Dalai Lama at Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

The first day of DSC Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 saw a global icon of peace convey his message to thousands of festival attendees. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, spoke about his understanding of the way of seeing and knowing taught by the Buddha in conversation with author Pico Iyer. This marks the beginning of a special strand of sessions, titled ‘The Buddha in Literature’, at the Festival this year. 

Dalai Lama at Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 in conversation with author Pico Iyer

 

The Dalai Lama talked about global politics, although he conceded that he is now retired from his political role. He urged for there to be “good relations” between China and India, as they were the “most populous nations in the world”, and that China could learn from India. He said that these two countries needed to develop trust in each other and from that, equality and democracy could flourish without fear. 

The Dalai Lama talked about the challenges of the 21st century, with population increases, and the widening gap between the rich and the poor. He warned about greed, joking that “even if the whole world own, then maybe want to buy some land on moon and set up a hotel there”. He warned that corruption had become “the cancer of the whole world - very serious”, and called for a more sustainable economy, more protection for women, and to “forcibly reduce this gap between the rich and the poor”. He called the 20th century “a century of bloodshed, of violence” and urged that the “21st century be a century of dialogue”. 

This depends on education, he emphasised. He called for an update of the existing education system, saying “there is something lacking about it”, and that moral ethics should be taught from a secular base, since ethics are not dependent on religion. He emphasized the need to train the mind so that inner values and qualities could flourish, as “the mind knows no limitations” and we need to learn to use our intelligence “more holistically”.

Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 - Keynote Address

DSC Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 begins with Mahasweta Devi’s keynote speech – ‘O to Live Again’ ~ Ashok Gehlot – CM of Rajasthan and Margaret Alva – Governor of Rajasthan graced the inauguration with their valuable presence~ The 2013 edition of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival started with an inauguration speech by eminent author and social activist Mahasweta Devi. She reflected on her long and illustrious life and writing career in a speech laced with references to the rich world of ideas she has imbibed from the tribal and rural cultures that have been the subject of her work. Ashok Gehlot - CM Rajasthan and Margaret Alva - Governor of Rajasthan at the inaugural ceremony of Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

Ashok Gehlot, CM Rajasthan and Margaret Alva, Governor of Rajasthan at the inaugural ceremony of Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

Having written on the “culture of the downtrodden” throughout her life, Mahasweta Devi referred to the simple dreams of simple people in her speech. She called for the “right to dream” to be the first fundamental right of all human beings.

Mahasweta Devi at Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

In a speech poignantly titled ‘O to Live Again’ renowned author Mahasweta Devi said “My early years proved to be formative for my future work as a writer and activist. I also have different approach to my writing process and I mull over the subjects in depth before setting out on the creative journey.”

Ashok Gehlot, CM Rajasthan and Margaret Alva, Governor of Rajasthan at the inaugural ceremony of Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

Commenting on this, Namita Gokhale, Festival Director – DSC Jaipur Literature Festival said “We are delighted to begin the event with Mahasweta Devi’s warm keynote which was not only inspiring but thought provoking. She has been constantly working for Human Rights and Women rights to bring a change in the society."

Salman Rushdie at Jaipur Literature Festival 2012

Yes, Salman Rushdie will be a part of the Jaipur Literature Festival - 2012 finally! Don't believe it? Believe it or not, this is what is true. True that Rushdie won't be physically present, But he will be addressing the festival through video conferencing at 3:34 pm IST on Tuesday; January 24, 2012. He has been venting out his anger through his tweets. He is outraged by the information that he received the death threat. He is believed to have learnt that the death alert was fake. He has also given a statement to the Press that the story was concocted by the Rajasthan Police. Earlier he was told that some Mumbai assassins from the underworld had been hired to kill him. But these reports were not owned by the Mumbai police as according to them they had received no such input. With the controversy refusing to die down, rather advancing with the leaving of the four authors,Hari Kunzru, Amitava Kumar, Jeet Thayil and Ruchir Joshi, who had read excerpts from Rushdie's book 'Satanic Verses' as a mark of protest; Rushdie has agreed for video linking from New York to the venue of the Festival.

