Some notes from Divya Subramaniam first.
My first hour in Jaipur Literary Festival 2010 passed in a daze. Partly because I could not believe that I was back among the people who I had fled from seven years back because I could not stand the pretentiousness for even one more day. But also because I was busy orienting myself and recovering from spotting celebrities every five minutes. Anyway it was colourful and warm in the sunlight and I scrutinised the much-rearranged schedule and finally wandered into the Baithak for a session on Language and Identity.
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Is it Hindi or English that forms the main identity of India? That was the main question discussed. All the customary (valid) arguments were made, and all the standard (convincing) refutations were heard on both sides. But the most riveting aspect of the entire session surely was listening to Gulzar speak in his beautiful Urdu-heavy Hindi to the slightly surreal accompaniment of neighing horses. (The stables of Diggi Palace were a few feet away from the Baithak tent.)
Here are some of the points that were made.
- Pavan Varma expressed the fear that we are becoming a nation of linguistic half–castes. Because we are rapidly forgetting our heritage and language and yet still not really comfortable with English.
- Gulzar was of the opinion that English was the language that introduced him to many texts by famous writers. And that there is really no language in India that can act as a pan-Indian language.
- Varma - There has been no culture audit after Independence
- There was a discussion on the appropriateness of Jawaharlal Nehru delivering the freedom speech in English. But Gulzar pointed out that that too is a result of the reality that there was no language that would not antagonise one or the other section of the country.
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Soon after I found a cosy spot at the back, I realised that I had been lucky to find even standing room. Politician Vasundhara Raje as well as the queen of Bhutan Queen Wangchuck caused a diversion and a scramble when they walked in to no place to sit or even stand.
The Jaipur Literary Festival 2010 in a word: crowded! Found myself mobbed in by school girls in an afternoon session on Social Activism in the Arts in the Mughal Darbar. Was unable to ascertain if Shabana Azmi was the main attraction or Rahul Bose; but these kids were right there on the front row to make sure they didn’t miss a word. In general, the number of school kids attending the Lit Fest was pretty heartening.
The evening session on Can The Internet Save Books moderated by Barkha Dutt and consisting of a number of very promising panellists like Vikram Chandra, Gulzar and Tina Brown threatened to meander at first but was salvaged and turned out to be fun. Not least because of some pertinent points and questions raised by members of the audience.
***
And back to me.