Operation heritage

The Jaipur Heritage International Festival steps into its fifth year with a literary touch, lack of private sponsors and no special offers for tourists.

A select group of Indian writers like Tarun Tejpal, Shobhaa De, William Dalrymple, Namita Gokhale, Hari Kunzru and Ira Pande will head to Jaipur for the Jaipur Heritage International Festival from January 14-23, 2005. Here they will read out excerpts of their work, share experiences and basically revel in Rajasthan's colourful spirit.

Conceptualised as a joint initiative by the Jaipur Virasat Foundation and Hutch, the five-year-old festival will have a unique touch in 2006. For the very first time, the festival is featuring a three-day literature programme.

"We will gauge the response this year and if it is appreciated, we will have a full-fledged literary festival next year," says Pramod Kumar, director, Jaipur Virasat Foundation. Publishers like HarperCollins, Penguin, Rupa, Roli and Independent Publishers Group have already booked stalls at the festival and are predictably excited.

Kumar says, "We wanted to revive the 'story-telling tradition of India' and encourage it in Rajasthan. It's a pity that right now there are only four organised bookstores in Jaipur. This obviously fails to fulfil the literary expectations of the tourists who visit Jaipur.

But is a heritage festival really lucrative in attracting tourists? "Well, that's a tough one to answer, but the festival has certainly grown in size," claims Kumar. He admits, "Financially, we were restricted when we first began our operations. We got a sponsorship of barely Rs 20 lakh."

Inadequate funds forced officials to organise only a two-day fest initially. Today, sponsorship has increased to Rs 2 crore and the festival is a regular fixture on Rajasthan's cultural calendar.

Surprisingly, private sponsors continue to evade the heritage fest. While Rajasthan Tourism, Ministry of Textiles, Jaipur Municipal Corporation and Jaipur Development Authority are backing the Jaipur Heritage International Festival, Hutch is the only private sponsor for the show.

"A well-known soft drink company wanted to sponsor the festival but there were conflicting philosophy issues," says Kumar. "Brands," he adds, "have to reflect the cultural ethos of our programme."

The festival boasts of 50 programmes in its kitty that will include participation of over 200 craftspeople, 300 local folk artistes and 190 artists from across the world. Jaipur Virasat Foundation has opted for public courtyards and community forts to showcase the fest.

"We start planning nearly eight months in advance for the fest," says Kumar. Does the fest have any special offers or tie-ups with hotels? "No we don't," Kumar adds rather reluctantly. "It becomes unmanageable."

Wish the organisers would sprinkle a little colour of heritage on that front too.