The Jaipur literature Festival opened at the Diggi Palace with an overwhelming crowd where people were left fighting for a square inch of space to even stand, writes R Sharma
With Diggi Palace as a symbol of the princely Rajasthan, Gayatri Kundaliya with her morning raga and avid readers for the love of literature flew in from different countries and cities to be a part of the country’s greatest literary festival — Jaipur literature Festival- that raised its curtains on Wednesday.
A four-way passage decorated with multi-coloured puppets on the top with threads, the sound of the ghungaroos of folk Rajasthani dancers and with a namaskar by Sanjoy Roy, director of Teamworks, welcomed us as we stepped inside the front lawns for the morning session. We managed to grab seats for ourselves and what followed next was the peaceful symphony of raga by Kundaliya.
Following the tradition of beating drums along with a shank, the chief minister of the state, Vasundhara Raje came in and what followed were moments of heart-thumping and feet-tapping music by Chugge Khan and Nathu lal Solanki. They started on a low note and as the performance continued, the notes were changed and created an experiential atmosphere with their sync of playing drums with sticks.
Roy, while addressing the crowd, proudly welcomed everyone for their ninth edition. “This past year, we travelled to different parts of the country and it feels really proud to see a young festival growing and expanding at this pace,” he shared.
He considered the state’s vibrant art and culture along with the presence of historical structures which helped in holding the festival. “The reason that it is organised in Jaipur, and if you look around in this magnificent place, you have everything — a palace, fort and the incredible art and culture that the state is known for,” he said.
Talking more about the festival he shared that the authors discuss, debate and help one understand different perspectives of various issues and topics. “Here, sitting in the front lawn, you can learn about histories and cultures from Wellington to Vancouver. listen to what people have to say and yes, there is a conflict. But, we need to understand that two different point of views can co-exist. There are greater issues of inequity and inequality, we need to address them. Shouting on channels is not the solution to all of it,” he explained.
William Dalrymple, on the other hand, stressed on the point that people say that nobody reads nowadays. “People say nobody is reading these days and everyone is busy with their Instagram posts, but festivals like these are an ample proof that people are reading. Here, we sell 10,00 copies and that is no less on a day,” he said.
Raje, who seemed quite excited and cheerful during the whole event, came on the stage and said, “I come here because it takes me back to my childhood. We all have read under our sheets with a torch and there are many of us who can’t go to bed without reading some pages of our book.”
She added, “If I attend one session then it transports me into another world, and If I attend another, it takes me somewhere else at the same time. And, I get to meet all these wonderful people about whom I have read in their books.There are also time when I ask Sanjoy, ‘Can you introduce me to them,’” she said, laughing. Post this came the speech of the woman we, and organisers of litfest had been waiting for seven years. Margaret Atwood, poet, writer from Canada came on the stage and conquered it. Even when her name was mentioned, people started cheering for her and this blue eyed writer blushed with a twinkle in her eye.
Who stole my seatIJ
Though we managed to grab a seat for us at the Front lawns of Diggi palace for the morning session but the million dollar question — “Is this seat occupiedIJ” — was posed not only to us but also to those sitting even remotely close by. People attending the first session at the Jaipur lit Fest came in huge numbers resulting into getting irritated and fighting for seats. We were mere non-reactant by standers at the scene. And trust us, we don’t intend to mock anyone but women in particular got furious. Not because they were denied seats but because someone had reserved it for their friends and family. The scene was no less than that of a local train where people literally leave their scarves, handkerchief and books to save a seat — a symbol of owning that property.
And, when this happened at the JlF, a woman actually rose against against the “injustice” and said, “You can’t reserve seats here. This is what I get to hear every time I come here.”
All she got in return were a few eye rolls and unconformable exchange of expressions from the seated crowd.