Day 4 – 24th January 2009

Jaipur, Saturday – The fourth day of DSC Jaipur Literature Festival, Asia’s leading literary event, started with great enthusiasm. Authors, publishers and book lovers were seen attending some interesting sessions.

IN CONVERSATION: Pico Iyer with William Dalrymple

Festival Director William Dalrymple described Pico Iyer as ‘Thomas Merton on a frequent flyer pass’ to the audience gathered at the fourth DSC Jaipur Literature Festival, a man equally fascinated by shopping malls as by spiritual leaders. Iyer, whose parentage is Tamil, began by saying ‘I would like to say how amazing it has been to be at this festival. It has been a feast. Here in India, you can almost believe there still sense in the written word.’ He talked of the challenges of living an itinerant life as adventurer and writer, saying that it had freed him from ‘the rigidity of nation states’ but at the same time, ‘you fall between the cracks and live only in the passage between places.’ He speculated that more and more people would live this way in the coming century, as globalization brought people closer together, and emphasised the importance of global spiritual figures like the Dalai Lama, who ‘cut through  the division of the map to try to speak for global responsibility.’ The writer, who was awarded a double First in English from Oxford University said that ‘the more I studied literature, the more I was only qualified for unemployment,’ and talked movingly of the day his house burned down with all his notes and manuscripts but that ultimately, it was ‘a liberation to lose everything,’ forcing him to rely more on his imagination and memory than notes, and to expand from non-fiction into novel writing. He advised aspiring writers to write for ‘love not money because there is none!’ but that it was a worthwhile process because one is ‘in exhaustively rich inside.’

IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY: Rajiv Chandrasekaran 

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Indian American journalist and author of the award winning book, The Emerald City, talked about life as a reporter in Iraq during American attempts at reconstruction. At that point, Chandrasekaran ‘mapped the promises of the American government against the reality and there was a huge gulf. But just how dysfunctional it all was, was never clear to us contemporaneously.’ It was only when he got back to America that the journalist decided to write a book about it, deciding to focus on the Green Room – which he renamed ‘the emerald city’ – as a vehicle for his insights into the failing reconstruction. He used a combination of his notes from Iraq and later, his extensive interviews with some of the Americans back from Iraq, about their time in the Green Room. He said many of them were now going through a ‘crisis of conscience and starting to question the wisdom of what they were doing in Iraq,’ and that in a way, the interviews were like ‘free therapy for them, they really opened up.’ It was a fascinating and sometimes chilling account of some of the events that made up the true story of America in Iraq, and spoke poignantly about the Iraqi people’s own desire for democracy but for that to be done ‘on their terms.’ He said he thought American had gone into Iraq ‘with the best of intentions but good intentions pave the road to hell’ and warned that Iraq was now a ‘tinderbox,’ with no measures in place for permanent reconciliation between the principal groups in Iraqi society.

JERUSALEM, DELHI, DAMASCUS- CITY READINGS: Brigid Keenan, William Dalrymple, Colin Thubron, Sam Miller

Brigid Keenan talked inspiringly of her mission to ‘save the old city of Damascus’ from architectural ruin, a process begun with the advent of cars into the country, since people could not drive down the narrow streets, and so moved to live in ‘flashy apartments’ in the suburbs. Keenan speculated that without her book and its initiative to encourage people to buy decaying houses and rebuild them, Damascus would have had ‘about 40 years left.’ Instead, ‘house prices in Damascus are now higher than in London,’ the only irony being that she herself now cannot afford to live there! Colin Thubron, who has also written on Damascus, said that the thrill of travel writing for him was that although he knew the history and buildings of a place, ‘I never know who I’m going to meet.’ He also bemoaned his ‘massive notes, hideous notebooks which pile up’ because he didn’t have a good enough memory, and how taking notes could dilute the actual experience. William Dalrymple agreed, saying that one had to take extensive notes as a travel writer, because ‘it is the detail that gives life to a description’ and that often it was first impressions that made the best travel writing. He also spoke of the long process of working out how to construct his book about Delhi, City of Djinns, in the end choosing a ‘ridiculously complicated bicycle wheel structure.’ Sam Miller, who has recently published his book on Delhi: Delhi: adventures in a Megacity, said his book had grown out of the shape of his wandering through the city, starting in the centre and spiraling out to the outskirts, which meant that he was led into places that ‘I wouldn’t otherwise have heard of and found stories where I wouldn’t have expected to find stories.’ All the travel writers also read from their works, met with huge laughter and applause from the audience.

