Pune : You need to have two professions in life. One is to survive and one is to make it worth. What helps you to survive is your ability and not your interest. The core purpose of education is to recognize what your abilities are, said, Dr Mohan Agashe, a distinguished film and theatre actor and psychiatrist.  

Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (SSLA), Symbiosis International (Deemed University) organized “Literary Festival” on 5th and 6th October 2024 at Symbiosis Ishanya Auditorium, Viman Nagar. The theme of this year's festival was 'One World, Many Stories.

The Closing Ceremony of “Lit Fest” took place on Sunday, 6th October, 2024. Mr. Sudhanva Deshpande, actor and publisher were in conversation with Dr. Mohan Agashe.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Agashe said, being educated and being literate are two different things. Today, we have a high percentage of educated illiterates in the society. If you want to be literate then let’s make friends with at least one form of art.

Speaking about his performance in theatre and in films he mentioned that, when you are performing something, you have to surrender your intelligence and everything has to be focused on your performance.

While addressing the youth he said, today’s youth are not even aware about what exactly their emotions are. They are filled with a lot of information but have no experience, in fact it should be in the reverse order, you should be able to relate your life experiences with the available information. In the current education system along with the text books there should be an audio-visual experience for students to understand the subject matter, Dr. Agashe added further.

Talking about his most famous theatre performance in “Ghashiram Kotwal” he said, Ghashiram became popular because of its universal nature and not because it was controversial. Ghashiram is a timeless creation of Vijay Tendulkar. This play became popular across many countries. It has got acceptance due to its Universality.

The two days' List Fest featured stimulating conversations on a wide range of topics including writing for children, reporting from conflict zones, Indian crime fiction, and the evolution of food cultures in India. Renowned speakers such as Pushpesh Pant, Deepak Dalal, Pankaj Sekhsaria, Madhav Gadgil, and many more graced the festival.    

Javed Akhtar, Poet, Lyricist and Screenwriter inaugurated the Literary Festival Virtually on Saturday, 5th October, 2024. Dr. S.B. Mujumdar, Founder & President of Symbiosis and Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro Chancellor, SIU, Dr. Shweta Deshpande, Director, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts were present for the Lit Fest, stated a press release.