Neelam Saxena Chandra – an endowment of literary talent

NCPA Library in collaboration with Literary Warriors Group held an enchanting evening of poetry and performances on the 13th of June at Godrej Dance Theatre. The program began with a release of Neelam’s poetry collection amidst a plethora of talented personalities such as Shri Shalabh Goel, President, WRCA and IRSEE, Shri Siddharth Deshpande, CFO, NCPA and Shri Ashok Bindal, an eminent figure in the literary world. Dr. Sujata Jadhav, Head- Libraries & Documentation Centre wonderfully moderated the book release ceremony. 

Neelam Saxena Chandra is endowed with a lot of talents, her mighty pen being one of the most talked about. Neelam, besides being a bureaucrat, is a writer with international acclaim. She has been published internationally as well as nationally quite often, and has rendered her poems in many international and national forums including SAARC, quite a few International festival by Sahitya Akademi, ISISAR, Jashn-e-Adab, Jashn—Hind, Poets Across Borders, USA Radio, Paper Fest, Big Dreams Fest etc and has been interviewed by several channels including Doordarshan and Doordarshan Sahyadri. Neelam Saxena Chandra has authored 6 novels and 9 short story collections 44 poetry collections and 15 childrens’ books to her credit She is a bilingual writer, writing in English and Hindi. She holds three records with the Limca Book of Records. She has received Sohanlal Dwivedi Puraskar for children’s literature by Maharashtra state Hindi Sahitya Akademi for the year 2018, Premchand award by Ministry of Railways, Rabindranath Tagore International Poetry award, Freedom award by Radio city for Lyrics, Award by American Embassy given by Gulzar sahab, Reuel Lifetime achievement award along with other awards and honors She was listed in Forbes as one among 78  most popular authors in the country in 2014.

The evening began with a rendition of one of the poems written by Neelam from the poetry book “Parindon sa Libaas” by Dr. Sujata Jadhav. This was followed by few words from Neelam and a song written by Neelam was rendered by Shri Sunil Chawdhry “Deed” Lakhnawi with music strumming from his guitar. Shri Shalabh Goel talked about the philosophical beauty and optimism of Neelam’s poems in the book and reviewed it thoroughly, and also rendered one of the poems. Shri Siddharth Deshpande’s brilliant words and rendition of Neelam’s poem was appreciated by one and all. 

When asked what the book is all about, Neelam replied, “As soon as a man is born, he is confined within four walls. But those who bind him like this forget that only a man’s body can be bound, not his soul. The soul is a free bird! It is as if the soul comes in the attire of a bird, and it only knows how to fly. And the direction of its flight is also fixed – from darkness to light! The poem is all about having optimism in the worst of situations!”

“What’s the best thing about this poetry book?” Neelam was asked, to which she quickly replied, “It’s being released at a prestigious place such as National Centre of Performing Arts itself makes it special. It certainly renders more credibility to my pen!”

Neelam has dedicated this book to “Life, which is the biggest teacher!” The cover page of the book is based on a painting by Dr. Renu Mishra. It is published by Authorspress Publishing House, New Delhi. The editor of the book is Ritu Bhatnagar. 

The poems are all optimistic with a slight philosophical bent. The poet takes inspiration from nature, from people around her and from small incidents occurring in and around her. 

It may be noted that Neelam has written more than 6000 poems. When asked, “What makes you write so many poems?”, Neelam replied, “Pen is always a powerful medium to let your thoughts speak aloud. It is also like a meditation to me. After penning down a poem, I not only feel invigorated, but also more focused.” She was asked, “Whether you actually write poems in a diary or do you use digital methods?” She laughed as she replied, “I am tech savvy and I am able to quickly type on a laptop or mobile!” 

The Book Release function was followed by poetry rendition by a few poets from the Literary Warriors Group – a group whose founder is Neelam. The poets included stalwarts such as Pallavi Jain from Bahrain, Waheeda Hussain from Jabalpur, Mandeep Aashu Ratra & Pooja Dhadiwal from Nagpur and Sunil Chawdhry “Deed” Lakhnawi from New Delhi. All the poems presented by poets were given a background music on guitar by “Deed” Lakhnawi. 

The program ended with a thunderous applaud and the audience stated that they are looking forward for more from the poet.

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