How long will the war last? Long enough to force the Indian Council of Cultural Research (ICCR) to put off its ambitious world literary meet in December. What with invitees, especially the literary critics from Washington, crying off, the ICCR has now tentatively rescheduled its bookings for the Neemrana retreat to the last week of February. But the chances of the literary conference coming through by early next year are still dubious, says iccr chief Himachal Som, who has worked for years to realise his dream project. Is he heartbroken? He underwent heart surgery a few weeks ago, no doubt, but he is philosophical. "We wanted to discuss not terrorism but India's place in world literature. This is not an appropriate time for that," he says.
What has further dimmed the chances of the world literary conference happening in the near future, points out Som with a laugh, is the nri-heavy invitee list. It's true that when we talk of Indian writing in English we are talking mostly of Indian diaspora. But nris, even more paranoid than the Washington critics of being anywhere in the vicinity of the war zone, have never been gladder to be non-resident than now!