Rushdie and Jaipur Literature Festival 2012 - an Afterword

Rushdie controversy instead of dying down, seems to be growing with each passing day. The latest development has been that the four authors (Hari Kunzru, Amitava Kumar, Jeet Thayil and Ruchir Joshi), who read excerpts from Salman Rushdie's controversial book 'Satanic Verses' as a mark of protest, have left the Jaipur Literature Festival - 2012 midway, with the organizers asking them to leave as an aftermath of a threat of arrest of those authors. William Dalrymple, one of the organizers of the Festival has confirmed this. With a view to clarify the organizers' stance, he said that they didn't know that reading from the book was an arrestable offence. Probably he had an undercurrent of satire too in saying that! Asaduddin Owaisi, a Member of Parliament and president of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) has voiced his demand of arresting those four 'erring' authors. He has been quoted as saying, "Reading from a banned book is a deliberate provocation and proof that the festival is a forum for Islam bashing". Let's see how the events turn next!

Author of Controversial Gandhi Book in India

The controversy does not begin and end with Salman Rushdie this Jaipur Literature Festival (2012). We have another controversial author in India. He is Joseph Lelyveld, the author of 'Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India'. The book when published was received with opposing voices from some Hindu groups. They were outraged after a few reviews published about the book suggested that the author had hinted at Gandhi being a gay.

This is Lelyveld's first encounter with Indian audience and readers, and he says he has had a wonderful experience.

Rushdie and Jaipur Literature Festival 2012

Amitava Kumar and Hari Kunzru reading out from 'Satanic Verses'

 

 

 

Photo Courtesy: India Today

There was a clear cut proof of the protest of the authors over Salman Rushdie issue. The controversial author of 'Satanic Verses', Rushdie had announced that he won't be attending the Festival. The literary community had already been expressing their anger over the protests against Rushdie. But two of the authors attending the Jaipur Literature Festival 2012, Hari Kunzru and Amitava Kumar, had their ingenuous way of protesting. They read out portions of 'Satanic Verses' in their session. Kunzru clearly declared in a tweet that he was doing this to defy bigots and the shoe-throwers. They also quoted Rushdie's tweet in which he had thanked the two authors for showing such a gesture. A while later two more authors joined the stream, namely, Jeet Thayil and Ruchir Joshi. So we can say that Rushdie is present even while being absent for this literary extravaganza!

Salman Rushdie in India

Salman Rushdie

 Salman Rushdie, the famed author of 'Midnight's Children' has been in news ever since it was announced that he'll be visiting the Jaipur Literature Festival - 2012, to be held at Jaipur from 20 to 24 January this year. After that there were a few voices of protest on Rushdie being granted a visa to visit India. Now he has become an election issue too. Amused? It's true. According to a news item published the website of 'The Hindu', dated 11 January, 2012, Omar Abdullah (Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir) has said that visa being given to Salman Rushdie is unlikely to be a big election issue for Muslims, who are more concerned with their day-to-day affairs. Nevertheless, the name of Rushdie has to be discussed on whether that would become an election issue or not and that is what is important.

Rushdie himself has tried to brush aside the controversy surrounding a demand for denial of visa to him, by tweeting that he would be visiting India. He also posted a tweet mentioning: "Regarding my Indian visit, for the record, I don't need a visa."

It may be mentioned here that Rushdie has earned this wrath of the Muslim community all over the world with his controversial 'Satanic Verses' that was published in the year 1988. Earlier too Rushdie was in India to attend Commonwealth Writers Prize awards in 2000 and the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2007. With a view to silence the controversial opinions cropping up Sanjoy Roy, managing director of Teamworks Productions, the organizers of the Jaipur Literature Festival said (as quoted by Times of India (dated 11 January, 2012), "A literary platform like the Jaipur festival provides a space for free speech in India's best democratic traditions."

DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2011

For the first time award was given at the Jaipur Literature Festival, DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. In January 2011, this US $ 50,000 award was conferred upon H.M. Naqvi for his novel ‘Home Boy’, published by Harper Collins India. The Chairperson of the Jury, Nilanjana S. Roy declared that while finalizing the shortlist when all the members of the jury argued about the merits of all the contenders they rediscovered the joys of reading. She said, “As we finalised our shortlist, the criteria that was uppermost in our minds was DSC’s mandate to look for the best and the most interesting examples of the contemporary novel set in, or about, South Asia.”

The following novels were shortlisted for the prize:
• Amit Chaudhuri’s The Immortals (Picador India)
• Tania James’ ‘Atlas of Unknowns (Pocket Books)
• Musharraf Ali Farooqi’s ‘The Story of a Widow (Picador India)
• Manju Kapur’s ‘The Immigrant’ (Faber & Faber)
• Neel Mukherjee’s ‘A Life Apart’ (Constable & Robinson)
• H.M. Naqvi’s ‘Home Boy’ (Harper Collins India)

Apart from those mentioned above the other novels included in the longlist in the previous round were:
• Upamanyu Chatterjee’s ‘Way to Go’ (Penguin)
• Chandrahas Choudhury’s ‘Arzee the Dwarf’ (Harper Collins)
• Ru Freeman’s ‘A Disobedient Girl’ (Penguin/Viking)
• Anjum Hassan’s ‘Neti Neti’ (IndiaInk/Roli Books)
• Daniyal Mueenuddin’s ‘In Other Rooms, Other Wonders’ (Bloomsbury)
• Salma’s ‘The Hour Past Midnight’ (Zubaan, translated by Lakshmi Holmstrom)
• Sankar’s ‘The Middleman’ (Penguin, translated by Arunava Sinha)
• Ali Sethi’s ‘The Wish Maker’ (Penguin)
• Jaspreet Singh’s ‘Chef’ (Bloomsbury)
• Aatish Taseer’s ‘The Temple Goers’ (Penguin/Viking)

Jaipur Literature Festival 2011 - My Initial Experience

The Entrance Gate of Jaipur Literature Festival 2011

It was my first brush with such a huge number of authors at one place, all coming together to make the occasion all the more happening. Yes, it was at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2011 that went on from 21 to 25 January. As we headed towards the venue of the festival, that is, the Diggi Palace, a strange thought came to my mind. The city did not bear a festival look inspite of such celebrated festival happening there. It was only when we neared the official venue that we could spot the colourful banners at the entrance. In my five days stay there, I spotted just small signboards put up by the sponsors outside a few shops. But let me add here that it was not at all a let down. After all, literature has still not become a celebrity, although a few authors have tried to earn name and fame by glamorizing their public image.

There was food enough for thinking minds that have a literary bent of mind. There were all, right from veterans like Ruskin Bond and Vikram Seth; Nobel Laureates like Orhan Pamuk and J.M. Coetzee; modern writers like Jaishree Misra and Abha Dawesar; and new entrants like Jai Arjun Singh. The only thing is that the list was not as small as it might seem. It was a long one rather so couldn’t be given as such in a few sentences here.

Apart from the literature being served on a platter, there were a quite a few things that were attractive enough to catch your fancy at the very first glance. Here are a few glimpses of the temptations that were laid out well to catch you unguarded.

A display of the wide variety of products at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2011

Finally to add, I would like to mention, the experiences I gained were so wide that it would not be possible for me to sum up all in just one post. I’ll be writing a series of posts on the highlights of the Festival, about major authors, their books, the discussions and also a few exclusive interviews that I conducted.

Jaipur Literature Festival 2011

I don't know how many of you must have heard about the Jaipur Literature Festival that is held every year in the month of January. And I have now how many of you must have attended that. It is being held every year since the year 2006. It is the sixth festival this time. I am looking forward to going to Jaipur to attend it for the first time in the past six years.