THE AMERICAN FUTURE – A HISTORY: Simon Schama and Shashi Tharoor

This was a fascinating and wide-ranging investigation of the past, present and future of America, as it stands on the threshold of a new era. Best-selling author Simon Schama talked about what it was like to witness the run-up to the historic 2008 election in USA and ‘the moment American democracy came back from the dead’ with Barack Obama’s election as president, when the political destiny of America shifted on its axis. Shashi Tharoor observed that ‘instinctively we expect our politicians to be sleazy and we accept behavior in them that we would not accept in our own family’ and the two authors compared corruption in American politics with the ‘lurid corruption’ in Indian politics. Schama observed that America’s founding fathers had ‘set the bar very high’ for political vision and integrity, but that now corruption in American politics was as rife as the ‘lurid corruption’ in Indian politics. Schama pointed out that to criticize Obama’s political inexperience was naive, since Obama’s specific experience meant he actually ‘understands ordinary people’s lives.’ He also pointed out that Abraham Lincoln had little experience before coming into office but ‘he did alright in the end.’ The ‘stunning demographic’ that had impressed him most about the recent election was the amount of white males who voted for Obama in tough southern states.  He said his only regret was that at the moment of his inauguration, ‘the greatest triumph of civil rights, and the redemption of the original sin on which America was founded,’ that Obama had not made more mention of this.

HEAD HELD HIGH

Nalini Jamila, author of Autobiography of a Sex Worker, enraptured the audience in the session with her experience as a sex worker. ‘Using the way a husband does,’ was the perfect definition given by the Jamila about women in this “profession.”

She also has produced two documentaries that gave her the fame of being in the limelight. This encouraged her to pen down her personal experiences, in the process of which her personality was defined.

‘India,’ a place where art and culture grows – a universality of pain too exists; was a very vivid statement that Jamila commented on the society. Her exposure towards being an author has changed the whole idea of existence, from being a sex worker to a ‘delegate.’

CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS IN PUBLISHING

‘Today is a huge download market. Audio books cater to 95% percent of book readers, who enjoy the listening experience,’ says James Bridle, owner of Bookkake, in a session that brought together leading publishing entrepreneurs of UK, at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival. The main topic discussed was how publishing today is not only limited to printed matter, but the use of technology helps them to grow in leaps and bounds.

‘Writing and Publishing is not limited to books, but also can be expanded by blogs and latest, through mobile phones. For example, people read chapters in mobile phones while travelling by subways… in Japan, people read ‘ebooks’ on their computers while travelling and on reaching their destination, switch to audio books or mobile phones,’ commented Peter Collingridge, Director of Apt Studio.

‘Print on Demand,’ one of the new ventures into publishing, now is popular in US and UK, but is yet to find a market in India. Instead of publishing 2,000 copies, a publisher would print one or two copies on demand. ‘It is expensive, but profitable as it caters to a small market with niche interests,’ says Davy Nougarede, Director of Heavy Entertainment.

What makes one pick a manuscript amongst a bundle? ‘Basically the manuscript should contain realistic dialogue. When I am reading, I should not be aware of the craft that has gone in into crafting the sentences – there should be a flow and a voice,’ shares the publishers.
‘Small independent publishers are the conscience whereas the big players are the muscles of the industry,’ concludes Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Senior Editor of Flipped Eye Publishing.

