Jaipur, January 24, 2010 – The festivities continue at the 5th edition of DSC Jaipur Literature Festival as the crowds keep increasing to meet their favourite authors and artists. The highlights for DSC Jaipur Literature Festival 2010 – day 4 were –

The art of the anti- thriller: Vikram Chandra with Shoma Chaudhury
Best-selling novelist Vikram Chandra discussed the process of writing his best-selling novel, Sacred Games, described by Shoma Chaudary as ‘more like War and Peace’ than a traditional thriller. Chandra said he had suggested the phrase ‘anti-thriller’ to his publishers, because the novel ‘breaks every rule of the thriller genre’ and he didn’t want to set up expectations that would not be met, including his decision to write ‘another kind of climax’ to his novel rather than the usual climactic gunfight of the thriller genre. Similarly, Chandra said he had deliberately written his main character ‘complicated’, starting out as a skeptic and becoming religious along the way, both ‘a monster in some way’ and also a complex individual with living emotions. His interest in complex characterization in part stemmed from his respect for his mother, a woman with an  ‘immensely powerful personality’ in a society that ‘actively tries to repress women.’ Chandra, who often waits until the sixth or seventh draft of a novel before starting to work with structure and writing rules, said that otherwise the process would be ‘completely paralyzing.’

Roddy Doyle Unleashed: In a hilarious talk to the captivated audience, Booker Prize winning Irish novelist Roddy Doyle talked engagingly about writing and life in Ireland, joking that ‘the writer’s life is sometimes staring out of a window. People don’t understand that when it looks like you’re doing nothing, you’re actually working furiously.’ The highly respected author talked about his love of Ireland, though he has also faced some criticism for his ‘less than rosy portrayal of domestic life in Ireland, particularly domestic violence, even receiving death threats after the release of his novel Family. However Doyle, who is also a teacher, said he was relieved to see that at least the death threats were not from any of his students, since there were so many spelling mistakes in the letters. Generally Doyle regarded Ireland as ‘a great place for writers’ and that he had largely been left alone during his writing career. Doyle hoped that his writing gave his fellow countrymen a certain pride to hear their language and culture represented in his books and films, and talked of the idiosyncrasies of Irish culture, such as ‘if you don’t drink in Ireland, the response is that you must be an alcoholic and you don’t drink because you can’t.’ Doyle has also set up a writing project for children, Fighting Words, particularly for those outside the education system, saying that there were now children from all sorts of backgrounds in Ireland as it is becoming increasingly multicultural. He said he was greatly inspired by the birth of his first child, which had made him think about his own past and childhood again, and that walking around Dublin with his children made him look at the city with more attention, which he hoped to translated into his novels. He said that if he had to choose one writing medium it would definitely be the novel, though he also greatly enjoyed the disciplined process of writing short stories.

Edge of Empire
Maya Jasanoff and William Dalrymple engaged in a stimulating and fascinating discussion on the former’s work, Edge of Empire. At the beginning of the session, Dalrymple declared that one of the aims behind the festival was not only to allow readers the opportunity to interact with established and new writers, but also with those who are unknown and whose works he personally admires.Jasanoff’s book was one such work, which, though well received internationally, was not reviewed in the Indian media.
Jasanoff stated that her aim in writing the book was to explore ‘imperial history through individual lives’. Dalrymple was full of lavish praise for Jasanoff’s work, which he described as ‘the most interesting reimagination’ of eighteenth-century Indian history. It carefully avoids, he said, the simple dualism of self and other that is typical of postcolonial discourse.
Jasanoff went on to read some interesting passages from the novel. She also spoke about her next work, recently completed, which deals with an as yet unexamined aspect of the American Revolution—the mass exodus of the people who chose to remain faithful to Britain and migrated to different colonies.

