Lit Fest 22 begins at Sanawar
Three days long Lit Fest 2022, first-of-its-kind “Back to School” literary extravagance, began on the campus of The Lawrence school Sanawar. Over fifty old students of the Lawrence School Sanawar visited their Alma mater today to celebrate three days long Lit-Fest 2022.
The Lit fest began with lighting of the lamp by the octogenarian Harjit Kochhar and Septugenerian Vinay Tuli who graduated from the school over sixty years ago. Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister and an old student of the school also arrived to participate in the lit-fest. The Lit Fest is conceived as a curtain raiser to the book “Tales of Sanawar” curated by Pankaj Sapru, an old student of school and published by Penguin Random House India. The Book will be officially released at Founders, on October 4, 2022.
The Lawrence School Sanawar celebrates its Dodransbicentennial in October 2022. The Old Sanawarian Society, to commemorate the grand occasion, is publishing a book titled “Tales of Sanawar”, an anecdotal narrations spanning the 175 years of our glorious existence. Over 150 Old Sanawarians including some staff have contributed to this mammoth endeavour, giving birth to this Classic which undoubtedly, will be a collector’s item for more than six thousand old Sanawarians present across the globe.
The Book contains 191 stories written by Old Sanawarians of different vintages, the oldest being from the Batch of 1953. Those who have penned their schooldays memoirs include Air Marshal Nanda K.C. Cariappa, Ranjit Bhatia (1960 Rome Olympian), Col. Rupi Brar and Col. Billy Sodhi (Arjun Awardees & celebrated Indian Polo veterans), Lt. Gen. Tajinder Singh Shergill, Navin B Chawla (former Chief Election Commissioner), Brig TPS Chowdhury (of INS Trishna fame), Siddharth Kak (Author & Television personality), Gen. Gaurav S J B Rana (former Nepalese Army chief), Dr. Harishpal S Dhillon, Sanjiv T Lall, Mohyna Srinivasan, Avtar Singh, and Rajika Bhandari (all published authors), Maneka Gandhi (MP & former Union Cabinet Minister), Omar Abdullah (former Chief Minister, J&K), Pooja Bedi (Actor, Columnist & Television Host) and Papa CJ (Stand-up Comedian & Author).
Moreover, 100 pencil line sketches of the pristine 139-acre campus, rendered by Rathin Mitra, one among India’s most celebrated Visual Essayist, who taught in Sanawar in the 1950s, and 28 other Old Sanawarians are also interwoven with the stories. “Tales of Sanawar” will interest anyone who has experienced life in a boarding school. Shomie Ranjan Das, a distinguished educationist and Headmaster Sanawar (1974-88), apart from heading Mayo College, Ajmer and Doon School, Dehradun has written the Foreword, talking about his 14 years on the Hilltop and what it takes to becoming a Sanawarian.
The Lit-Fest is going to be a packed itinerary containing four Story Reading Sessions by the authors themselves; an Inter-House Quiz on the history and legacy of Sanawar school and a Panel Discussion wherein prominent alumni from diverse professions would deliberate on the significance of legacy Schools.