GOLD AND SILVER THE GLITTERING THREADS OF RAJASTHAN

‘In India, dressing and ornament nourish the soul,’ comments Vandana Bhandari, on her work, Costume Textiles and the Jewellery of India. The session called for an insight into the rich culture of our country where every embellishment has a story behind it. ‘In India, nothing is simple, there is always a myth associated to a place, an idol or a thing. Gods have always been close to us,’ comments Bhandari.

With the help of visuals, demonstrated how Gold and Silver has been important to our culture. ‘Gold and Silver is the representation of Sun and Moon and is associated to immortality, power, cultural elite and purity,’ elaborates Bhandari. She went on to talk about metal embroidery, zardosi craft and several other crafts forms of Rajasthan.

‘The specialty of our culture is that we move ahead with times, yet we maintain the continuity of tradition,’  she quotes.

THE NATURE OF THE BEAST: Tina Brown with Tarun Tejpal

The renowned writer, commentator and editor, Tina Brown, talked insightfully about American politics and the recent election, including her great respect for Hilary Clinton, a woman she calls ‘extraordinary, a force of nature’ and has made the subject of her book-in-progress, The Clinton Chronicles. She also commended Obama on appointing Clinton as his Secretary of State, so that he could concentrate on domestic policy and she could be the ‘great elephant’ of foreign policy. She said she thought it was Hurricane Katrina that had really ‘buried’ George Bush, because it painted ‘such an obscene picture of American neglect’ and quipped that Bush had begun his presidency as ‘the man everyone wanted to have a beer with’ and ended it by giving everyone ‘a great national hangover.’ Brown also talked of her relationship with the deceased Princess of Wales, whom she described as ‘completely devoid of any intelligence but what she had instead was maybe more important, an extraordinary empathy for making people feel better.’ She observed that Princess Diana had come to associate the camera with her father’s love, since he was a photographer, and it was this which had given her such a good instinct for the media later on. Brown, whose legendary publications include Tatler, Vanity Fair and Talk Magazine, now has a new website, The Daily Beast, and says she doesn’t miss editing magazines, because ‘she loves words most of all’ and it was a thrill to be writing important content again, saying ‘there is a huge appetite now for intelligent material rather than celebrity fluff.’

 

ELEPHANTS AND CELLPHONES: Shahi Tharoor with Shoma Chaudhury

Audiences were treated to a unique insight into the wide-ranging vision of prize winning author and critic Shashi Tharoor, as well as India’s candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as UN Secretary-General. Tharoor hoped that educational opportunities in Indian would continue to grow, already up to 65% from 18% during British rule, and that he  ‘chip on the shoulder politics’ such as caste and identity politics, would start to decline the more education levels rose. He talked eloquently about the challenge of a rapidly modernising India retaining its heritage, such as in language, dress and customs and that this was not ‘anti-modern’ but that one must guard against ‘too much aesthetically and metaphorically’ being lost from Indian culture. Tharoor also said India’s strong relationship with America was evidence of India’s democratic status in the world, and that Indians had a responsibility to represent various points of view, including those of the Mulsim population: ‘one can be a good Muslim and a good Indian all at once. To be Indian is more than being any one thing.’ A round of applause from the audience met this sentiment. Tharoor also condemned the national media’s ‘hysteria’ in calling for war with Pakistan, saying ‘that is exactly what the terrorists want’. Military engagement would ‘solve nothing’ and would create a reaction from the Pakistani army who would have to defend themselves. But he worried too that if there was another attack on the scale of Mumbai in terms of its ambition and loss of life, it would be ‘impossible for any government not to react, in order to expiate the anger in the Indian public.’ Tharoor said the way to deal with that anger is to retain diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to co-operate, a real co-operation he believes ‘is now beginning.’ When asked if he himself would run for election, he quipped ‘I am not running for anything but I am not running away from anything either.’ He hoped that more and more different kinds of people would enter the world of politics in India, to represent the pluralist democracy that India really was.