Jaipur Literary Festival

23 January 2015

19 boys and a girl student along with Ms Anita Pandey and MrShamikChakravarty went to Jaipur to attend Jaipur Literary Fest from 23rd - 25th January 2015. From Nobel Laureates to local language writers, Man Booker prize winners to debut novelists, this January saw the most remarkable, witty, sensitive and brilliant congregation  of authors for five days of readings, debates and discussions at the beautiful Diggi Palace in Jaipur for the Zee Jaipur Literary Festival; the world's largest free literary festival. Featuring live music sessions and interactive workshops, the festival provided a space to dare, dream and imagine. And in this innovative environment the Scindians set forward to explore the world of intellect. With a line-up of around 234 authors from backgrounds ranging from international relations, history and environment, to human nature, regional literature, art, photography, Bollywood, theatre and travel, the festival covered a wide range of the literary world. The students had a rare experience of listening to Nobel Laureate Sir. V. S. Naipaul, British biographer Lucy-Hughes Hallett ,RamJethmalani, playwright Girish Karnad, celebrated American travel writer Paul Theroux ,Sheldon Pollock, Shashi Tharoor, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Vijay Seshadri, Narayana Murty, SudhaMurty, William Dalrymple , 2013 Man Book Prize Winner Eleanor Catton and Oscar-nominated screenplay writer and novelist HanifKureishi.  It was an honour to listen to best-selling novelist Amish Tripathi and Chetan Bhagat apart from celebrated author and translator ArshiaSattar. The 2015 festival had a number of themes running through the various sessions and panel discussions on all the five days. There were interesting and intellectually stimulating debates and discussions on a wide variety of issues. This festival looked at writing associated with The Seven Deadly Sins, as well as continuing a second strand of the celebrated Women Uninterrupted series. Before the event William Dalrymple, writer and co-Director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, said, "This may well be one of the strongest international lists we've ever fielded at Jaipur''. The festival schedule also saw 19 new titles being launched including Masterchef India Cookbook by Michelin-starred chef Vikas Khanna, coffee table book "Curtain Call: Celebrating Indian Theatre" commemorating 10 years of the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards, "The Front Row: Conversations on Cinema" by acclaimed film critic Anupama Chopra, poet and screenwriter Javed Akhtar's collection of poems titled "In other words" and the 26th edition of Limca Book of records, among others. On the second day the boys were thrilled to watch Sonam Kapoor interact with Anupama Chopra. To say that the crowd was enormous will be an understatement. The last day was filled with last minute cramming of information and attending as many sessions as possible. By the end of the three days everyone wished to come again next year!