Orhan’s voice
The Jaipur Literature Festival took off on a note of love! Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk had his Booker winning muse Kiran Desai for company. However, there were issues more serious than love to take care of! The marginalisation of Indian language writers, for instance. As Pamuk pointed out, non-English writers are not getting their due at any of the literary festivals. At a session with Desai and Sudanese writer Leila Aboulela, he was savagely critical of the West. “The human experience is being marginalised only because it is not written in the language of the Western world,” he moaned. Pamuk who bases his stories in Istanbul, rued that the Western world tries to “provincialise” his work set in Turkey! “When I write about love, the critics say that I write about Turkish love. Why cannot love general?” he wondered. Desai nodded.
Inheritance of books
She could as well have been a giggly 18-year-old madly in love! But Kiran Desai was in Jaipur for reasons that did not necessarily include Orhan Pamuk. “I am lazy and slow,” Desai explained for her low volume of work, then giggled. “Inheritance of Loss is about understanding the notion of love. I am now working on the next book. I have written some 1500 pages,” she giggled some more, as the host of the session Jai Arjun Singh looked on. Then she gave a brief insight into her childhood, the years spent in Kalimpong and Delhi. “Those were quiet years, no publicity, no journalists at home though mom (Anita Desai) was a writer. Gradually we got news of her fame from the outside world,” she spoke softly, a touch of wistfulness seeping through. Then she giggled some more.
Coetzee goes solo
There was a long, real long queue of booklovers waiting for Nobel laureate John Maxwell Coetzee to give his autograph! The reclusive writer who had just minutes earlier held the audience spellbound talking about human beings and cats, Indian belief in soul and Roman Catholicism, signed patiently, even smiled. Not open to any interview, Coetzee left Patrick French speechless, announcing to all during the talk, “For the next 45 minutes you shall hear one voice, and that will be mine.” Nobody complained!
Raza on the dot
It was refreshing to see a painter making a splash at the literary do. S.H. Raza, the man for whom time seems to have come full bindu – he shifted to France at the age of 29, and now has come back to India, merely 60 years later! – shared a few notes personal and impersonal in a candid conversation with Ashok Vajpayi, whose silver hair shone as brightly as his language. In front of a gathering that included lots of school students, Raza walked down memory lane to come clean: “I was not fond of school. I was a bad student scoring low marks. Arithmetic did not interest me. My interest lay in drawing and painting. Fortunately, I found the right gurus. It is imperative parents as well as teachers understand a child’s qualities.” The students clapped happily, the teachers merged with the crowd!
No half measures
A. Revathi’s recent autobiography The Truth about Me profiles her journey as somebody born with the body of a boy and feelings of a girl to a hijra fighting social ridicule, finally finding peace as a SANGMA activist. At a stirring session with Urvashi Butalia, Revathi covered herself with much grace, spread plenty of light. “It is insulting to call anybody hijra , chhakka or napunsak . Call me a woman,” she said, adding, “never insult us by calling any corrupt politician a hijra . Given an opportunity we too can become lawyers, writers, leaders. From my childhood I was different. Boys used to play cricket, I wanted to play marbles. I got abused by my teacher in school. But I always wanted to be a woman, wanted a regular job. I speak like one, dress up like one. That is my choice. Why should it disturb anyone?”
Abuse beyond use
Almost taking a hint from Pamuk, Hindi writers and those from other Indian languages made hay at the festival, speaking their language, their way. If Gulzar, Javed Akhtar and Prasoon Joshi had to host a session on Hindi film songs almost twice over, Mrinal Pande made her presence felt too. At the session, “Aisi Hindi, Kaisi Hindi”, she quietly tore into the host Satyanand Nirupam’s argument that expletives are a form of expression too! “People use ‘gaali’ when lacking words. An intelligent man does not abuse. He uses measured words. When a child picks up an expletive on the street, the mother always scolds him. If abuse were really a form of developing expression, the mother would have probably hailed the child!” Pande left co-panellists speechless and the audience clapping in appreciation.
Love in India?
So, will Indian Summer be finally shot here, the land of Jawaharlal Nehru? The answer, my friend, is blowing the wind! And Alex von Tunzelmann refused to kiss the wind! Asked if the film will ever get made here, Alex, advisor on history for the film on Nehru’s special relationship with Edwina Mountbatten, smiled. Then took a long breath, before saying, “I don’t know. I would like the film to be made in India. The story is rooted here. There is nothing in the screenplay that is shocking. But the final call has to be the producers. I am not.” Her ever-so-cool response was inversely proportional to the heat generated over the love saga!
Double Jinnah
The larger-than-life shadow of Mohammed Ali Jinnah covered the festival too frequently for many people’s comfort. One day, M.J. Akbar, discussing his new book Tinderbox spiritedly fielded host Mani Shanker Aiyar’s volley of questions. “The debate in Pakistan is between the Father of Pakistan Jinnah and the godfather of the State Maulana Maudoodi,” he said. A little earlier, he had sought to present Jinnah in a different light in the run up to Independence. And even scored a couple of brownie points for Maulana Azad. Less than 18 hours later, Jinnah was back in business. This time Karan Thapar focussing his attention, courtesy Tunzelmann’s book, Indian Summer . Conspicuous here, however, was the author’s brave attempt to portray Gandhi in a new light. “Gandhi did not regard the victims of Jalianwala Bagh to be martyrs. He deplored their running. And he thought Jews could fight Hitler with non-violence. Maybe he would have been prepared to reconsider his judgement in the light of fresh evidence.”
Words of patience
Afghan-French writer Atiq Rahimi is an amiable man. He has spent some time in India, learnt – and partially forgotten – Hindi and Urdu. And he is not entirely comfortable with English either. Yet he made waves at the fest. Reason? His book Stone of Patience . At a discussion on the book, Rahimi caught attention with his limited but pertinent vocabulary. Describing the land of his birth, he said, “It is phallocracy in Afghanistan. Mother’s value and morals, father’s control.” It took the discerning a few seconds before they realised the import of Rahimi’s words!
Hating the sin
A doctor’s words were more healing than words at the fest. Palestine medico-turned-author Izzeldin Abuelaish’s session pleading for peace between Israel and Palestine left everybody moist eyed. The affable doctor had lost three of his daughters, aged 14, 17 and 20 years when the Israelis shelled his house. “They were called collateral damage by the authorities.” Yet Izzeldin does not hate the Jews or Israelis. “Palestines are like anybody. They want to love with dignity and freedom. We hate the sin, not the sinner. Israel and Palestine are intertwined. Their future is linked together,” the Gazan doctor pleaded, before asking the assembled hundreds to “spend time with your loved ones. Kiss them, hug them. Don’t wait till tomorrow, it might be too late.”
