By BIJOYA SAWIAN
The Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) was the brainchild of Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple and established in 2006.Now, twenty years later,it has emerged as the most prestigious gathering of writers, thinkers, artists, critics,scholars, publishers and readers from across the globe.They call it “the greatest literary show on earth”. Frankly,I don’t like the term show and extravaganza as it makes the event sound like a circus. Grand, however, it certainly was. The Inauguration on January 15 in the spacious and vibrantly adorned shamiana in the Front Lawn was a dignified affair. It commenced with the finest instrumental and vocal music from Rajasthan, Bengal and the universal world of Sufis. The Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal Sharma,Deputy CM, Diya Kumari and several dignitaries arrived soon after for the Lamp Lighting Ceremony and speeches.
The importance and scale of JLF were defined by the sheer depth and power of speakers like Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, Booker Prize winners Daman Galgut and Bano Mushtaq, authors of repute Kiran Desai, Esther Dufflo, Sudha Murthy, Vir Das, Avi Shlaim, Ian Hislop,Gaur Gopal Das, Amish, Malashri Lal, Dr Karan Singh,Stephen Alter, Vrinda Grover, William Dalrymple to name a few from a lineup of 500 speakers. There were four of us from the North East – Hoihnu Hauzel from Manipur,Prajwal Parajuly from Sikkim, Rashmi Nazary from Assam and me. The first published writer from Bhutan,Kunzang Choden was an asset to all our sessions.
Hoihnu Hauzel is an eminent journalist, writer and founder of Northeast Odyssey. Her work revolves around showcasing North East’s culture, cuisines, environment and people. Her book, Stories The Fire Couldn’t Burn is about the ethnic violence in Manipur. Prajwal Parajuly hails from Sikkim. His work focuses on the Nepali speaking people and their culture. His work includes the award-winning and best-selling collection of short stories and The Land Where I Flee. Rashmi Nazary was accorded with the Sahitya Akademi Award 2016 for her children’s book, His Share of Sky. She went on to write highly acclaimed works which included folktales and Whistles of The Siphoong and An Unfinished Legacy.
When I received the email from JLF inviting me to be a speaker at three sessions, the first thought that crossed my mind was that I had to do my best. I am representing Meghalaya. The topics I was to speak on were such. The Long and The Short was a discussion on the challenges of short story writing and my collection Hill Songs of Love and Longing were all set in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills.The Spirit of The North East was the other topic. These Hills Called Home was my favourite session. It was a subject close to my heart and reminded me of the book of the highly acclaimed author and a cherished friend, late Dr Temsula Ao. We made a formidable fivesome. With a deep sense of gratitude and satisfaction I came back feeling proud of the performances of my brilliant co discussants and happy with myself for a job well done.
On the whole it was, undoubtedly, a highly stimulating experience and I savored the session of Joseph Koener and Stephen Greenblatt conversing about Art In a State of Siege, The Measure of Justice with Vrinda Grover, Ketu Shah and Ashwani Kumar. There were emotional discussions on the Gaza Genocide and heated sessions on Why Iran Is Burning. Exceptional, disturbing and yet humorous was the session Autocracy, INC-Dictators Who Want to Rule the World which featured Anne Applebaum conversing with Edward Luce.The lighter yet interesting ones with Anirban Bhattacharyya whose books on real life crimes sold out by the third day. The poetry sessions and Rijuta Diwaker’s The Wisdom of Indian Food were delightful.
Worth mentioning are the women centric sessions on male domination, the plight of sex workers, the othering of sexual orientation and the women, very often, being the women’s worst enemy. I was fortunate to have been present in a powerful session in which the famous lawyer,human activist and women’s right activist, Vrinda Grover and Swati Pande, the author of Invisible in Plain Sight-Voices From The By -lanes of Kamathipura, articulated their concerns and the way forward.
My Sister and Other Lovers by Esther Freud, the great -grand daughter of Sigmund Freud, Wild Swan’s by Jung Chang and Ghosted by Eric Chopra about the Delhi Djinns were riveting sessions which take you ‘somewhere else’. This was a much -needed reprieve after heavy sessions that weigh heavy on you after they are over. The unique feature of the Jaipur Literature Festival was the ability to choose where you want to be! Just a few minutes’ walk, in the chosen direction, in the spacious grounds of the Amer Clarks, one entered the halls and enormous tents that were imaginatively adorned as if to suit the themes and topics of discussion.
The book launches of Dr Karan Singh, the talks by Javed Akhtar and Feroza Gujral on Satish Gujral were held in the Durbar Hall. Most of the philosophical sessions were in the Surya Mahal where we had ours. It began with an amazing session on Nicholas Roerich, the Russian painter who lived in Manali, in a gripping conversation between Stephen Alter and Vladimir Zeitsev about Roerich’s deep connection with the mountains around him, so startlingly visible in his paintings. It was followed by a session on The Relevance Of Sri Aurobindo with the author of the book, Prashant Singh. Children’s Books sessions and those on art, music and poetry were in the Bagaan, a charming nook surrounded by trees and shrubs. Charmi Chedde from Bhutan had marvellous story telling sessions there done in her inimitable style combining different creative mediums. Children’s books were given due importance. Northern Lights -Children’s Literature from Norway had Oliver Moystad in conversation with Truda Spruyt.
Books by Indian authors should be encouraged much more before children read books from other countries. It is a challenge to write for children and the topics of interest differ from region to region and it also depends which economic background you are writing for. During my visit and talking to the children of classes 6,7,8, of the elitist Maharani Gayatri Devi School as part of the JLF Outreach Programme, I was enlightened and learned more than I taught. The titles that the children had chosen were- What If, Conversation with a Robot,Some People Are Made of Clay, Meeting Myself. This was the last leg of the journey at JLF. At the venue the closing ceremony was a terrific debate on the topic, Freedom of Speech is a Dangerous Idea. It was more like a match of two brilliant teams with a singular goal. Pavan Varma summed it up cleverly well, “Freedom of speech is a must but it must be made not dangerous.”
So, from January 15 to 19 one was transported to another world celebrating the power of words. There were parties held every evening in palaces and forts and grand homes of book lovers and at the venue itself.
After the mind-boggling five days’ treat I drove back to Delhi and as we sped on that super highway to our capital city, the most polluted city in the world, I tried to think of what I kept back and what I sifted out. What was really of importance and relevance in the final analysis?All I could think of was the words of Sri Aurobindo, who more than a hundred years ago had posed a question that still defines our future. In the words of the US based highly successful doctor, scholar and author, Parikshith Singh, Sri Aurobindo ‘s concern was “Will we evolve beyond our current limits or be overtaken by the dehumanising forces of the State and the Machine? His integration of modern thought and ancient wisdom pointed to a new kind of civilisation that can only emerge through a radical shift in human consciousness.”
That shift can only come if it begins from within each one of us.
