Maha Kumbh of Mind : Jaipur International Literary Festival 2013
From last 5 years, I was hearing a lot about Jaipur International Literary Festival. The weeks jam packed with celebrities, dialogues, discussion as well as controversies. This time, I decided to be a part of the festival. I did not know that delegate registration, discussion schedule, release of books, display everything is made much well in advance, I had to struggle a lot to get into the festival as the flights, hotels every thing was over crowded and booked much in advance.
The USP of this festival is beauty of city, its people, food and ethnic dress which also attracts people from different parts of globe. January is the month when people in Europe, America, Canada as well as other colder countries experience extreme cold, our Pink City Jaipur has pleasant day and cool nights.So the festival time means attending serious discussions about literature and contemporary issues, meeting celebrity authors and enjoying flavour of Pink City all rolled into one.
All roads of the city leads to Diggi Palace, a heritage property where the festival takes place, in a very informal environment authors, thinkers and readers rub their shoulders with each other. People says that last year crowd was more but on 25th and 26th January the venue was full of people talking, sharing, listening shopping and enjoying ethnic to exotic food.
Every year controversies surounds the festival. Last year it was Salman Rushdie, this year some Islamic organizations called for a ban on the participation of the four Indian writers who read from The Satanic Verses last year. Meanwhile, Hindu groups demanded that Pakistani delegates be barred from attending.
For starters, only one of the four authors, Jeet Thayil, was even invited to this year’s event. Besides Thayil, whose novel Narcopolis was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker prize, the protesters must have mistaken the identity of another writer. "This is what India is all about,” an event organizer told “There's always someone offended by someone.”
If this was not enough then Ashish Nandi's comments on corrupt officials blown out of proportion and without understanding the context local as well as national politicians jumped into the fray.
On Sunday,besides the brisk discussions held by various known literary heavy weights, the book launch of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan by Rajasthan tourism minister Bina Kak saw a huge gathering, followed by a musical performance by his sons Ayaan and Amaan Ali Khan which was a major crowd pulle.r
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The USP of this festival is beauty of city, its people, food and ethnic dress which also attracts people from different parts of globe. January is the month when people in Europe, America, Canada as well as other colder countries experience extreme cold, our Pink City Jaipur has pleasant day and cool nights.So the festival time means attending serious discussions about literature and contemporary issues, meeting celebrity authors and enjoying flavour of Pink City all rolled into one.
All roads of the city leads to Diggi Palace, a heritage property where the festival takes place, in a very informal environment authors, thinkers and readers rub their shoulders with each other. People says that last year crowd was more but on 25th and 26th January the venue was full of people talking, sharing, listening shopping and enjoying ethnic to exotic food.
Every year controversies surounds the festival. Last year it was Salman Rushdie, this year some Islamic organizations called for a ban on the participation of the four Indian writers who read from The Satanic Verses last year. Meanwhile, Hindu groups demanded that Pakistani delegates be barred from attending.
For starters, only one of the four authors, Jeet Thayil, was even invited to this year’s event. Besides Thayil, whose novel Narcopolis was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker prize, the protesters must have mistaken the identity of another writer. "This is what India is all about,” an event organizer told “There's always someone offended by someone.”
If this was not enough then Ashish Nandi's comments on corrupt officials blown out of proportion and without understanding the context local as well as national politicians jumped into the fray.
Rushdie may have skipped the JLF again this year, but is now in India to promote the movie Midnight’s Children, based on his novel of the same name. His looming presence in India has cast a shadow over the festival. Compared with last year, the JLF is under tight security.
