music artists of Jammu region. A Tree Talk- Key Note on Trees was held by O P Sharma Vidyarthi IFS, Director, DEERS on this occasion. He explained about the species available in the part and the natural properties and usages of the vegetation there.
Welcoming the guests, poets and musicians, Dr. Dushyant Kumar, Vice- President, JCF said the organization was established back in the year of 1978 and has conducted a large number of cultural activities. He informed that JCF is organizing three types of events viz. ‘Choupal’- programmes in the remote areas, ‘Majlis’- Mushiaras at the residences of its Galaxians (life members) and ‘Rang’ series- event based on musical compositions on the poetry of different Jammu region’s poets.
The poets who recited their poetry during multilingual poetry recitation session included Amarjeet Kour Neer, Dr. Bajeet Raina and Kewal Krishan Shakir (Punjabi), Tara Chand Kalaandar, Ashok Ambar, Dr. Nirmal Vinod, Susheel Begana, Gayaneshwar Sharma and Col. Raj Manawari (Dogri), Vijaya Thakur, Deepak Aarsi, Zulfiqar Naqvi, Pt. Vidya Rattan Aasi and Pritpal Singh Betab (Urdu) and Suman Pal, Sudhir Mahajan, Anila Charak, Promila Manhas and Prof. Lalit Magotra (Hindi).
The following musicians gave singing performances: Sham Sajan (Ghazal), Raj Kumar Behrupia (Ghazal), Santosh Bandral (Dogri Geet) and Vijay Singh Sambyal ‘Rangeeley Thakur’ (Bhajan). Purshotam Kumar on Tabla accompanied the singers.
In his address Sh. O P Sharma Vidyarthi said that the world is moving fast towards the age of modern gadgets but diminishing the natural resources. He said that the poets can play role here. He informed that the poetry based on environmental issues and recited in the programme, would be published as has already in practice.