“The temptation of taking a selfie by climbing rock near a river could prove fatal and put the selfie habitual at great risk,” said the author of ‘High on Kasol’, Aditya Kant while narrating a story about the risks of taking a selfie close to a river.

He was speaking at the International Literature Festival-22 in Unmesha, organised by the Sahitya Akademi here.

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The journalist cum author who created a buzz with his novel ‘High on Kasol’, cautioned tourists against venturing near the riverside for taking selfies, through the extracts from his widely acclaimed novel High on Kasol on the concluding day of Shimla International Literature Festival on Saturday.

Kant, who read out a chapter named Frozen Selfie from his book released recently,  through one of his characters, Haizel, the temptation of taking a selfie by climbing rocks near the river could prove fatal.

How a teenage girl Haizel from Delhi,  who slips into Parvati river while taking a selfie on a rock, is saved by the protagonist after she has a nearly fatal fall into Parvati river. Both of them fall in love with each other, Aditya said.

Aditya mentioned the character Haizel, who could be considered an exception, as most of the tourists who slipped while taking pics, by the river side, could not be saved and had a fatal fall.

“My story required the character to survive, so I could not have afforded to kill her. But in reality, the survival rate in such instances in Kullu Manali valley has been dismal’, he warned.

“So, through this instance I have tried to convey a message to the tourists that they should not get carried away by the picturesque sites and climb on dangerous rocks. There may not be any protagonist to save you, if God forbids you slip into the river while taking a selfie,” he said.

Aditya’s debut novel ‘High on Kasol’, which revolves around the theme of the mysterious disappearance of foreigners and changing trends of drug trafficking in the Parvati valley, had created a buzz soon after it was released Online and in the market.

Organised by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and Sahitya Akademi on the occasion of 75 years of Independence, the festival named ‘Unmesha’ was  held in the heritage buildings, the Gaiety Heritage Cultural complex, and the Town Hall, at the Ridge, Shimla.  Over 425 writers, poets, translators, critics, and distinguished personalities from various walks of life from 15 countries including India took part in the mega festival.

Prominent amongst those participating in the event were the International Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree, writer lyricist, and poet Gulzar, classical dancer Sonal Mansingh and noted actress Deepti Naval, producer, director, music composer Vishal Bhardwaj among others.

The festival featured discussions, presentations, poetry, story readings performances, etc covering a wide range of topics such as “Cinema and Literature,” “World Classics & Indian Writing,” “Tribal Writings”, “Writings of LGBTQ community of India,” “Media & Literature,” “Bhakti Literature” & “Uniting Cultures through Translation.”

The evenings featured cultural performances-Bharatanatyam by Sonal Mansingh, Tala Vadya Kacheri by P. Jayabhaskar, Nagara by Nathulal Solanki, and Dastan-e-Karn, Dastangoi by Mahmood Farooqui.

Some other distinguished personalities present at the festival were S L Bhyrappa, Chandrashekhar Kambar, Kiran Bedi, Linda Hess, Daniel Negers, Surjit Patar, Namita Gokhale, Kapil Kapoor, Arif Mohammad Khan, Reghuveer Chaudhari, Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Vishwas Patil, Ranjit Hoskote, Gotanjalli Shree, Sai Paranjpye, Deepti Naval, Malashri Lal, Sudarshan Vashishtha, Pratyoosh Guleri, and S R Harnot.