Big names attend first day of Jaipur Lit Fest

The eighth edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) was inaugurated on Wednesday with Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje calling for more events of international repute in the state.

Vasundhara said the state government was looking at starting more cultural festivals on the lines of JLF. “We are looking at starting a festival for music of different varieties. Rajasthan is the land of festivals and soon we will have much more to offer to international visitors,” the chief minister said.

The literature festival opened with a fanfare of drums and horns led by renowned Rajasthani musician Nathu Lal Solanki. 

This was followed by an a-cappella rendition of the National Anthem by Vocal
Raasta, a Delhi-based band.

After the inauguration ceremony, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Vijay Seshadri delivered a keynote address.

The Bengaluru-born author, who is now based in the US, spoke at the festival along with renowned anthologist and translator Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Hindi poet-critic and cultural activist Ashok Vajpeyi.

Acclaimed writer William Darlymple, JLF director, said the Jaipur Literature Festival started in 2006 as a small event with 14 Japanese tourists as the first audience. Last year, the total footfall was over two lakhs. 

“It has been an extraordinary journey. From just 14 visitors in 2006 to over 2 lakh people in 2014, JLF has become an international event. Last year JLF sold 10,000 books in 5 days,” Dalrymple said. Festival producer Sonjay Roy said his team worked for JLF because of their belief in freedom of expression in an atmosphere of peaceful coexistence.  ‘Communal divide still exists in Ahmedabad, festivals cover-up’ 
Post Godhra riots have left a lasting impression on the social fabric of Gujarat became evident as the more than decade-old incident  continued to haunt the writers at Jaipur Literary Festival, especially those who were eyewitnesses to it. For them, division of Ahmedabad city on communal lines exists event today and festivals are just a cover up mask.

“During riots entire Ahmedabad city was divided into Muslim Ahmedabad and Hindu Ahmedabad. I understand the division very well and it still continues in today’s life. Although the cover up mask are festivals - what we call Vibrant Gujarat. People are very happy but I am not,” said Esther David, a Jewish-Indian author hailing from Ahmedabad city, who had won Sahitya Akademi Award in 2010 for The Book of Rachel.

Esther David was speaking at the session, ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’, where Homi Bhabha, Eimear McBride, Esther David and Ashok Vajpeyi deliberated upon the changing ethics and perceptions of sin, guilt and absolution and examined contradictions of how societies and religions understand right and wrong.

David said that Gujarat has faced several riots before but nothing has been so deadly as post Godhra riots. “Normally community leaders gather together and take out procession after the flare-ups. But for the first time nothing of this sort happened in 2002. People were afraid that they might be killed,” said David. After 12 years what changed is that people started living in small areas and in the communities, she added.

Noted poet Ashok Vajpeyi tagged Gujarat violence as a complete misnomer in relation to the concept of neighbourhood. According to him the new technology and use of mobile phones was a major instrument in fueling the tension. “Neighbours would call up hooligans to inform that nearby bakery named “Prakash Bakers” is actually owned by a person from the minority community. It was at this juncture that people lost faith in the concept of neighbourhood,” said Vajpeyi.