News and Events RUSSIAN DRAMATIST ALEXANDER OSTROVSKY REMEMBERED "AVADH NARAYAN MUDGIL SMAGRA" RELEASED

New Delhi, April 11, 2008:: Rich tributes were paid to eminent Russian Dramatist Alexander N. Ostrovskiy, at a Literary Evening entitled "Great Russian Playwright", dedicated to his 185th Birth Anniversary, jointly organized by the Russian Centre of Science & Culture (RCSC) and Parichay Sahitya Parishad at the RCSC, 24-Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi, on April 10, 2008. At the solemn function, attended by an elite gathering of well-known Hindi poets, writers, journalists, critics and authors, a two-volume complete works of the famous writer-journalist-poet Mr. Avadh Narayan Mudgil entitled "Avadh Narayan Mudgil Smagra", and edited by Mr. Mahesh Darpan, Editor, Sandhya Times, was released by Ms. Mamta Kalia and Mr. Kunwar Narayan Singh, both prominent Hindi writers. At the outset, presided over by Ms. Urmil Satyabhushan, President, Parichay Shitya Parishad and anchored by Mr. Lakshmi Shankar Bajpai, Deputy Director, AIR, well-known Hindi author, the august gathering observed a minute's silence in reverent memory of Mr. Sravan Rahi, famous Hindi poet and lyricist, who passed away recently.

Mrs. Maria Pavlova, Senior Executive & Programme Coordinator, RCSC, made a presentation on Alexander Ostrovskiy, the great Russian dramatist of the central decades of the 19th century, highlighting his brilliant literary career. Starting his literary career in 1847, Alexander Ostrovskiy's devoted himself almost exclusively to the theatre. His best plays included "It's a Family Affair-We'll Settle it Ourselves" (1850), "The Poor Bride" (1852), "The Dowerless Girl" (1879), "The Storm" (1860-translated into English in 1898) and "The forest" (1871). Extremely popular in Russia, his plays are always in repertoire of Russian theatres, and there are a lot of movies based on his plays. From 1874 to his death, he was the President of the Society of Russian Dramatic Authors, and in 1885 he was made the Director of the Moscow Government theatres. As a dramatist, he was above all else a realist. His characters are as natural as his language. In him one can study the life of Russia as he knew it, crude and coarse and at times cruel, yet full of homely virtue and aspiration. The Guest of Honour, Dr. Sergey V. Cherkas, Deputy Director, RCSC, acknowledged the yeoman services of Parichay Sahitya Prishad in promoting and popularizing the immortal works of Russian literary personalities among Indian people through literary evenings. Hailing the works of Alexander Ostrovskiy, Ms. Urmil Satyabhushan noted that his landmark works as a playwright always remain an inspiration for Indian writers. The author Mr. Avadh Narayan Mudgil, former Editor of "Sarika", described the pressure of circumstances under which he made his creative literary productions viewing the life as a journalist, writer and critic. The Chief Guest, Ms. Mamta Kalia, eminent writer and author, referred to the remarkable contributions of Alexander Ostrovskiy and lauded the spirit of creativity found all-pervading in the works of Mr. Avadh Marayan Mudgil. Dr. Vedpratap Vaidik, Dr. Saronini Mahishi, former Cabinet Minister, Ms. Mridula Garg, Dr. Kamal Kumar, Ms. Padma Sachdev, Mr.Rajiv Sait, Mr. Suresh Uniyal, Mr. Pradeep Pant, Prof. Ramesh Upadhyaya, well-known figures in Hindi literature, attended the literary evening and shared their impressions.