At the Jaipur Literature Festival 2011

This is an amazing festival, quite unlike any of the others I have ever been invited to participate in, in India or any other country. My friend Pico Iyer who had been there before told me it would be chaotic, vibrant, effervescent and memorable--and it was all of those things. It made me think of an Indian wedding, complete with elephants, camels (I rode one, a first for me. I was terrified and jubilant), milling crowds, flower garlands, great food, unexpected camaraderie, and lighted up centuries-old fortresses as backdrop. (Amer Fort, to be precise, where on the last night there was an Author Farewell dinner, complete with Qawaali singers and Sufi dancers). Add to the mix over two hundred writers that presented, and 60,000 (yes, that's right) lovers of literature and music that attended.

As a writer, it was wonderful for me to speak to a bursting-at-the seams crowd in the historic Durbar Hall of Diggi Palace, a venue I liked very much. (With my webmaster's help, I hope to put up photos soon). Diggi is a fairly old palace that isn't afraid to show its age. It hasn't been made over into a 5 star hotel like its more affluent cousins, but perhaps for that reason, it is more charming with its plain, whitewashed walls, its overgrown climbing vines and beat-up wooden furniture. And its famed peacocks (which, alas, we festival goers must have frightened away, because though I heard much about them, I didn't see any). Its substantial grounds were covered with tents for the six days, and in one corner of the compound (the stables, I believe) there were exciting and varied music festivals each night, showcasing traditional Rajasthani and cutting-edge young Indian/ international talent.

It was heartening to see the range of attendees--from local schoolchildren to college students who had come to Jaipur by train and were sleeping on the platform to save money, to intelligensia and socialites and housewives from major cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru) as well as a plethora of smaller towns (Agra, Jamshedpur, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar), to a roster of who's who in the publishing industry, to scores of journalists from both India and abroad.The book sales tent was so crowded, I could barely get in there. Reading in India is indeed alive and well.

It was exciting to hear and meet writers whose work I admired, such as Ruskin Bond, Chimamanda Adichie and J.M. Coetzee. It was a pleasure to chat again with writers whom I knew and whose work I loved, such as Kiran Desai, Adam Zagajewski, Orhan Pamuk, Junot Diaz, John Ford, and Mohsin Hamid. It was mind-opening to be exposed to talented writers who were new to me, such as Sonia Faleiro, Arundhati Subramaniam and Rana Dasgupta. It was an overwhelming embarrassment of riches. After a while, I stopped trying to take notes and just enjoyed. But my niece Neela Banerjee, a writer and journalist who also attended, was more diligent. See her comments at http://neelanjanabanerjee.com/blog/ (the Feb 3 entry) to get a different angle on things.

I appreciated that the range of writers spanned several generations and countries, and that they wrote--and presented panels-- in several languages. I appreciated the excellent team, led by Sanjoy Roy, that worked very hard to keep things running smoothly and watched out for the needs of the writers and the attendees--and who were, quite miraculously, able to offer this grand extravaganza of a literary festival that Tina Brown titles "the greatest literary show on earth" for free to all who came to listen.

The high moment of the festival for me was, actually, not a literary one. It was getting my hand kissed by the 89 year old Syed Haider Raza, an artist whose work I have loved since my college days! He spoke generously and honestly to a spellbound throng of about a thousand people about his life, paintings and philosophy. It was truly an event to remember.

For more info on the festival, which runs each year from Jan 21-25, check out their site, http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/

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Since my novel One Amazing Thing was published a couple of months ago, I've been doing a lot of interviews. At some point, interviewers usually ask me about my use of social media--my blog, my twitter account, my Facebook author page. I cringe, because I know what's coming next. "You haven't been too regular about writing on your blog recently, have you?" I try to make excuses--travel, family emergencies, a new writing project, Ph.D. dissertations to read at the university. But I know they won't do. And indeed, canny interviewers see through them all. "I notice you've been pretty active on your Facebook page," they'll say. "You write there every day, sometimes even two or three times daily."
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So I've decided to own up. Yes. I've been seduced by Facebook.

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In trying to figure out why this is so (the blog, is after all, a creative, thoughtful medium where one can convey more meaningful meditations), I've come up with the following reasons.

I have a better sense of who's on my Facebook page. I admit that it's limited to a (perhaps photoshopped) image, a few questions or comments, or their answer to my discussion topic, "Who Are You, Dear Reader?" Still, it's better than the fake-name spammers that deluge my blog in the hopes that I will post their website. ("Wow cool I didn't knew this thanks." "My mate referred me here. Thank God he did. I will make a point to read your blog daily." "Intimately, the post is in reality the greatest on that notable topic." And my favorite, which I almost posted: "I can only cringe as I read this stuff. All I do is smile in disagreement.")
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1. Since mine is a public author page, members are all there for some reason related to my books. They are readers. (Granted, some are forced to become readers by their teachers. But still).
  And so we have discussions about my books, which often broaden into discussions on literature. People list their favorite authors. People put up poems that have touched them. We discuss the philosophy behind the work. We discuss literacy nonprofits like Pratham, or Arts organizations like Writers in the Schools and Inprint Houston. Sometimes I quote lines and challenge people to tell me who the author is. (Alright, so people cheat and use google search. It's all part of the fun).
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  1. The responses are immediate. I confess, I'm part of our instant gratification culture, and it makes a difference that 5 seconds after I put up an entry, there are 4 likes on my page. In a few hours, there are comments and responses. It creates a sense of community, and in some cases, has given me deep comfort. When my mother was gravely ill in India, I asked for prayers on my facebook page before I boarded my flight. By the time I reached India, there were several scores of comments, offering prayers and wishing me luck and strength. When she passed away and I put that in an update, within a day, fifty or so Facebook friends had consoled me by sharing their stories of loss and their coping mechanisms. It was very helpful, and a lot easier to deal with than phone calls from friends and family, whose sympathy only made me break down each time. It was also very touching that all these people--who really, after all, had no reason to care for my sorrow--took time out of their busy lives to express that caring.
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    There are other great things about Facebook. Maybe I'll write about them in Seduced II. But I have to end now. I need to check on the responses to that writing tip I put up on my page (in between writing this article) 12 seconds ago.
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    Chitra's Facebook link: http:/www.facebook.com/chitradivakaruni
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Blog: Amazing Things