Notes
Writers link up in Jaipur
Once again, the Jaipur Literature Festival brought the world of books to life. Jaipur in January has become the spot to air ideas, to hear fresh voices, and to enjoy the simple pleasures of writing, reading and intelligent debate. The festival, which ran from January 21 25, featured 140 authors from fifteen counties and 20,000 people in total. Bangladesh's Shazia Omar, author of Like a Diamond in the Sky, who was invited to attend, was recognized as a 'star' at the show by one of the festival organizers and fellow writer, William Dalrymple, in India's Outlook magazine. This year, one of the themes discussed at the festival was the growing violence and terrorism that plagues the world. "The festival is based on the belief that books, films art, music and literature are what give South Asians an identity, joy and momentum. That is why fanatics abhor them so much, and precisely why the writer and the artist must be as ruthless in pursuing cultural harmony as the terrorist is bent on destroying it," said the organizers. In line with this theme, one of the many discussions at the festival was on the topic of In a Tough Neighborhood Perspectives on the hard realities of foreign policy in South Asia. The discussion was moderated by Siddarth Varadarajan, the Editor of The Hindu and one of India's leading commentators on foreign affairs. Members of the panel were: Shazia Omar of Bangladesh, Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist, Ali Sethi, a writer from Pakistan, Romesh Gunesekera, a writer from Sri Lanka, and Shyam Saran, India's ex-Foreign Secretary. The panel discussed the influence of Indian hegemony on the region. Shazia Omar commented on the Bangladeshi Prime Minister's recent visit to India, commending the strengthening of relations between the two countries, but calling on the leaders of both nations to approach future ventures with an attitude of enlightenment which will benefit the masses on both sides of the border. She also called for greater cultural exchange to increase trust, harmony and mutual understanding and encouraged more people to start writing in English from Bangladesh. Among the authors present at the festival were international stars like Alexander McCall Smith, Hanif Kureishi, Louis De Berniere, Booker Prize winners Roddy Doyle and Anne Enright, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, diaspora heroes like Vikram Chandra and Pulitzer-winning investigative journalists like Lawrence Wright and Steve Coll. Om Puri, Javed Akhtar, Gulzar and Shabana Azmi were some of the celebrities present, along with musicians who performed in the evenings Paban Das Baul, Susheela Raman, Rajasthan Roots and Shah Jo Raag Fakirs.
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