Though the event is termed as a Literature festival, but it is in fact, an amalgam of literature, music, culture and other arts as well. The ambience of the Diggi Palace (Jaipur), where the festival is held every year, against the backdrop of the Pink city of Jaipur is bound to have a mesmerizing effect upon me. I'll be sharing a detailed report about the event once I return on 27 January. The festival will on till 25 January after its commencement on 21 January.

For detailed information about the event visit: JAIPUR LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2011

Jaipur Literature Festival - 2011

The biggest literary event of not only India but of Asia-Pacific, the much-awaited Jaipur Literature Festival, an annual event, is going to start from the 21^st of this month. The festival would conclude on the 25^th.

The event would witness the visit of a host of celebrated authors from all across the globe. Prominent among them are:

•Arthur Miller
•Kiran Desai
•Manju Kapur
•Nirupama Dutt
•Orhan Pamuk
•William Dalrymple
•J.M. Coetzee

You will be regularly update on this festival...Keep watching this space!

The Directors of the Festival are: William Dalrymple (the author of   White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India) and Namita Gokhale. It is being produced by Sanjoy K. Roy, Sheuli Sethi and Teamwork Productions.

HISTORY OF JAIPUR LITERATURE FESTIVAL:

The first of its kind was held in the year 2006. This festival is held in the month of January every year in the Pink City, Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan (Punjab). The Hall of Audience and the gardens of the Diggi Palace of Jaipur plays host to this literary extravaganza.

DAY BY DAY SCHEDULE OF JAIPUR LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2011

DAY 1: 21 January, 2011 (Friday)

Major Highlights of the Day:

In the section 'Pamuk & Art of the Novel' you will be the privileged spectator and listener to Orhan Pamuk (Nobel Prize for Literature in the year 2006 and know for his novel My Name Is Red) in conversation with Chandrahas Chaudhury, a Mumbai-based novelist and Book Critic.

It will be a double treat for you when you witness his discussion with Kiran Desai on Saturday.

In 'Fugitive Histories' Githa Hariharan (winner of Commonwealth Writer's Prize in 1992 for her first novel The Thousand Faces of Night will be in engaged in discussion with Manju Kapur (of 'Difficult Daughters' fame).

DAY 2: 22 January, 2011 (Saturday)
John Makinson, Kiran Desai, Patrick French & Sunil Sethi will be in conversation with Sonia Singh in the section 'Why Books Matter'.

Kiran Desai in conversation with Jai Arjun Singh (author of 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro') in the section 'The Inheritance of Books'.

DAY 3: 23 January, 2011 (Friday)
'Boys will be Boys' will see Ruskin Bond (The Life and Works of Ruskin Bond) in conversation with Ravi Singh.

'Readings from Coetzee' to be presented by J.M.Coetzee (of Disgrace: A Novel fame) himself will be introduced by Patrick French.

You will see MJ Akbar (known for The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857) in 'Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan'.

DAY 4: 24 January, 2011 (Friday)
'Poetry in the Time of Love & Torment' will witness Ashok Vajpeyi (the co-author of INDIAS GREAT MASTERS: A Photographic Journey into the Heart of Classical Music)& K.Satchidanandan, who will be introduced by Arundhathi Subramaniam.

In 'Imperial English' we will have Adam Zagajewski, Ahdaf Soueif, J.M.Coetzee & Mrinal Pande in conversation with Githa Hariharan. The section will be presented by Merrill Lynch.

DAY 5: 25 January, 2011 (Friday)
In 'Stranger than Fiction'Arthur Miller ( Arthur Miller: Collected Plays 1944-1961 (Library of America) ) in conversation with Abha Dawesar (the writer of Babyji ).

'The Alchemy of Writing: Truth, Fiction & the Challenge of India' will have Tarun Tejpal (known for his The Alchemy of Desire: A Novel ) in conversation with Manu Joseph.

We'll be the witnesses to Vikram Seth (his most famous creation A Suitable Boy: A Novel (Modern Classics) )in conversation with Somnath Batabyal in 'A Suitable Book'.