The Whirlwind of History: Louis De Bernieres, Commonwealth Prize winning author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin treated the audience to a fascinating and thoughtful insight into his life and experience of being a writer, though he admitted that even his own son thought his real job was ‘mending things,’ since he made sure he balanced his cerebral life with using his hands, so as not to ‘go a bit mad.’ The writer said his love of music originated when he took up the guitar as a teenager to impress girls, but said that he soon realized he loved music and that ;the girls could just get lost really. It was no longer a pose, it became a passion.’ De Bernieres said he had started writing as a poet, penning ‘typically maudlin rejected and humiliated love’ poems and then lost his poetic confidence, because after post-modernism, it was ‘hard to know’ whether something was a poem or not, and so he turned to novels. He said that happily, his confidence came back two years ago, and he had published his first collection last summer, although he deliberated utilized ‘poetic tricks’ like assonance and metre in his prose in the meantime, since he has ‘a kind of internal music’ in his head when he writes. He joked that the best thing about making the film Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was ‘meeting Penelope Cruz’ though he regretted the ‘messing around’ with the story that occurred, such as putting in a sex scene in the middle of the film, when in fact part of the tragic power of the novel was that the two characters did not become lovers until they were old. He quipped that maybe it was because the filmmakers wanted to see Penelope Cruz without her clothes on, which

 ‘I totally sympathize with but it spoilt the movie.’ He also said that he had deliberately made the violence in his South American trilogy so ‘horrible’ because he wanted his readers to understand both the horror of the Argentinean dictatorship and also ‘the immorality’ of taking cocaine. The author also played a beautiful minuet on his mandolin to rapturous applause

Under the Kilt: Andrew O’Hagan, Niall Ferguson, Alexander McCall Smith and William Dalrymple
In a highly amusing discussion, the panel of distinguished writers talked about the ‘Belarus question,’ which evolved when Niall Ferguson recently dismissed his native Scotland as ‘the Belarus of Western Europe.’ Ferguson said he thought the Scots ‘had lost that sense of irony that had so distinguished them’ and now it was more akin to Belarus, a place known for alcohol abuse, population ground down with self-pity, and low life expectancy. He added that the golden era of Scotland, famous for philosopher Adam Smith, Scotch whiskey, penicillin and television, was ‘over.’ McCall Smith, who still lives in Scotland, said things had ‘got worse’ for the country since the early twentieth century, but that Ferguson’s view was ‘tremendously curmudgeonly,’ adding that all countries have their problems. O’Hagan talked about the institutional bigotry growing up in Scotland, and remembered being told by the editor of a Scottish paper that he ‘clearly had some talent in the writing game, but his name might be a liability because it was clearly Catholic. O’Hagan added that now ‘the Scottish imagination has been freed up’ and that ‘Scotland has the most distinctive literary culture.’ The panel discussed nationalism and particularly the relationship between Scotland and the rest of Britain, with Ferguson saying that the Scots played a ‘disproportionate role’ in the Empire, and therefore felt no need to establish their own nation state because they felt they ran the English who ran the Empire: ‘Even today, England is run by Scots,’ joked Ferguson, asking ‘when are the English going to grow up and govern themselves?’ He also observed that when he had tried to warn bankers about the imminent recession two years ago, he had been dismissed for his Scottish pessimism and the cultural stereotype that Scots believe ‘too much happiness is a curse.’ The raucous laughter and fast jokes between the four Scottish writers more than dispelled this stereotype as a myth.

The Diana Chronicles
In Conversation - Tina Brown and Vir Sanghvi


"Tina came down from Oxford and revived the decrepit society magazine, Tatler, made it into a happening magazine," said editor, TV host and food critic Vir Sanghvi in his introduction of legendary editor and author Tina Brown. Brown's book, The Diana Chronicles was the topic of discussion.

Why Diana? And why after everybody else has finished writing about Diana? "It is still one of the most compelling stories one could ever address," said Brown. "One of the things I've learned as an editor is that just as everybody has had their say, that's when you don't know much!"Sanghvi said that while people in India saw Diana as a tragic figure, the "Diana in your book is very complicated".

"She is complex, scheming, mischievous, vain, tender-hearted, quite a sexual girl. She could create a circle of intimacy around a crowd; she was also trouble," explained Brown.

