The annual Jaipur Literature Festival got off to an impressive start today amid elaborate security with Booker Prize winning Canadian novelist-poet Margaret Atwood winning over the huge audience with her keynote address which was laced with characteristic humour.
With a line-up of over 360 authors hailing from varied backgrounds, the 9th edition of the five-day festival began with classical music wafting through the chilly air.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who inaugurated the festival, described it as a celebration of words and reminisced about her childhood memories of reading books secretively.
"For me it is like going back to childhood, sitting here and going to a magical world, I want to thank all those creators of dreams who have brought views, thoughts and ideas for us to enjoy," she said.
Even before the event started there were questions raised over safety measures at the venue with a PIL filed seeking a shift in the venue prompted by traffic snarls during last year's edition. The Rajasthan High Court has given the government a week's time to respond.
Atwood, who had last been to India 27 years ago when there was no concept of literary festivals in the country, said it was an honour to be invited.
She spoke about the "huge and complicated literary scene" in India and said that with proliferation of the Internet, readership is increasing and books becoming more accessible to common people.
The 76-year-old spoke about the "many darkness" in the "very optimistic act of writing" and on other issues at the event which she described as "a feast of words and books."
"India has extra dimensions, it has extreme variety, a multi-culturality and even that has made English its lingua franca, whereby two citizens who do not know each other's language can talk in a third," she said.
"Why have literature festivals proliferated? Because Writers are cheap dates. You don't need a light show, or an orchestra to pull off a literary festival. They are only the writers and their books and their voices. You don't even need an auditorium. For one small festival, the members of the audience brought their own chairs.!" Atwood said.
A session by Karan Johar saw a big turnout with the filmmaker talking about his upcoming biography and various other issues ranging from homosexuality to freedom of speech, films and his equation with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Celebrated author Ruskin Bond talked about his life and writings, taking an attentive audience through his decision to becoming a fulltime writer and his love for India.
Bond spoke about his earliest works that were more
autobiographical where he said he manipulated details to make it seem like a fictional account.
"A lot of my earlier stories are actual experiences, characters, experiences and situations, which I then turned into fictional narratives," he said.
The day also saw narratives of personal journeys, first with the launch of Zee media promoter Subhash Chandra's autobiography, where he spoke about his journey from a small village to running an agricultural based business to become a pioneer of entertainment TV channels.
The other personal journey was that of Dalit activist Bant Singh, who sang ballads of his struggle against the feudal landlords in Punjab after he stirred a powerful movement by refusing to be engaged as bonded labour.
Singh, now left wheelchair ridden because his limbs were cut off in a retaliatory attack, evoked a surge of emotions from the audience.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was in conversation on the disastrous impact on the environment, during a session titled 'Red Signals Green Hopes'.
Later author Christophe Jaffrelot, discussed his book "Pakistan Paradox" and the different contradictions that make up the idea of Pakistan, including the centralised military and the state, and the support for the democratic state as opposed to an autocratic one.
Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran questioned whether Pakistan would disintegrate if India is no longer perceived as a threat, to which Jaffrelot replied that though that might have been the case in 1971 war but it no longer held true.
Molly Crabapple who joined William Dalrymple in an electric session spoke movingly about experience of creating illustrations and subtext for her work on Syria.
Her poignant images were displayed on a projector: one sketch of a woman going mad in the aftermath of a bombing was particularly striking. Crabapple said she draws because she wants to "restore dignity of people" when war takes it away.
Another popular session saw historian Ferdinand Mount in conversation with Swapan Dasgupta and William Dalrymple on his book, "The Tears of the Rajahs," a personal history of the brutal crackdown on the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.
In one of the last events of the day which attracted heavy footfall, Booker Prize winner Marlon James talked about his book, "A Brief History of 7 Killings" about enigmatic Bob Marley and discussed how he attempted to draw a portrait of the singer from the several different interpretations of him.
The day also saw launches of books "Paresh Maity: A world of Colours", celebrating the noted artist. And "Indian Accent Restaurant Cookbook" by celebrity chef Manish Mehrotra with photographs by Rohit Chawla was also launched.
Children's literature was a prominent theme in discussion today with sessions by writers Paro Anand, Nandana Dev Sen and Jerry Pinto.
Google announced a 'Love Your Language' forum from January 21 to 25 at the festival, in an effort to get Indian languages better represented on the Internet.
Jaipur Police Commissioner Srinivas Rao Janga said Rajasthan Armed Constabulary, Emergency Response Team and special units of the local police are looking after security.
"Policemen in adequate number have been deployed in and around the venue of festival," he said, adding policemen in plain clothes are also keeping vigil.
"Elaborate arrangements are there and everything was peaceful and under control. Special arrangements for traffic have also been made to avoid congestion at busy Tonk road and nearby areas," he said.
