Kitaabnama : A Peep into Chapters from Indian Literature

Oroon Das’ voice resonates long after the song — which appears over a collage of book covers at the beginning of Doordarshan’s new book show, Kitaabnama: Books and Beyond — is over. The song ‘Kitaabein kartin hain baatein’, written by Prasoon Joshi, speaks personally to every book lover. “That is exactly what we wanted to do in this show as well,” says well-known author Namita Gokhale who conceived the show. The show has a fairly flexible format, including small discussions and interviews with eminent people on literature and book readings.

The 60-plus literary fests in the country that have sprung up over the past few years, says Gokhale, indicate that there is a hunger for good reading in this country. “But the readers are unsure of what they should read,” she says. And she hopes this show will encourage readers to pick up a wide variety of books.

Importantly, at a time when publishing is booming, the show introduces the readers to prominent writers of prose and poetry across the country. “We try to showcase good writing,” says Gokhale.

Kitaabnama tries to showcase the multilingual diversity of Indian literature by inviting laureates from different languages to talk about their work. It reminds one of the times when book stores were not overwhelmed by technical writing and self-help books; when literature and quality writing were not considered a waste of time; when the pleasure of reading was experienced by many.

The show airs on DD Bharti at 8.00 p.m. on Sundays, and DD National at 6.00 p.m. on Saturdays.

You can also watch some of the episodes on the DoordarshanNational Youtube channel.