Diana was desperately lonely and unhappy, "and like most celebrities, ended up sleeping with her security detail a year-and-a-half into her marriage to Charles. Brown says Camilla Parker Bowles "was the godmother in this Diana and Charles's relationship. As soon as the glamour entered Diana's life, she morphed into the most desired woman in the world; Camilla didn't like that."

Brown believes that of her numerous dalliances, Diana's affair with Hasnat Khan, a doctor, was the most genuine. "I think Hasnat Khan loved her very much, much more purely than anyone else."

Against the wind

Religion has been a virtue of faith, but what when the institutions that preach these very ideals let you down? Or what when in literature, identity and writing is branded based on the caste you hail from. This session with Sr Jesme and P.Sivakami explored confessional writing, truth, hypocrisy, double standards, moral failings, accpetance, patriarchy, separatism. Most importantly, it highlighted the courage of these women who are standing victim's of societal shames and yet strong enough to bare open to the world their experiential realities.

Sister's reading of excerpts from her book, Autobiography of a Nun exuded an authenticity that was hard hitting and at the same time a very personal account of uncomfortable truths that plague the four walls of the Holy Abode. It exposes the dysfunctional ties of the convent life at all levels from homosexuality and molestation to bribery and institutalisation. 

While casteism is a main stream issue, why is Dalit writing that is based on caste, termed separatist? Is it time for Dalit writers to move to better ways of expression to get over "imprisonment"? These are some of the prevailing questions the session seeked to answer.  

Grip Of Change

Who is a Dalit? Who is a Brahman? There are universal voices and there is universal subjecthood.. 

When we are finally convinced about giving reasonable importance to the Dalit voice, there is emerging an awareness of groups that are lower than the lowest rank in the ladder. Lakshman Gaekwad hails from the community of tribes who have been denotified and criminalised till date by the legal structure. This atrocity continues. For 35 years, they have been denotified nomadic tribes whose identity has been termed "achoot se bhi achoot". And since these tribes have no occupation and no access to basic facilities they resort to pickpocketing and small time thefts to sustain livelihoods. Therefore they are always objects of suspicion and subsequent torture. What was the abuse of society became the very name of the community- Chara. It is based on these experiences that he has written his 1st book that has been translated- The Branded.   

Sivakami drew attention to the need for building a collective voice of all the marginalised- trans genders, tribals and Dalits. After extensive interaction with all these groups that belong in the periphery, she comes to the conclusion that as long as there is purity, there will be impurity and these multiple voices should have a linkage rather than a celebration of differences.

A Writer’s Dairies
Ashok Vajpeyi, Krishna Baldev Vaid, moderated by S S Nirupam.
                                     
Krishna Baldev Vaid read from his published diary, and said that from time to time, he tended to destroy most of the diaries he maintained.

"Kafka was one diarist who asked a friend to destroy his unpublished letters and diaries. That friend later published them. I do not want to take such a risk," Baldev said, before reading excerpts from Khwab hai Deewane Ka - Pravaas Diary.
Vajpeyi said, "Many people write diaries to make veiled attacks on people who are not there to defend themselves. Hindi particularly has a long tradition of this."

"Do you find it more difficult to begin a poem or end it - or not at all?" Vaid asked him. "I write first drafts on my typewriter," Vajpeyi replied.  "Kabhi-kabhi kavita atak jaati hai, to main sochta hoon ke jab tak satak na jaay, atki rahne do!"
Vaid said he too struggled often with his writing, always finding it difficult to get started. "Main atakta bahut hoon. Shuru karne mein mujhe zyaada takleef hoti hai."

 TAGORE—THE SINGER AND HIS SONG—MALASHRI LAL AND REBA SOM

The musical theme in the Baithak tent the afternoon of the 24th began with Amit Chaudhuri and Omair Ahmad’s readings and discussions on musicality in writing. It reached its hilt with a performance reading by Reba Som, a trained Rabindrasangeet singer and writer of the book Tagore—The Singer and His Song—an anecdotal and biographical account of Tagore and the background to this man who single-handedly created a genre of music.

