Jalgaon: The feeling of human welfare should be developed through literature. Literature is a school of human thought, and humans learn lessons from literature, stated Dr. Jayprakash Kardam, former Director of the Central Hindi Training Institute, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, and a senior litterateur, while inaugurating a one-day interdisciplinary national seminar on the topic of 'Humanism in Literature' under the P.M. Usha program, organised by the Language Studies and Research Center of Kavayitri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University on January 9.
Present on the dais were Vice-Chancellor Prof. V. L. Maheshwari, senior journalist and theatre personality Gyanesh Maharav, Director of the School of Language Studies and Research Centre Prof. M. S. Pagare, Director of the Department of Lifelong Learning and Extension Prof. Ashutosh Patil, and coordinator Dr Sudarshan Bhavare.
Dr Kardam further said that literature has always inspired humanity towards humanism. But it is worth considering whether it has truly had an impact on humanity. Humanism advocates treating everyone equally, and this should be practiced.
Senior journalist and theatre personality Gyanesh Maharav said that people should not be trapped in the distinctions of caste, creed, religion, race, or gender. Moral values are the tenets of humanism. Humanism should be practised in our daily lives. In his presidential address, Vice-Chancellor Prof. V. L. Maheshwari said that regardless of the language, the literature of every language has been written keeping humanity at its center. All literature discusses human welfare.
Saints have also worked to cultivate humanism since ancient times. Literature should be created that can keep society united, like the works of Mahatma Phule, Sant Tukaram, Prabodhankar Thackeray, etc. National leaders propagated humanism, but humanism is still not fully visible in the social system. They stated that casteism, religious discrimination, racial discrimination, etc., are not God-created, but are man-made, and provided various examples, appealing to the youth to cultivate humanism.
While presenting the theme of the seminar, Professor M.S. Pagare, Director of the Language Studies, School and Research Center, commented on humanism, stating that every person should cultivate humanism, as it is connected to human life.
Human behavior should be rational. Literature should be something that makes a person truly human, and should contribute to creating a good governance and social system. 200 research students participated in this seminar. The proceedings were conducted by Khemraj Patil and Kailas Patil, and the vote of thanks was given by Sudarshan Bhavare.
In the seminar, lectures were delivered by Dr. Vinay Madgaonkar, Director of the Department of Marathi Studies at Goa University; Dr. Rahul Kosambi, a recipient of the Yuva Sahitya Akademi Award from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; Prof. Dilip Chavan, Director of the School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies at Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded; Prof. Kashinath Ranveer, former Head of the English Department at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; and Prof. V.N. Bhalerao, former Head of the Hindi Department at Savitribai Phule Pune University. Separate research paper reading sessions were organised in Marathi, English, and Hindi.
Professors, researchers, and students from various universities presented their views on humanism in literature, human values, social responsibility, and contemporary literature.
