Talks on religion, AI, fashion and economy on 2nd day of Jaipur Literature Festival

Jaipur: A discussion of the novel ‘Trust’ got the second day of the Jaipur Literature Festival off to a promising start here at Hotel Clarks Amer. New York-based author Hernan Diaz's book won him the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2023.

In conversation with American novelist and journalist Katie Kitamura, Diaz explained the thought process behind the unconventional work, which combines multiple genres of storytelling. “I internalised a financial metaphor. I thought I’d build capital in the first part of the novel and then burn through it in the second part,” he said. The book starts as a straightforward novel, but it later segues into forms of autobiography, memoir, and journaling.

An eventful session on ‘The Elephant Moves: India’s New Place In The World’, saw G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant lambasting US ambassador Eric Garcetti, who on Tuesday implied that India’s taxation policy impedes its growth, referring to FDIs. “Countries like the US have grown because of protectionism. They have said, ‘Subsidisation will be given only to companies that produce hydrogen in the USA’,” he said, adding, “He (Garcetti) is speaking the American language; we must speak the Indian language. We will make India a global champion by 'making in India’.”

The focus shifted to religion, secularism, fashion, and artificial intelligence as the day wore on. The launch of the book Treasure of Lakshmi: The Goddess Who Gives’ was followed by a discussion on the goddess. Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal have curated and edited the book. Author Anand Neelakantan highlighted the fact that a goddess for wealth is a concept unique to Hindu culture. “Other cultures do not believe wealth and spirituality go together,” he said.

The session ended with the addition of the Purandara Dasa song Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma by Hindustani vocalist Vidya Shah.

A panel comprising the likes of British mathematician Marcus Du Sautoy, comedian Kanan Gill and authors William Dalrymple and Hernan Diaz discussed the pitfalls of artificial intelligence.

Indian political theorist, author, and professor Rajeev Bhargava took on the government in his session, ‘The New India: Between Hope and Despair’. The conversation was helmed by entrepreneur Mohit Satyanand, and the duo discussed two of Bhargava’s latest books, ‘Between Hope and Despair: 100 Ethical Reflections on Contemporary India’ and ‘Bridging the Two Worlds: Comparing Classical Political Thought and Statecraft in India and China’.

In response to a question on the shrinking space for dissent, Bhargava explained that it stems from insecurity. “They (the government) believe that a large number of people will not support their agenda of their own free will. They know the support they are getting is because of fear. That fundamental insecurity stops them from tolerating dissent,” he explained.