The fifth and last day of the Jaipur Literature Festival began with a conversation about misogyny and ‘mansplaining’, with gender activist Antara Ganguli, authors Anuradha Beniwal, Bee Rowlatt, Ruchira Gupta and fittingly — the only male on the panel — Suhel Seth.
Mr. Seth declared that how one treats women “all comes down to pedigree and upbringing.” He hailed being “gentlemanly” as an ideal to aspire towards. Ms. Ganguli and Ms. Rowlatt responded that the notion of a “gentleman” is inherently an extension of toxic masculinity. A member of the audience later called Mr. Seth out for talking over his fellow panellists, answering on their behalf and displaying the very misogyny he sought to end. This received much applause from the audience.
North Korea revealed
This was followed by a sobering presentation by Hyeonseo Lee, a North Korean who escaped to China and then to South Korea. In conversation with historian Anita Anand, Ms. Lee talked about her book The Girl with Seven Names — named so because she changed her name seven times to protect her identity. She detailed her experiences during the Korean famine: “the smell of decomposed human bodies was everywhere. We used to look at those with dead dogs with envy — it meant that the family could eat meat that night.”
In a less sombre session, Mallika Dua, comedian and actor, interviewed Neel Madhav, an illusionist and author of You Got Magic . Mr. Madhav regaled the audience with card tricks, and then allowed the audience a peek into the hacks behind some of his illusions.
Surprise visitor
Much to the surprise of the audience, Taslima Nasreen made an unscheduled appearance on the front lawns of the Diggi Palace before lunch. She spoke about her quest for a home after being exiled, as documented in her 2016 book, Exile: A Memoir . “I was exiled from Bangladesh and moved to Europe for a while. But I returned to West Bengal because it felt like the next best thing to home. Then I was exiled from West Bengal. I now live in Delhi, and I tried to find an apartment in the Bengali neighbourhood, Chittaranjan Park, and couldn’t find one. No landlord would accept me,” she said.
“When I was weak and oppressed, I inspired sympathy. Now I don’t. Strong women don’t get sympathy. Nobody likes strong women.”
