Pune: At the launch of the first edition of Social For Action Book Club on Sunday at Crossword bookstore in Aundh, a compilation of motivational and soul-searching poems in the form of a book by Maha Metro Executive Director Neelam Saxena Chandra was released.

On Sunday, Chandra’s books namely Sahyadri Echoes, a collection of bilingual poems, penned by young poets of the city and curated by Chandra, The Stitched Heart and two Hindi books Ek Kadam Roshni Ki Ore and Ehsaas-e-Ruh were released. Chandra was present on the occasion, along with notable guests former director of All India Radio Sunil Deodhar, Doordarshan  Pune Director Engineer Kalpana Gokhe, Sakal Media Group Director Mrunal Pawar, along with hosts Veena Dixit, editor for English books Juhi Gupte and editor for Hindi books Tikam Shekhawat. 

Around 42 poets from Pune had contributed their poems for Sahyadri Echoes. Some of the poets were present during the event including Saurabh Tripathi, Irtika Kazi, Piyush Tiwari, Gauri Dixit, Anita Shinde, Vijay Gokhe, Dr Sunil Kaushal and Namita Singh.

The event saw book lovers enjoying live poem recitation by Chandra and other poets. The poems which were recited were based on motivation, social, philosophical, spiritual, feminist and romantic. A song was sung by Nishad Bhide and Shweta Subhedar.

Chandra, during the launch event, said, “There are very few poets who manage to convey the exact feeling and emotions through their poetry. Before writing down anything, one needs to read a lot. And for me, my inspiration or idol were the books that I had read from my young age.”

On the occasion, Murnal Pawar said, “The Social For Action Book Club provides a platform for the students and young urban community to influence, inspire and eventually act to make a better world. This book launch event helps connect like-minded people along with engaging them.”