Day 3 – 23rd January 2009

Jaipur, Friday The 3rd day of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival Asia’s leading literary event attracting authors, publishers and book lovers from across the globe, witnessed some riveting sessions.
 
IN CONVERSATION: Chetan Bhagat with Namita Gokhale and Jai Arjun Singh

The third day opened with novelist Chetan Bhagat, in an intimate and frank discussion with the festival director Namita Gokhale and literary critic Jai Arjun Singh. The popular author thanked the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival for inviting him and said that ‘Now I can put it on my CV that I was invited to speak at the Jaipur Literature Festival on the same day as Amitabh Bachchan!’ When asked about the importance of writing, he said that ‘a book can change the way people think. Impact is for me the purpose of art.’ Jai Arjun Singh observed that many critics considered Bhagat’s books as ‘un-literary’, to which the best-selling novelist replied, ‘it’s all about reaching people. 30% of people think my writing is nonsense, 70% get into it. You have to have the conviction that this will work, and this is what I want to write. I am dealing with real people and real stories. Whether it is literary or not is not the point.’ He also said that it still hurt to hear the criticism and to explain to his children why his book ‘only got one star,’ but that ultimately ‘what matters is if I can change people’s lives with my books and make them feel OK about their choices. If that happens, who cares how many stars I get?’ this sentiment was met with rapturous applause from the audience in the crowded Diggi Palace Durbar Hall. Bhagat’s books have now sold over 1 million copies, something he partly credits to not being ‘greedy’ about money and selling his books at Rs95 each. At the end of the talk, he thanked Namita Gokhale, whom he described as ‘like a hot aunt’, for convincing him to attend the Jaipur Literary Festival because it was not elitist but an inclusive festival.

VS NAIPAUL AND THE ART OF BIOGRAPHY: Patrick French with Pico Iyer

The beautiful Durbar Hall at Diggi Palace was filled to overflowing this morning, as audiences crowded in to hear Patrick French talk about the writing of VS Naipaul’s biography, The World is what it is, a title he felt ‘encapsulated the Naipaul philosophy in six words.’ Pico Iyer said that his own life had completely stopped when he picked up the biography last year, which explores themes such as the price of pursuing talent, and the merit in devoting oneself to writing books in a technological age when people are ‘more interested in writers than writing.’ French said of Naipaul that ‘although his books are revelatory, the self remains hidden. It is hard to know what is really going on in his heart or his head.’ Iyer observed that perhaps Naipaul had reached a stage of his life when he wanted the whole story of his life to be told, not just a sycophantic homage, and that this might have been motivated by the great writer’s guilt and regrets about his notorious ‘bad behaviour.’ French said that he always had sympathy for ‘people who do strange things out of passion’ and that perhaps all the stories of Naipaul’s behaviour had detracted from his worth as ‘the most important and interesting writer of the late part of the 20th century.’ He added that Naipaul ‘anticipates as a writer, always ahead of his time, so prescient’ as seen in his anticipation of events in the Congo and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and that ‘no other writer tried to write about everything that is happening in the world’ in the way Naipaul did. French hoped that his biography managed in some way to tell the story of both the man and the writer, as a narrative that ‘readers would enjoy for its own sake,’ adding that he had been careful to keep any of his own judgements or personal opinions out of the book, because ‘Naipaul speaks for himself.’

