LaLitTana was conducted online and mediated by Abhay Kumar, the Indian ambassador to Madagascar and the Comoros, who described the Indian Ocean as one big family.
Malagasy and Indian poets read their respective translations of poetry to the other nation during the event. According to some reports, the event was attended by some of India's most renowned poets, including Ranjit Hoskote, a well-known poet, translator, and art curator, as well as EV Ramakrishnan, Anupama Basumatary, Menka Shivdasani, and Anupama Raju. J. Nalisoa Ravalitera, poet and co-founder of the Circle of Poets, and Faribolana Sandratra, Research Professor, were among the Malagasy poets and authors.
The Indian ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros, Abhay Kumar, chaired LaLitTana, emphasizing that the Indian Ocean is one big family and that the Malagasy language includes roughly 300 Sanskrit terms. This, he claims, demonstrates India's historical, cultural, and linguistic ties to Madagascar.
The latter also recited words from his famed poem 'Monsoon,' which describes how the Indian Ocean ties all of the islands to India by a poetic thread. Ambassador Abhay Kumar launched the bilateral cultural program in April 2019 to create a forum for poets and authors from both countries to showcase their literary works and interact culturally.