When asked why she felt the need to write this book, Som replied, “To Tagore, music was the most important aspect of his literary work. He said, ‘If people remember me for nothing else, they will remember me for my music’.” His music was, Som explained, “the fount from which his literature flowed. And yet, to my surprise, many historians and biographers of complete omitted his music.” She spoke also of wanting to explore what continues to make Rabindrasangeet popular and relevant to Bengalis even today, testified by the large crowd skipping more high profile author sessions to listen to the singer/writer.

The talk conducted by Malashri Lal touched upon Tagore’s key songs—a song written just prior to his Nobel Prize win in 1913, Akla Chlo Re written during the Bengal partition, a Baul-inspired tune that remains his most popular song, an adaptation of the Auld Lang Syne, a song purportedly written for his unrequited love Victoria Ocampo, and of course the national anthem of India. With each of these songs, Som also touched upon the most critical themes of his songs—his unease with his fame after Geetanjali, political disagreements with Gandhi, his experiments with musical forms, his romantic life, and his eternal quest for discovering and celebrating the duality of nature. For each theme, Lal read Som’s English translation following which Som sang the original in Bengali.

Som’s voice, melodic and rich if a bit hesitant, did not disappoint, and many Bengalis present in the arena, including author Meghnad Desai, could be seen swaying or even singing along. At some point, even interlocutor Malashri Lal joined in!

Som’s book is an important one, not just to Bengalis who continue to love and celebrate the music of India’s first Nobel Laureate and literary great but more importantly to his work accessible to non-Bengalis and foreigners interested in learning about Tagore. Its best feature is not just its translations, although those are nuanced and revelatory, but also Som’s obvious depth of knowledge about Tagore, his life, and his mind. Each song therefore was accompanied by anecdotes and detailed backgrounds that immediately put them in a larger context.

 Vajpeyi read a poem he wrote on his father (his second on the subject), thirty years after his death: "Kaka, now that there is nothing between us.... Now there is some sadness and regret left between us. The truth is that at the end, I am but an insipid image of you."
Vajpeyi had the last word. "Like classical vocalist Mallikarjun Mansoor said: 'It is my job to sing, that of listeners to hear. I have often sung in empty halls'."

The Director’s Cut: Stephen Frears, Hanif Kureishi, Roddy Doyle, moderated by Rachel Holmes
The three prestigious screenwriters talked to a completely packed Durbar Hall of their experiences in the film industry and the creative process. Academy-award winning director Stephen Frears, who has directed films of both Kureishi and Doyle’s books, emphasized the importance of being led by a good story and said that he never looked for a subject, remaining passive in the process: ‘I sit at home and people bring me things.’ Kureishi agreed that ‘it’s always like that’ and waiting for the next good idea was ‘like falling in love, it just hits you… so you do have to learn to wait around and believe something will turn up somehow, because you’ve done it before.’ He said of My Beautiful Laundrette that the aim was ‘to write a film partly about my family and people I knew… but at the same time to could give it a political context.’ When asked if any of the writers had any desire to make a Bollywood movie, Doyle joked, ‘I did it already with The Commitments,’ his hugely popular film about soul music in Ireland. He also spoke of his ‘anxiety and guilt’ in the periods of waiting between ideas, and that as a result, when he didn’t have a novel on the go, he made sure he worked on something else like a short story. Frears said he was currently working on ‘a comedy set in the English countryside’ based on graphic novel, Tomorrow True, and Kureishi said he was currently turning the novel White Tiger into a film, saying that though as writers ‘we’re trying to be artists of some sort, mostly we’re thinking about how to make a living.’ He remembered realizing he would become a writer when he was a child and looking out of the window depressed, and Frears said that he had became a director by chance: ‘it was an accident.’ Doyle said, ‘I was always very reluctant to call myself a writer,’ continuing to call himself a teacher until he had published three novels, saying it was as embarrassing an admission as saying you are an alcoholic. They talked about recent blockbuster Three Idiots and the issue of how much credit the writer should get on a film. Frears said that as the director, he was ‘a kind of parasite’ on the writer’s creation.