Prezzing crowd
If you are of a certain vintage, you might remember the last scene from the hit Crocodile Dundee, in which ‘Dundee’ Paul Hogan floats over a sea of people at a railway station, helped by willing hands, to reach his lady love (Linda Koslowski). You could have travelled like that at Diggy Palace, venue of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), from the front lawns to Samvad, where former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was elaborating on Ignited Minds. It is both uplifting and unnerving to see such crowds at a festival of books, but is it time to look at a larger venue? “JLF’s heart is in Diggy Palace. But yes, seeing the crowds this year, maybe it’s time to look at alternative locations,” says Suhel Seth, an advisor to the festival.
Border talks
Every year, a Pakistani writer becomes the toast of JLF, like Nadeem Aslam last year. This time it was the affable and witty Bilal Tanweer, whose The Scatter Here Is Too Great narrowly missed the pricey DSC Prize. He says Pakistani authors writing in English are in top form right now, all edgy and exciting. “If Faiza (Sultan Khan) can write, ‘The financial meltdown is so bad that women are actually marrying for love’, I guess all is well,” he says.
Pulling power
Who were the top draws at the JLF? The rockstar was silver-locked Abdul Kalam, of course. There’s something magnetic about his teaching that attracts the crowds, especially children. Next, Shashi Tharoor, Chetan Bhagat, Amish, and NDTV India anchor Ravish Kumar. Ladies, break this ceiling!
