Saahitya Sammelan

pune,july 03--the contraversial decision of akhil bharatiya marathi saahitya mahamandal to accept invite from bay area maharashtra mandal in america to host the next akhil bharatiya marathi saahitya sammelan (all india marathi literary meet) in san francisco received a further major jolt today,following strong opposition to the very decision from marathi speaking people residing out of india.

this was evident from the results of an opinion poll conducted exclusively through cross-section of marathi community abroad by Sunil Belhe,freelance journalist and director of pune based chinmay communications.the sample survey was conducted via internet through marathi community in rest of asia,africa,australia,europe and north america.

majority of poll participants (88 %) voiced protest against the mahamandal's decision,while only a minority(12 %) favoured the decision.interestingly,the most intense opposition (almost 90 %) to the decision favouring an american venue for marathi saahitya sammelan was recorded by participants from north america,some of whom ,compared the sammelan with ".pandharpur vaari".

in a remarkable response,neelima and ravi kulkarni from new jersey categorically opposed the choice of an american venue for theupcoming saahitya sammelan,saying,it was an unaffordable affair for the common people in maharashtra to attend the literary meet in the united states.arvind phatak,currently working in oslo was highly critical about the mahamandal's decision and stated that organising the marathi literary convention in america would lead to deprivation of masses from attending the saahitya sammelan.
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---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Neelima Kulkarni <neelimakulkarni@yahoo.com>Date: Jul 1, 2008 5:13 PMSubject: sahitaya sammelan - vote NO for san franscicoTo: sunilbelhe@gmail.com
Sunil,
Ravi and Neelima Kulkarni vote NO for sammelan in san francisco.
- Neelima and Ravi

I forwarded your email to several of my friends.
with my comments:
My reaction is as follows, I would like to know yours.
The fact is most of the Marathi writers and "Sahitya premi" cannot afford to come for sammelan here,
I don't think we should deprive them of Sammelan just because we want to enjoy it.
Most of us can afford a trip to India if we really want to participate in Sammelan.
Secondly,
San Francisco does not need a economic boost from Sammelan while any town in Maharashtra can use it.
In my opinion, we should not have "sahitya sammelan" here in the US. (we can have our own in the BMM convention - if we really want! ) *---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Phatak <raphatak@hotmail.com>Date: Jul 2, 2008 11:12 AMSubject: RE: Opinion Poll On Sahitya Sammelan Venue....To: sunilbelhe@gmail.com
NO.

By holding the Sammelan outside India, you deprive thousands who do not have the necessary finance from attending.

Outside Maharashtra, the knowledge about Marathi literature is limited to no more than 10% of the first generation migrants. Of that number, people who actively contribute to Marathi literature must be less than 100.

Sahitya Sammelan should be a celebration for those who are active in creative work and those who love reading it.

Unless Bay area is willing to sponser 1000 airtickets and stay expense for Marathi writers, they should not be allowed to disappoint the majority.

Arvind Phatak
Norway
+4792097175