We believe that any literary festival needs to kick–start with children and so, in 2010, the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival was inaugurated by children. While Sourav Saha, an accomplished athlete, lit the lamp for knowledge, hundreds of children from across the city gathered at the Apeejay Anand Children´s Library in Kolkata for the inaugural event, ´Igniting Young Minds.´ This event included an awe–inspiring dance and drama performance by the Library children. The play was based on a real life incident and portrayed the struggles of a young Library child who could not come to study because of pressures that were forcing him into child labour. The chief guest, Bikram Ghosh and his wife, film personality Jaya Seal, were moved to tears by the powerful enactment of the child´s struggle, as were many other members of the audience.

The excited children were then taken on a city excursion, which included a very special tram ride. The excitement continued when the children were taken to the Oxford Bookstore, where authors Anita Roy and Padmini Mongia presented some captivating hand puppetry and dramatised readings from books.

The children´s animated faces and their effervescent questions were proof that we had indeed ignited their young minds with aspirations of a better life that was within their reach.