Unity in diversity is the essence of society, Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar today emphasised the need to have meaningful and fruitful dialogues, deliberations, discussion and debate to strengthen democracy of the nation.
The Vice-President was addressing the gathering after releasing the 200 book `Vaman Vriksha Kala’ penned by the Governor of Goa P.S. Sreedharan Pillai at New Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan today.
The book release ceremony marked the Golden Jubilee celebrations of P.S. Sreedharan Pillai’s literary activities. Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant, Member of Parliament Dr. P. T. Usha, Damodar Mauzo, Jnanpith Laureate; and Reetha Sreedharan Pillai also graced the occasion.
Speaking further, Dhankhar said, creativity may just come but to sustain creativity is a difficult task. `Vaman Vriksha Kala’ authored on important subject reminds us about civilisation, values and wisdom, which is reflecting in our ancient Vedas, he added.
Praising the writing skill of the Governor, the Vice-President, said, “Shri Pillai is a well-known public figure and a prolific writer. He has written 130 books in Malayalam and 70 books in English on various subjects from history, law and politics to economy and social affairs.”
Vice President, Dhankhar further said, that the book ‘Vaman Vriksha Kala’ is a monograph focusing on the specialised subject of ‘Bonsai’ i.e. potted trees. In fact, the name of the book means “the art of miniature trees”. Indicating the prime intention of the manuscript the Vice-President said, it is to firmly establish the fact that Bonsai is originally an Indian art, as against the widely held belief that it belongs to China and Japan. The author provides evidence from ancient Sanskrit texts to establish this claim and provides convincing answers as to why our ancestors reduced trees to potted size.
The book elucidates how the author developed interest in this art and how he created a bonsai garden in Raj Bhavan itself to better appreciate the art, the Vice-President concluded.
P.S. Sreedharan Pillai’s in his speech highlighted the values of literature, saying that in every forest you will find mother tree, which always keeps on communicating with surrounding trees. This communication is always held under the roots which are scientifically proven, the Governor added.
The Governor informing about the inspiration of writing on different subject, said that he got this idea from the Goan public during his visits at rural areas and by communicating with the general public.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant said that the Governor’s writing career began in 1973 by way of penning of articles, stories, poems, etc. His first book came to be published in 1985 bearing the title “Rent Laws of Kerala”. The pace of his writings then picked up and he attained the first milestone in his career when his Malayalam book “Pazhassi Smriti” was released in 2010 by the then President of India, Pratibha Patil, the Chief Minister added.
The Chief Minister mentioning about his release of 100th book – ‘Dark Days of Democracy’, said this book was released at the hands of Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in 2018. The next 100 books have incredibly come in a short span of 5 years. This is because during the Covid period of 2 years, Pillai devoted his entire time and energy to writing, the Chief Minister added.
This book is a monograph focussing on a specialised subject involving intensive research and deep insights.
