Jaipur Lit(erature) Fest - A magical experience

I had always wanted to go to the lit fest and finally thanks to Arti I was able to make it. It was a 2 day packed weekend , but totally worth it .

We left Hyderabad at 530 am , which means we literally had to stay up all night and the wee hours of the morning for the sake of the fest. Touchdown in Jaipur was at a whooping day time chill of 12 degrees. At that point we thought it may just been the morning. That may have easily been pretty much the average temperature throughout the day, dropping down to 7 degrees at night. Brrrr. My saving grace was my fleece blanket , which turned out to be my fashion statement .

Tip: Carry warm clothes - A thick jacket, socks , stockings , a cap etc. 

 We had a sole agenda and that was getting to lit fest and exploring the schedule . Arti was well researched and we knew the sessions we were going to attend after being a bit lost in the colours and the crowd . The excitement of it all took over the sleep deprivation. We navigated through the crowd from one tent to the other and finally got ourselves situated with some sandwich /kachodi and chai.  One of our first sessions was the delightful Shabana Azmi and a reading by Javed Akhtar on one of Kaifi Azmi's poems. Shabana Azmi spoke about her life and her relationship with her parents - Kaifi Azmi and Shaukat Azmi, literary circles and early childhood influences.

 Our second session was one with Shoba De and Chitra Banerjee at the book launch - The Forest of enchantment. Through the two days, we happened to gather a lot of perspective about a writers work, the thought process and the sentiment. 

Next up was Jeffrey Archer and the story of his sojourn into the world of writing , his connection with cricket , love for India and the much talked about Jeffrey Archer fandom and cult that exists in India. I personally had never met an author of his stature before, so star stuck I was! When you actually meet the man who you have been reading in your growing up years and whose books have been so popular , you know it is a lifetime experience . And so matter of factly standing in a 3 kilometre long queue to get his autograph is not as crazy. You also begin to realise how lucky you are partake in the experience . 

We then headed out to see a little of Jaipur. The charm of the old and the new, captivating architecture, clean and heartwarming- that is probably how I would describe this beautiful city. As it is famously called the pink city, we were told that the colour and uniformity of the stores came from a colour which was made by the people, not pink but Terracota. 

Fact: In 1876, the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria visited India on a tour. Since pink denotes the color of hospitality, Maharaja Ram Singh of Jaipur painted the whole city pink in color to welcome the guests. It was then that Lord Albert exclaimed Jaipur to be a 'Pink City', and hence the name.

The city has been pink ever since. I find it amazing when a city is able to maintain its fabric despite the changing times. We made our way to Hawa Mahal to witness a hundred birds coming home.Yes, we were very disappointed by the sight of the water in the lake- sadly polluted. Humans have some capacity to cause destruction . But sometimes you just have to experience the beauty of it all.

Our evening was magical with the music fest at the lit fest . The violin maestro himself - L Subramaniam wove his magic for the next hour or so .Mesmerised as we were in the biting cold, we couldn't have traded the deeply soulful experience for anything. 

Next up was the Medieval Pundits spinning their tunes with a fusion of electronic music with a dash of classical. 

Day 2:

After a good night's sleep and peaceful at that , we headed to the venue and attended a few sessions :

Session 1- Learnings from Manisha Koirala - Well my own perspective got in the way and if you are moneyed you obviously can talk about being treated for your illness by only the best.

The next session - ON FIRST NOVELS with the likes of Kanishk Tharoor and first time novelists.Anuk Arudpragasam, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Omar Robert Hamiltn and Tanwi Nandini Islam was very impressive. A writers perspective on being a first time novelist, the journey and the story. It turns out that the book is the responsibility of the writer, but when it disseminates into a larger audience - the responsibility shifts to the reader.  Fascinated by Jennifer Nansubuga , we got ourselves her book - Kintu , written for the people of Uganda. We also got her to sign and she did write personal messages for us.

And thus ended our little exploration into the Jaipur Lit Fest.

We were short for time but still got to visit the city and walk through the history and culture of the Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar and the Kings Palace.  The architecture and the engineering of these sites was a visual treat. 

Like every other place , I left a piece of my heart there .