BACHCHANALIA: Amitabh Bachchan with Neville Tuli

Amitabh Bachchan, who represents the Indian film industry all over the world, made a stately appearance at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival today. His arrival was met with screams and applause from the thousand-strong crowd gathered at Diggi Palace Hotel, and when asked by interviewer Neville Tuli from Osian about the most important quality that had sustained his long career, Bachchan pointed to the audience and said ‘they are sitting in front of me.’ The film star went on to talk of his gratitude to his parents and ‘what they have given me,’ and he also thanked Bhavana Somaaya, the drive behind the book Bachchanalia, published by festival sponsors Osian’s, and launched today at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival. Of the book, Bachchan said he hoped that the book’s combination of visual and textual detail would reach a wide audience, and tell the story not just of Bachchan himself, but of Indian cinema. The actor, who spoke in a mixture of Hindi and English, said he didn’t agree with the distinction between Bollywood films and more serious Indian cinema, saying ‘I have never looked at it like that. I work on a film because of the people I am working with, the story being told, and if it sends a message then we are happy about it.’ He added that all Indian cinema ultimately tries to adhere to basic morals and the importance of family in society. He observed that there was no greater example of an integrated India than the inside of the cinema hall: ‘We all laugh at the same jokes, cry at the same things, sing the same songs.’

A CASE OF EXPLODING MANGOES: Mohammed Hanif with Basharat PeerPakistani author Mohammed Hanif talked extensively and amusingly about the process of writing and read extracts from his highly satirical first novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, which met with hearty applause and laughter from the packed crowd at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival. He said he had received many intelligent and thoughtful responses to his novel from young Pakistanis in their twenties, which he found encouraging in this ‘sad and complicated’ time. Hanif said his writing process was ‘very chaotic and painfully slow’ and that he found it hard to keep his attention on writing for longer than 15 minutes at a time. When asked why he had wanted to write this particular novel, Hanif replied that he had wanted to ‘write a story that people would want to read, make some jokes that people would find funny’ and that at the time of writing, he hadn’t even been aware that he was writing an ‘audacious’ novel. He kept his attention on the writing process itself rather than to how people might react to the novel once finished, since ‘you can’t worry about who will say what when you haven’t even written it.’ When asked about the situation in Pakistan, Hanif, who lives in Karachi, said he thought it was ‘pretty bad’ but that it was important to retain hope. He went on to say that 167 million people are living there, ‘in daily struggle,’ and that the majority want a moderate Pakistan which will move the current situation forwards, illustrated by how people voted in the elections last year.

 

 

KASHMIR: Basharat Peer, Hari Kunzru & Tarun Tejpal 

The Durbar Hall at Diggi Palace was packed this afternoon as the audience gathered to listen to a passionate and poignant discussion on Kashmir. Novelist Hari Kunzro, of Kashmiri ancestry, said his own story was one of ‘disconnection from Kashmir’ because his family had left there 150 years ago, yet he observed there still remained a strong fusion of Islamic and Hindu cultural elements in his family. The panel talked of the collective anguish and distress of the Pakistani people right now, and yet how important it was to also see everyone as individuals within that context. Basharat, himself from Kashmir, said he had written his recent book, Curfewed Night, to look for ‘a way forward in this tragic situation’. The panel agreed that at the heart of the Kashmiri questions was ‘the political question’ and Tejpal argued that it was ‘the lives and feelings of people living there that should determine the game rather than the other way round.’ It was observed that neither Pakistan nor India were likely to give up their claim on Kashmir, but then neither were the Kashmiris themselves.

SCRIPTING BOLLYWOOD: Nasreen Munni Kabir, Nandita Das, Prasoon Joshi, Vikas Swarup 

Four writers and filmmakers engaged in a funny and fascinating discussion about one of the world’s most renowned film industries, as well as Indian cinema as a whole. Lyricist Prasoon Joshi observed that entertaining films often had ‘more impact’ than serious films, since their messages about society and values could be absorbed in a more unconscious way by an audience with ‘no guards up.’ He also spoke of the challenges of writing lyrics for Bollywood movies, saying that he found it ‘foolish’ to mirror a scene literally, much preferring to ‘add another layer’ to the film with his lyrics. It was agreed that ‘cinema is a very powerful media’ and should not be used to reinforce stereotypes in society. Vikas Swarup observed the importance of ‘a solid script’ for a good film to be to be possible. Renowned actress Nandita Das said she thought that regional cinema was more free to be more creative and it was ‘far more difficult’ to survive creatively in the bigger pond of the mainstream industry. Joshi said he tried to ‘find his own truth’ in the subjects he wrote about, for example, looking to his own fears as a child to relate to the main character’s fears in Taare Zameen Par. When asked where she thought Indian cinema was going, Nandita Das said ‘all kinds of films are being made, and through sheer numbers, there will always be a certain amount of gems that come out.’

