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Another amazing day at JLF.
There's particular events that i've attended.
There's particular events that i've attended.
At first " The Writer and The World" VS Naipaul in conversation with Farrukh Dhondy
Farrukh Dhondy was presented with the most daunting of tasks: condensing the ‘writer’ and ‘the world’ of 82 year old VS Naipaul into a mere hour. Dhondy promised the audience that the session was not to be biographical, or critical, but the man himself.
Naipaul shared both triumphant and uncertain moments of his career. He began by recounting how he became a writer: “I left Oxford University on Saturday, took the train to London, and went to live in a cousin’s flat where I thought I’d set myself up as a writer, with no training, ambition, knowledge of what it was to be a writer.”
Naipaul spoke of his father’s own literary ambitions, and the passion he shared with his son for literature had not included a realistic outlook of a writer’s career. Nevertheless, Naipaul was determined. His first book was so bad that one publisher told him, “You should give this up, forget this work, do something else.” And so he did, starting work as a presenter for the BBC on their program Caribbean Voices.
Yet he had one powerful ace up his sleeve: “I believed in my own talent. I thought whatever I did would be alright in the end. If I wasn’t true to my talent, that would be the end of me as a person. So I kept on writing despite drawbacks and lack of encouragement.”
Sure enough, at the BBC he had a breakthrough. In a room on the second floor of the Langham hotel, then part of the BBC, there were two or three typewriters. “Out of sheer idleness, I began to write the first short story of Miguel Street. I said to myself, You will only leave this sheet of paper when you have finished what you are writing.” That was the great breakthrough, finishing in that way.”
It wasn’t long before he had published a number of novellas, and in 1961, The House of Mr Biswas was released, an event celebrated on the first day of the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival this year. Naipaul revealed that by the time he came to write his first novel, he had learned to be practical, and didn’t take any inspiration for granted: “I told myself I had to begin small, that a bigger book would come to me in time… That’s why I waited so long to start writing The House.” He added, “Material finds you, rather than the other way round.”
Inevitably, along the way, there have been works he is not so proud of, but Naipaul reasoned, “A writer has to make a living, and has to write a book. Don’t forget that.” Though Naipaul has obviously been blessed with a tremendous dose of talent, he reminded the many aspiring writers in the audience of a very important message: just do it, believe in yourself, and it will happen.
After that...
“52 ways of looking at a Poem” Jeet Thayil, Vijay Seshadri, Kevin Powers, Neil Rennie, Ashok Vajpeyi. Chaired by Ruth Padel
Poetry is in a wonderful state at present. Never have so many poets been saying so many interesting things in such lively, up-to-date ways. Yet many people feel shut out or know little about poetry and have no idea where to begin. Ten years ago, Ruth Padel wrote a book containing fifty-two of the poems in which she discussed ways of reading them. The poems were by a wide range of living poets, on experiences we all share – love, sex, death, nature, history, war – and Padel tried to show how reading a poem can enhance everyone’s life as powerfully and as pleasurably as reading novels or watching a film. Here she discusses her ideas with leading poets Jeet Thayil, Vijay Seshadari, Kevin Powers, Neil Rennie and Ashok Vajpeyi.
After that...
“The Garud Strikes” Mukul Deva, Book launched by Lt. Gen. Arun Kumar Sahni, UYSM, SM, VSM, GOC-in-C, South Western Command
THE GARUD STRIKES is the compelling story of 4 Guards (1 Rajput) and the critical role played by them during the 1971 War for liberation of Bangladesh. Under the inspiring leadership of Lt. Col. Himmeth Singh, the brave hearts of 4 Guards (1 Rajput) showed immense courage in leading India towards one of the swiftest and most successful military campaigns of modern times. In a mere sixteen days the pride of the Pakistani Eastern Army was brought to its heels; completely out-maneuvered. Over ninety-five thousand Pakistanis were taken prisoner and a nation of seventy-five million liberated. India’s literary storm trooper, Mukul Deva, himself an ex-Indian Army Major and veteran campaigner, has used a breath-taking and different style.
“THE GARUD STRIKES is funny and makes you laugh, it is also sad and makes you cry, but it tickles your cockles and fills your chest with incredible pride.” Reviewer Unni Kartha
“This is the one book where I felt fear while writing it – fear that I would not be able to do justice to the feelings of those incredibly brave men who were part of this amazing victory for India. Every soldier who took part in this war has given so much for our country. We need to not just acknowledge them, but ensure they are remembered. And those who were martyred, India must take care of the ones they left behind,” says Mukul Deva.
THE GARUD STRIKES takes you into the blood-spattered trenches. For the first time, you get a glimpse into the mind of a soldier as he rushes towards what may be certain death! A glimpse of what it takes for a man to go to war. It is the blunt and factual telling of war – wounds, deaths and killings in an unedited form; brutally narrated in all its glory as well as gore. Unlike other honour and glory-filled movies and books, THE GARUD STRIKES makes you realise what war really is.
After that...
The person with great mind set, ideas and vision...
"The Visionary: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam" APJ Abdul Kalam
in conversation with Bibek Debroy.
The charismatic former Indian President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was received with a rockstar reception as he took centre-stage in conversation with Bibek Debroy on day 4 of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival.
Dr Kalem drew the biggest crowd at this year’s festival so far, with the Rajnigandha Front Lawns thronged with people of all ages and cultures, eager to listen to the beloved visionary. Dr Kalam is the author of multiple books on India including bestsellers like Ignited Minds, and his autobiography Wings of Fire.
Dr Kalam harnessed the energy of the adoring crowd with beautiful phrases of wisdom that he got the crowd to repeat after him, such as ‘Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character; where there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home, where there is harmony in the home, there is order in the nation, when there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world.’
Dr Kalam explained his vision of India as a developed country where ‘physical connectivity, electronic connectivity, knowledge connectivity’ exists, so that ‘economic development and employment generation will come.’ He laid out his brilliant acronym for the groundwork that needed to be laid in order for India to achieve economic development: ‘PURA- Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas.’
Debroy was curious as to why Dr Kalam maintained such a high consistency and quality of optimism and inspiration. In response, Dr Kalam gave an anecdote from the 1970s involving his ‘teacher’, Professor Satish Dhawan, then chairman of the ISRO. He asked Dr Kalam to ‘put a satellite in the orbit in seven years’ which seemed a daunting task. Dhawan gave him some invaluable advice: ‘any work you do, there will always be some problem, but problems should not be your captain, you should be the captain of the problem.’ The rest is history.
He mentioned two educational reforms he has been contemplating. The first being to reduce 25% of the syllabus in classes 9-12 and ‘introduce professional skill based courses’ so that a student ‘gets two certificates, that of secondary school and that of employability.’ And second, to change the four year college education system to three years of college and a diploma.
On how to lead a healthy life, Dr Kalam advised to ‘walk, walk, walk’ and to ‘eat at a regular time.’ He added that clean energy generation, mainly solar energy was the only solution to a healthier environment conducive to human life.
Dr Kalam exhorted every person present to ‘take a vow today’ to contemplate ‘what I can give’ to my community and nation. Due to the exceedingly high number of questions from the audience which there wasn’t time to answer, Dr Kalam asked everyone with a question to email him at apj@abdulkalam.com.
This session showcased the unprecedented passion of a visionary and the unconditional love he elicits from the public as a result. Dr Kalam concluded with a message that reflected his indomitable strength of character: ‘I will try and fly, I’m born with potential, I’m born with goodness and trust, I’m born with ideas, I’m born with greatness, with confidence, I’m not meant for crawling, I have wings, I will fly, I will fly, I will fly.’
Surely glad that I was there.
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