Shabdmehfil – a Tiny Treasure of Gems from World Literature

"એકાદી કલાનો સંગ હોય ને, તો તરી જવાય." (શાહબુદ્દીન રાઠોડ સાહેબ)

Ever since I started learning literature from the Day 01 of my FYBA, I have realized that this is the panacea for my life. However, as I grew up and spent more years in the exploration of literature, I realized that I am not the only one who feels so. Especially on the social media, I have come across innumerable people who breath literature and hence I felt that it is my noble duty to do a bit for the dissemination of literary gems. So in 2012, I started this Facebook page called Shabdmehfil. Interestingly, I found it in FB memory today and it makes me realize that I have come a long way since then in pursuing aesthetics. My stay of more than 06 years in Ahmedabad has been a fascinating foray into the arena of aesthetics. I hope you would also enjoy taking a trip to this page and needless to say, please share it with like-minded people because.... sharing is caring!

 

"I shall be brief, for brevity is the soul of wit.”

 

Shabdmehfil – a Tiny Treasure of Gems from World Literature

Dear Academicians,

I feel glad to introduce myself as Jay Mehta – a research scholar at the Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. I am writing this draft to introduce to you all, my academic enterprise – Shabdmehfil.

Life is like a tight rope-walk and one needs a support to sustain equilibrium. For someone it may be sports or cinema or art-forms; for me (and for myriad others) it is LITERATURE. Many a times it so happens that a person is shattered by the devastating circumstances of life, he is on the brink of collapse and just then – a dialogue from a novel or a couplet of ghazal or a statement of an author may revitalize his life-force.

With a lofty intention to disseminate such literary gems, I launched a Facebook page on 27-11-2012. 27th of November is the birthday of Ramesh Parekh – a legendary Gujarati poet. Being an ardent fan of R.P., I dedicated the page to him. Facebook is an outstanding forum for such an edutainment. Shabdmehfil is a tiny treasure of immortal gems from world literature. It is studded with literary works of all genres from Gujarati, Hindi, English and even Urdu literature. There are not just quotes but videos, pictures, links from various sources, sharing, comments, discussions……. – a mehfil (festivity) in real sense! Within a short span, the page has crossed 560 LIKEs! It also serves my purpose to propel reading habit amongst people.

Shabdmehfil contains gems like Hamlet (‘To be or not to be’ etc), Death of a Salesman, The Black Cat, Shakespeare’s sonnets, The Gift of Maggi, Lohi ni Sagaaai, Macbeth, Julius Caesar (Antony’s speech), Ode to a Nightingale, I Find No Peace, Kubla Khan, On His Blindness, Freedom of Heaven, Frankenstein, Brave New World, A Red Red Rose, Kasumbi no Rang, Pippa’s Song, Beet Gai so Baat Gai……

If you are a fan of Ramesh Parekh, Shakespeare, Manto, Oscar Wilde, Nida Fazli, Tagore, Munavvar Rana, Arthur Miller, Gulzar, Nissim Ezekiel, Kamala Das, Mareez, Emily Dickinson, Kalapi, Dushyantkumar, Chandrakant Bakshi, Rajesh Reddy, Jayant Khatri, Amruta Pritam, Chekhov, Poe, Khushwant Singh, Mark Twain, Chetan Bhagat, Pablo Neruda, Hemingway, Nietzche, Befaam…….. Shabdmehfil is undoubtedly for YOU…!!!

565 people from around the globe have joined this carnival (apart from countless others who enjoy it indirectly). So, what are you waiting for?

You can also google with the word ‘Shabdmehfil’ (please spell it right). Here is the link:-

https://www.facebook.com/shabdmehfil

 

In the next phase, I wish to make it more interactive. So please do let me know your impression about my dream child. If you find Shabdmehfil worth visiting, kindly invite your like-minded friends to this confluence of aesthetics. Let literature stretch its arms to embrace us all!

Needless to say – creative, valuable suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcome.

May the Divine be with you forever!

Thanks a lot.

-         Dr. Jay Mehta