 NATIONS, NATIONALISM & NATIONALITY

The pedagogic was made simple in Ashis Nandy’s and Christophe Jaffrelot’s talks in the Biathak over concepts of ‘Nation.’ Nandy, world renowned cultural studies intellectual and controversial author told the audience about the difference between ‘nationalism’ and ‘patriotism’ in a simple manner laced with dark humour. ‘The invisible majority of Pakistan is the hindu population,’ he said – ‘even under the bed there lies a Hindu and the people (of Pakistan) think : I must never be like him.’ same happens in India – Ashis said.

The same strain was maintained by Jaffrelot, claiming the rise of intense Hindu Nationalism is actually a reaction to an “A national” phenomena – namely, the diasporas.

Faced with pressure on once inherent culture in an unknown land, people undergo a “cultural dilemma” and try to cling to ethnocentric values. The key concepts of a much debated study where thus made cohesive by the two erudite.

THE DANCER AND THE DANCE

‘An artist always the freedom to cross boundaries,’ says Tulsi Badrinath, thrice nominated author for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Her session was a scintillating performance, leaving the audience spell bound with her capacity to combine reading and the accompaniment of dance. It was in this platform that literature and dance harmoniously became one. She stated that, ‘Dance in India is nothing but a visual expression of poetry. It is a challenge to bring both a dancer and writer in this performance.’

Her reading exhibited that her book, Missing Life, had a systematic line drawn between the classical dance and the writer’s space. She performed a piece on Ashtapadi, a poem where Radha, misses Krishna when he leaves her, and she remembers their moments. Her performance vividly portrayed separation, wonder and admiration of Radha. She also depicted how her protagonist, Aditi, must have felt while performing this dance.

She concluded, ‘There is a dancer in everyone of us, hidden inside, waiting to be released.’

MARCH OF THE INDEPENDENTS

‘The success of a book is not judged by the number of copies it sells,‘ quotes Sirish Rao, publisher of Tara Books in a gathering of publishers from various companies. The stage usually lead by authors and other personalities, it was interesting to notice the publishers discuss on issues about their authors and regarding marketing of books.

 The entry of multi national publishers in India is a recent phenomenon, concentrated mainly on the English language market. Does it give space for small independent publishers, was the main question raised today at the session. While some publishers told about authors being found by independent publishers, and gobbled by multinationals, others spoke about the freedom of editorial choices that an independent publisher’s gets to make decisions, sometimes doubling up as a marketing agent. This was precisely the point made by Mike Bryan, CEO of Penguin India, when he mentioned that some books are good but turned down for marketing reasons.

The fight between an independent publisher and a multinational one may leave the author unpredictable about his fame.

READINGS: Brigid Keenan

Brigid Keenan, author of Damascus: The Hidden Treasure of the old city, broke upon to the audience by reading chapters of her famous book, Travel in Kashmir. The session included Tahmima Anam, a Bangladeshi diasporic writer who avoided reading out passages from her novel but the entertained the audience but an reading out her short story about three brothers living in an island, forcing to move out and to make a living. The story was about their thoughts.

Keenan kept the audience in laughter reading out passages that dealt with Indian customs and behaviour. Author liks Hari Kunzru, Tash Aw and Nadeem Aslam made a very energetic presence at this reading.

MOTHER TONGUE

‘All the troubles can be saved by might. Wars are a no no.’ Nabaneeta Dev Sen, engaged in a family talk by her daughter Antara Dev Sen, spelled out a humanitarian philosophy and charmed her way through two hours in the Mughal Tent. She struck the audience as an extremely simple person who prefers to be called a ‘ slightly more matured young woman.’ In the talk with Antara, she proudly expresses her love for her home, for her two daughters, and a thousand other minute details of her life.