When J. Jayabharathi said writing in English cannot effectively represent the ethos of local aspirations and struggles in India, not many in the gathering took it as parochialism from the young Tamil poet also known as Manushi. For, only on the previous day of the literary festival had actress Nandita Das term the word “regional” as derogatory when it comes to the country’s cinema. That, an hour after Jnanpith-winning Oriya writer Pratibha Ray stressed the need for “universalising” literature through translations and breaking it from the shackles of gender bias.