The first day of the fest had a modest start with the Buddhist Chants by Drepung Loseling Monks and a keynote address by Mahasweta Devi 'O to live again'. In this session she talked about her own experience as a woman, as a writer. She spoke about the freedom of imagination as she said there should be 'Freedom of Imagination' too in our constitution. The first day of the fest saw many popular faces like H.H Dalai Lama, Sharmila Tagore, and Javed Akhtar. The popular authors and scholars like Christopher Ricks, Tim Supple, Anjum Hasan, Abraham Verghese, Amit Chaudhuri, Shashi Tharoor, Gaytri Chakravorty Spivak and Linda Grant made all their respective sessions
remarkable with their very presence.
.
'Whose Land is it Anyway?' was also an interesting discussion. Participants were
Shoma Chaudhary, HM Nerurkar, Tarun Das and Kota Neelima session was moderated by John Elliot
John Elliot introduced the session as a moderator by saying, “This session is really about the future of India, because the land lies at the centre of a lot that is wrong and a lot that`s right with India.”
The issues discussed ranged from displacement, mining, roads, city planning, rural migration and real estate, to corruption and crime. The panel discussed whether land was everyone`s responsibility since it belonged to everyone. Managing Editor of Telheka, Shoma Chaudhary, argued that the land belongs to the people but “unfortunately the development model we are following doesn`t reflect that.” She urged for India to stop `panicking` about industrializing the country too quickly, since it leads to prioritising convenience over correctness.
Choudhary cited Tata Steel as `a great example of what is going wrong with the development in India,` because of the lack of consent and consultation in the land acquisition movement in India. HM Nerurkar, MD of Tata Steel discussed the challenges facing industry and development, saying that Tata Steel had learned the hard way, the necessity of consultation and communication with locals in proposed areas of development, particularly those at risk of displacement. He argued that India needed to continue to rapidly industrialise if it was to move out of poverty and maximise its future growth, but that social and economic factors had to be considered in that process.
Nerurkar said India was changing from an agrarian society anyway, with increased rural migration, which had implications for people`s changing roles in society, especially for women. Businessman Tarun Das questioned why it was always agricultural land that was used for development, and urged corporations to negotiate with owners of fallow factories, the railways, and the defence forces who have 18 lakh acres of land.
Das and Choudhary pointed out that India needed to conserve its agricultural land and improve services in those areas, as protect its resources, if it was to maintain a long term sustainable future in term of food and energy security. All the panellists agreed that industrialisation was a good thing for India, but that it was the process by which it happened that was crucial. Das said the corporate sector had to be looked at with concern: `We need to handle this whole issue much more respectfully.`
Shoma Choudhary warned about corruption and urged that agriculture and industry go forward together as equal partners, since “one half of all land deals feel they are not getting a fair deal: that is the heart of it.” Author Kota Neelima highlighted that relief, rehabilitation, consent and consultation were the core issues to be taken over in the Parliament, but doubted whether or not the government will be able to handle these issues well.
An interesting discussion took place on 'Sunset on Empire – A talk on rise and fall of empires'
The participants were David Gilmore, Ian Buruma, Pavan Varma, Charles Allen and Kwasi Kwarteng it was moderated by Swapan Dasgupta
Dasgupta kick started the discussion by questioning whether the British came to India with colonial intent. Specialist on British Raj, writer David Gilmore responded that the British had “no real colonial intent other than making money.” He said the there was even a time when the British saw Indian culture on equal terms in pre-colonial India.
The discussion moved to talking about issues of cultural up-rootedness post colonialism in India. Dasgupta commented that, “Even though the princely states of Bengal and Madras were ruled for the longest time, their sense of cultural identity is strongly intact,” and questioned, “whether this idea of cultural up rootedness is a more predominant problem in North India.”
Author-Diplomat Pavan Varma talked about the importance of language as a link to culture. He said that in India “there has been a recent drift from the mother tongue.” He said that English is a language of global relevance, but when “children start singing ‘Ba Ba Black Sheep’ in the primary school, it’s a national disaster.”
Shoma Chaudhary, HM Nerurkar, Tarun Das and Kota Neelima session was moderated by John Elliot
John Elliot introduced the session as a moderator by saying, “This session is really about the future of India, because the land lies at the centre of a lot that is wrong and a lot that`s right with India.”
