The 2024 Samvada Editors’ Meet was organised on 13 April, in Silver Oak, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, Delhi and was attended by 160 editors, writers and contributors from across NCR.
The Master of Ceremony was none other than Ashok Srivastava, a resident editor of Samvada, who has held a pivotal role in the team!
It was a magnificent celebration where the sincere and hard work of all editors were commemorated.
What started as the brainchild of Vinod Agarwal way back in 1996, in sector 15 Noida, as a nascent seed, has today blossomed into a mighty banyan tree with its editors and circulation spanning 21 sectors of Noida, 26 colonies of South Delhi and 9 areas of Gurugram, totalling a vast spread of 56!
Later, in the year 2006, Samvada was established as a proper organisation. Since then, it has traversed an impressive journey!
There are several concerns which are pertinent and matter to the masses, the commoners but are not regarded newsworthy enough for the city’s national dailies. Such issues too need to be addressed! This thought prodded Vinod ji into action and taking baby steps for a couple of years along with his dynamic team, he has taken Samvada to a position where it is taken seriously by senior officials, authority officials and even ministers!
Samvada, the voice, the communication of the masses has come of age.
The two years of the pandemic had its own share of issues and, hence, such an event to honour the editors had to be postponed to a favourable time.
Ashok did a fantastic job of allowing the editors to share their experiences and also the concerns such as solid waste management, conservation of the green cover, pastoral care of the senior citizens, especially those whose children have settled abroad and they have no one to look after their needs, abuse by plastics and polythene, and many more.
A continuous flow of yummy snacks and delectable soft drinks kept all satiated. The lunch was equally delicious; since Navratri was going on at that time, there was a special vrat food on a separate counter.
All guests were presented with a smart papier mâché figurine sculpted out of old and left over Samvada newsletters! Vinod ji, Akshat and Antariksh along with their core team played perfect hosts: warm and welcoming.
