Two-day national workshop brings together writers, thinkers and more than 30 young participants from across eight states and Delhi
Alwar: The two-day national story-writing workshop organised by the Janwadi Lekhak Sangh (Jales) concluded in Alwar, Rajasthan, on September 7, bringing together writers, literary thinkers and young participants from across the country.
The workshop, held on September 6 and 7, focused on the craft of Hindi story writing and the role of literature in addressing social concerns. Participants stressed that meaningful stories should remain connected to society and people’s lives and should have the courage to speak against falsehood and injustice.
Report: Bharat Meena
The workshop brought together writers and thinkers from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. Discussions focused on how creative writing can help challenge social discrimination, bridge growing divisions in society and strengthen social awareness, humanity and democratic values.
A notable feature of the workshop was the participation of more than 30 students from the Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha generations, alongside established writers and literary thinkers.
Chanchal Chauhan: Writers Must Counter Falsehood Through Literature
The workshop was inaugurated by Chanchal Chauhan, National President of Jales, and Nalin Ranjan Singh, National General Secretary of Jales.
Chauhan said imagination plays an important role in storytelling, but politically motivated imagination can sometimes turn into falsehood.
He said writers need to confront such falsehood creatively. According to him, as politics increasingly dominates social life, literature and social values have suffered. Story writing, he said, should help strengthen people’s ability to distinguish between right and wrong while promoting social unity and humanity.
Nalin Ranjan Singh Highlights 125-Year Journey of Hindi Short Story
Nalin Ranjan Singh said the workshop was organised to mark 125 years of modern Hindi short-story writing.
Reviewing the history of the Hindi short story, he said the genre has produced memorable characters, citing Siddheshwari from the story Dopahar Ka Bhojan as an example.
He noted that contemporary Hindi fiction is being enriched through several new literary and social discourses.
Singh said the Jales workshop was not merely about teaching the craft of story writing but also about building a bridge between writers and people’s concerns.
He stressed that writers can produce literature that connects society with human values only when they themselves remain connected with the concerns of ordinary people.
Alwar’s Literary and Cultural Heritage Discussed
In his welcome address, poet, critic and storyteller Jeevan Singh Manvi spoke about Alwar’s linguistic diversity, shared cultural traditions and literary history.
He recalled that the ruler of the former Alwar princely state had invited Munshi Premchand and Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla to teach Hindi in the region. While Premchand declined the invitation, Acharya Shukla visited Alwar and stayed there for some time.
The inaugural session was chaired by Professor Suraj Paliwal, Executive President of Jales Rajasthan. The vote of thanks was delivered by Neelabh Pandit, president of the Jales Alwar unit, while the session was conducted by Dr Bharat Meena, secretary of Jales Alwar.
Writers Share Their Creative Processes
The first session, titled “Meri Rachna Prakriya” (My Writing Process), featured storytellers Hariyash Rai, Suryanath Singh, Tekchand, Jyoti Kumari and Gangadhar Chate.
The session was moderated by Raghavendra Rawat.
Gangadhar Chate said a good story needs both sensitivity and a strong narrative quality. He emphasised the importance of mature experience, honesty of emotion, observation and reading for a storyteller.
Storyteller and social worker Jyoti Kumari said women have traditionally possessed a strong urge to tell their stories. She discussed gender discrimination and how boys and girls are often raised differently even within the same household.
She said questions of identity are particularly important for girls and shared an observation from her mother that reflected the social attitude towards the birth of a girl child.
Storyteller Suryanath Singh said many of his stories have a political dimension but writing politically themed stories also involves considerable risks.
He stressed the importance of balancing reality and imagination. Recalling an incident from 1991 involving mass layoffs at a software company, he discussed his story Machine and highlighted the importance of narrative techniques, understanding the setting and maintaining a scientific outlook.
Storyteller Tekchand explained the differences between mainstream storytelling and film writing. He said experience, education and reading are essential for a writer and that storytellers must closely observe their surroundings and understand their times.
According to him, a story should be engaging and its narration should be strong enough for readers to feel that someone else’s experience is also part of their own life.
Novelist Hariyash Rai discussed several important principles of storytelling and stressed the need for writers to observe and understand their own times. He highlighted the importance of dialogue and said a writer’s mental state while writing a story can significantly influence the final work.
Students Participate in Story-Writing Exercises
The second session, “Sanrachna Ke Sawal” (Questions of Structure), featured Jawari Mall Parakh, Sanjeev Kumar and Manoj Kulkarni.
In the second part of the session, student participants took part in practical story-writing exercises and group discussions with Rekha Awasthi, Heera Lal Nagar, Prem Tiwari, Mazkoor Alam, Jyoti Nanda, Rajiv Prakash Garg “Sahir” and Alakhdev Prasad “Achal.”
Subject experts subsequently reviewed the students’ work and provided feedback based on their literary understanding, questions and interests.
Focus on the Content and Social Purpose of Stories
On the second day, two sessions were held on “Antarvastu Ke Sawal” (Questions of Content).
The sessions featured former Aligarh Muslim University professor Sagheer Afrahim, Deshbandhu College professor Bajrang Bihari Tiwari, All India Radio Lucknow correspondent Sameena Khan, literary critic Rajaram Bhadu, Shambhusharan Satyarthi and Gajendra Rawat.
The sessions were moderated by Yogmaya Saini and P.C. Rath, while Deshraj Verma delivered the vote of thanks.
Professor Sagheer Afrahim, referring to Urdu literature, described the Hindi short story as a document of life’s realities. He said the most important elements of storytelling should be human beings and the issues affecting them.
He advised writers not to become overly concerned about how a story should end. If a clear ending does not emerge, he said, a writer can leave the story at a meaningful or aesthetically effective turning point.
Sameena Khan Raises Questions About Manipulation of Narratives
Sameena Khan discussed how powerful interests can alter the interpretation and content of an event to divert attention from an issue.
Using Lucknow as an example, she said the city’s rich cultural and literary heritage is increasingly being reduced to discussions about food and lifestyle.
She argued that historical narratives can also be selectively presented for political purposes. Referring to research on storytelling, she said literature has the potential to cultivate empathy and compassion, but contemporary writing must not lose those human dimensions.
Writers Urged to Remain Connected With People
Literary critic Rajaram Bhadu spoke about expanding the scope of narrative and connected storytelling with the suppression of people’s movements.
He urged writers to remain fearless and closely connected with people’s concerns.
Bajrang Bihari Tiwari spoke about creating discourse-based literature from different dimensions of life and discussed various forms of violence represented in Dalit literature.
Gajendra Rawat examined questions of content in a class-divided society, referring to the Gen-Z movement at Jantar Mantar and workers’ movements in Noida. He also raised concerns about the limited attention given by mainstream media to the issues of workers and farmers.
Participants Honoured at Closing Session
The concluding session featured Jales National General Secretary Nalin Ranjan Singh, Kumar Vineetabh, Jales Rajasthan Secretary and workshop coordinator Sandeep Meel, and Jales Alwar unit secretary and local workshop coordinator Bharat Meena.
They presented a review and report of the two-day workshop and discussed its key outcomes.
Participants were presented with certificates and mementoes at the conclusion of the workshop.
The organisers said the workshop provided an important platform for dialogue between experienced writers and younger generations while reinforcing the idea that literature must remain connected with society, human values and people’s everyday concerns.