The issues discussed ranged from displacement, mining, roads, city planning, rural migration and real estate, to corruption and crime. The panel discussed whether land was everyone`s responsibility since it belonged to everyone. Managing Editor of Telheka, Shoma Chaudhary, argued that the land belongs to the people but “unfortunately the development model we are following doesn`t reflect that.” She urged for India to stop `panicking` about industrializing the country too quickly, since it leads to prioritising convenience over correctness.
Choudhary cited Tata Steel as `a great example of what is going wrong with the development in India,` because of the lack of consent and consultation in the land acquisition movement in India. HM Nerurkar, MD of Tata Steel discussed the challenges facing industry and development, saying that Tata Steel had learned the hard way, the necessity of consultation and communication with locals in proposed areas of development, particularly those at risk of displacement. He argued that India needed to continue to rapidly industrialise if it was to move out of poverty and maximise its future growth, but that social and economic factors had to be considered in that process.
Nerurkar said India was changing from an agrarian society anyway, with increased rural migration, which had implications for people`s changing roles in society, especially for women. Businessman Tarun Das questioned why it was always agricultural land that was used for development, and urged corporations to negotiate with owners of fallow factories, the railways, and the defence forces who have 18 lakh acres of land.
Das and Choudhary pointed out that India needed to conserve its agricultural land and improve services in those areas, as protect its resources, if it was to maintain a long term sustainable future in term of food and energy security. All the panellists agreed that industrialisation was a good thing for India, but that it was the process by which it happened that was crucial. Das said the corporate sector had to be looked at with concern: `We need to handle this whole issue much more respectfully.`
Shoma Choudhary warned about corruption and urged that agriculture and industry go forward together as equal partners, since “one half of all land deals feel they are not getting a fair deal: that is the heart of it.” Author Kota Neelima highlighted that relief, rehabilitation, consent and consultation were the core issues to be taken over in the Parliament, but doubted whether or not the government will be able to handle these issues well.
An interesting discussion took place on 'Sunset on Empire – A talk on rise and fall of empires'
The participants were David Gilmore, Ian Buruma, Pavan Varma, Charles Allen and Kwasi Kwarteng it was moderated by Swapan Dasgupta
Dasgupta kick started the discussion by questioning whether the British came to India with colonial intent. Specialist on British Raj, writer David Gilmore responded that the British had “no real colonial intent other than making money.” He said the there was even a time when the British saw Indian culture on equal terms in pre-colonial India.
The discussion moved to talking about issues of cultural up-rootedness post colonialism in India. Dasgupta commented that, “Even though the princely states of Bengal and Madras were ruled for the longest time, their sense of cultural identity is strongly intact,” and questioned, “whether this idea of cultural up rootedness is a more predominant problem in North India.”
Author-Diplomat Pavan Varma talked about the importance of language as a link to culture. He said that in India “there has been a recent drift from the mother tongue.” He said that English is a language of global relevance, but when “children start singing ‘Ba Ba Black Sheep’ in the primary school, it’s a national disaster.”
The curtains were drawn on the Festival after a final debate on the topic ‘This house proposes that capitalism has lost its way’ that featured distinguished figures like Shoma Chaudhary, Suhel Seth, Frank Savage, Michael Sandel, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta as guest speakers who took their stand against the motion and for the motion. The session was moderated by Rahul Kanwal.
A peppery debate ensued on the subject matter when Shoma Chaudhary, arguing for the motion, declared that capitalism has lost its way. She said, “If the goal of human enterprise is not just to put a bit of cash in the bank but to care for happiness, we would not be having this conversation. Capitalism has fallen off the track and is completely mutilated.”
Shoma further argued that that everything to do with capitalism had been subverted; if it`s not possible to provide electricity or drinking water to those who need it, the corporates will not do it.
