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Manipal, November 11: MILAP 2019, the two-day literary festival of Manipal Academy of Higher Eduaction concluded here at the Dr TMA Pai Hall on Sunday with lively discussion on topics of varied interests, all based on the theme of “Creative Expressions in the Digital World”.

The discussions ranged from cookery to manuscripts, streaming media to music and even publishing. The panellists delved deep into the digital world as it is today, compared it with the times prior to technology taking over every aspect of life completely and deliberated its impact. 

Comprising Anushruti R K and Thirugnanasambantham K with Rahul Putty as moderator discussed ’Digi-Cookery: Gastronomy in Virtual World’.Their discussion revolved around the importance of preserving authentic recipes which are lost due to lack of cataloguing. “With technology and the commitment of chefs, these forgotten dishes can be brought back to life and into the manifold of modern cuisine”.

This panel explored the juxtaposition of the food blogs of today and learning to cook from our family. However, digitization does contribute to the dissemination of the traditional recipes and methods of cooking. On the other side, we can see that there is now a disconnect in the dining experience, which could prevent us from appreciating food as a form of art.

In yet another exciting deliberation - ’Manuscripts to ManE-Scripts: Rebuilding Resources’. The panellists were Dipti S Tripathi, Akane Saito, and D Venkat Rao in conversation withArvinda Bhat. The panellists came up with numerous ways to preserve endangered manuscripts as well as the significance of safeguarding traditional knowledge in the form of manuscripts. They discussed the various communication forms, such as the Mnemo-cultural technology, which contributes to retaining the diverse cultural productions in India.

Sudeep Nigam moderated a panel with Abhijeet Deshpande, Sidharth Jain, and Pretti Siingh. Their discussion centred around the importance of and control over quality in streaming media on platforms such as Hot star and Netflix. “Numbers and Notes: Tuning into Digital Space” with a live demonstration of producing music by Neehar Dabade.  The audience viewed music with a DAW- Digital Audio Workstation, MIDI keyboard and a Macintosh PC. Anil D’Souza moderated the session.

The last panel, ’Publishing in the Digital Medium: Confronting a New Reality.’ was comprised of N Manu Chakravarthy, Romal Singh, Muraleedhara Upadhyaya and Neeta Inamdar in conversation with Tanima Nigam. Neeta Inamdar, chief editor at the Manipal Universal Press, focused on the challenges that they face in pricing a book. E-publishing, she said that was still not fool-proof though it may be highly cost-effective and finally it is the writer who loses.

The 2019 edition of MILAP ended with a vibrant play by NinasamTirugata. They depicted the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire and the intricacies of the battle were beautifully produced in their performance. The exceptional performance by the team was a tribute to Girish Karnad.Tanima Nigam, Co-curator of m.i.l.a.p. welcomed the guests and audience while Priya Poojary, Faculty Associate from the Department of European Studies gave vote of thanks.