A national-level Online Seminar on the topic “Critical Appreciation of a Poem” was organized by the English Literary Society of RKSD PG College, Kaithal. Prof. Dinesh Dadhichi, the former Chairperson of the Department of English, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, was the keynote speaker. While explaining the meaning of the critical study of poetry, Prof. Dadhichi said that it is necessary to evaluate and analyze a poem in order to understand it better. To write a critical analysis of a poem, it is important to first evaluate the poetic techniques used by the poet. It includes genre analysis. Each style has its own distinct characteristics. Sonnet has 14 lines divided into three quatrains and a couplet. Thus poetry can be a ballad, an ode, a lyric, song, etc.
After doing all the analysis and evaluation, the reader should first describe the poem and then explain it comprehensively in his own words. Around 1,600 e-registrations were received for this Online Seminar, from every nook and cranny of India and some from foreign countries too. A large number of participants were from the Southern part of India from states like Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. Participants from J &K and Northeast of India also very zealously took part in the seminar. Registrations were also received from Saudi Arabia, UK, Oman, and Egypt.
The Seminar was held on the Zoom platform with simultaneous Live-streaming on YouTube. Around 2500 views were recorded on YouTube Live which later grew to more than 3000.
The Principal of the College, Dr S K Goyal, welcomed the guest speaker and other participants. He also apprised the participants about the College and its activities. Dr Suruchi Sharma, Organizing Secretary of the Seminar anchored the event quite gracefully. She welcomed the guests with one of her self-composed poems. Dr Vikas Bhardwaj, the Co-coordinator of the Seminar explained the theme of the Seminar to the participants. He also introduced the keynote speaker Prof Dadhichi.
A lively discussion took place after the talk. In this discussion Dr Sadaf Shah, from the University of Jammu, Dr Richa Bhardwaj from IIHS, KUK, Dr Manjula Goel, Dr Seema Gupta, both from the host institution, P Maharajan Nellaiyappan from Tamilnadu and some other participants took part. Madhubala, Waseem Majazi, Surbhi Kamboj, Ms. Rahman, and some others participated in the discussion indirectly via YouTube.
A poetry recitation programme was also organized at the end of the Seminar, which was like icing on the cake. In this Prof Dadhichi presented one of his ghazals. Dr. Geeta Goyal and Dr S P Verma, the Coordinator of the Seminar, also presented their self-composed poems. Dr Verma and Ms Richa Langyan successfully managed the live event on YouTube.
The Head of the Department of English, Dr. Rajbir Parashar, while giving the concluding speech, extended a vote of thanks to everyone. Mr. Jaibir Dhariwal, Mr. Naresh Garg, Ms. Anjali, and a number of other colleagues from the RKSD fraternity graced the occasion with their online presence. The Governing Body of the College congratulated the department for organizing this very successful event.