She said that only a few privileged people can reap the fruits of capitalism while 80% of the Indian population have “dark” stories to narrate. She reiterated the fact that the rich have grown richer and the poor have grown poorer thanks to capitalism.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta responded that the rich have not grown richer and the poorer have not grown poorer but the gap has grown. He discussed economic and social systems, arguing that India had to rise above `isms` to get the best of all worlds.
However, Suhel Seth, voiced his thoughts against the motion and said that capitalism is not always good but it is a reality and can do well. He urged the audience to vote with their conscience not some archaic liberal talk.”
Taking a very pro capitalist viewpoint, Frank Savage reasoned that capitalism has provided a lot of mobility to people the world over. He added that it is up to the people to make capitalism work since it is flexible and therefore each country can make it work in its own way.
On the other hand, Michael Sandel accepted that capitalism had lost its way because it has wandered into places it does not belong such as family values and community life. He advocated that capitalism should not be got rid of but be kept in its place for the common good.
On a final note, a majority of the audience present during the session chose to vote for the motion and the debate ended with Rajasthani drum beats marking the end to the high-spirited literary mega-event.
To make the event more attractive the JLF has made an effort to invite prominent women writers to participate in the festival this year, with some sessions devoted to women and sexuality. This focus caters to the prevailing mood in India, which has recently been focused on issues of gender and violence against women.
What I strongly feel that apart from being an International Literary Festival, there is a need to have a strong local connect. Frankly speaking, roaming inside the Diggi Palace, I felt that discussions touching the local issues in the local language is a must and the festival should not be highjacked by English elite.There should be more stalls/ stores having regional books, more releases in national language. Hope that the organisers will understand that those who do not speak/ understand English also enjoy reading literature.
A peppery debate ensued on the subject matter when Shoma Chaudhary, arguing for the motion, declared that capitalism has lost its way. She said, “If the goal of human enterprise is not just to put a bit of cash in the bank but to care for happiness, we would not be having this conversation. Capitalism has fallen off the track and is completely mutilated.”
Shoma further argued that that everything to do with capitalism had been subverted; if it`s not possible to provide electricity or drinking water to those who need it, the corporates will not do it.
She said that only a few privileged people can reap the fruits of capitalism while 80% of the Indian population have “dark” stories to narrate. She reiterated the fact that the rich have grown richer and the poor have grown poorer thanks to capitalism.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta responded that the rich have not grown richer and the poorer have not grown poorer but the gap has grown. He discussed economic and social systems, arguing that India had to rise above `isms` to get the best of all worlds.
However, Suhel Seth, voiced his thoughts against the motion and said that capitalism is not always good but it is a reality and can do well. He urged the audience to vote with their conscience not some archaic liberal talk.”
Taking a very pro capitalist viewpoint, Frank Savage reasoned that capitalism has provided a lot of mobility to people the world over. He added that it is up to the people to make capitalism work since it is flexible and therefore each country can make it work in its own way.
On the other hand, Michael Sandel accepted that capitalism had lost its way because it has wandered into places it does not belong such as family values and community life. He advocated that capitalism should not be got rid of but be kept in its place for the common good.
On a final note, a majority of the audience present during the session chose to vote for the motion and the debate ended with Rajasthani drum beats marking the end to the high-spirited literary mega-event.
To make the event more attractive the JLF has made an effort to invite prominent women writers to participate in the festival this year, with some sessions devoted to women and sexuality. This focus caters to the prevailing mood in India, which has recently been focused on issues of gender and violence against women.
What I strongly feel that apart from being an International Literary Festival, there is a need to have a strong local connect. Frankly speaking, roaming inside the Diggi Palace, I felt that discussions touching the local issues in the local language is a must and the festival should not be highjacked by English elite.There should be more stalls/ stores having regional books, more releases in national language. Hope that the organisers will understand that those who do not speak/ understand English also enjoy reading literature.
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