All about The Jaipur Literature Festival- Day 3

This is a contribution post by Anushree Saha

The first two days at The Jaipur Literature Festival set the bar high for an equally enchanting Day 3! But we were not disappointed. Day 3 started with Anirudh Varma’s classical music followed by Tansen Sen, JJ Singh and Shyam Saran in conversation with William Dalrymple talking about Indian and Chinese civilizations and their interconnectivity. Mathematician Manil Suri with Marcus du Sautoy spoke about his latest book- The Big Bang of Numbers, which was a baffling revelation of the universe- building with only math!

Sri Lankan author of Seven Moons of Maali Almeida– Shehan Karunatilaka spoke about his Booker Prize winning book. He wanted to bring out the perspective of the dead into his book on the foundation of Sri Lankan conflict and war.

Geetanjali Shree with a distinguished panel discussed the concept of ‘Ek Hindi Anek Hindi’ where they unraveled various aspects of hindi and purification of Hindi. Hindi gets transformed depending on the place and Geetanjali Shree added that languages should never be divided into neat boundaries leading to more disparities.

The future of AI, robotic dominance and morality were talked about by Toby Walsh, Avinash Pandey and Anirudh Suri in conversation with Praveen Swami. They channeled their inputs towards the controllers of technology and need for regulation.

Ranjit Hoskote, talking about his book- Icelight focused on ecological catastrophe facing mankind and various species standing at the brink of extinction. In the form of poetry, Hoskote was able to make the audience think, creating an immersive experience for conscious  poetry lovers.

Had to attend the session of Kavita Puri and Manreet Sodhi Someshwar in conversation with Navdeep Suri talking about partition and untold british stories, especially having recently read Hyderabad by Manreet Sodhi. An empowering session was of Meena Kandasamy in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam, where they emphasized on the 2000 years old ancient text of Tirukkural delving into gender dynamics, feminism and poetry as well. They also brought out the need for the feminine perspective in translations of ancient manuscripts.

Creation of fictional stories and process of creating a novel were discussed by acclaimed novelists Deepti Kapoor, Ruth Ozeki, Amit Chaudhuri and Shehan Karunatilaka in conversation with Alexandra Pringle. It was a great to hear what goes behind the mind of a novelist while building fictional yet believable characters.

The JCB Prize for Literature winner – Khalid Jawed for The Paradise of Food and Baran Farooqi in conversation with Pragya Tiwari was an enriching experience revolving around middle class family, food and their relationships.

P Sainath introduced his latest book- The Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom  with Kavita Srivasatav. It was an informative session revolving around the unsung heroes, of all genders and ages who played a role in the national freedom movement. 

Author Amish with Kiran Manral, delved into his latest release- War of Lanka and brought out the true essence of good and evil, Dharma and love. In continuation, all history lovers enjoyed the session by historians Pia Brancaccio, Nayanjot Lahiri, Anirudh Kanisetti in conversation with William Dalrymple. They enchanted the viewers with their insights of India’s caves such as Ajanta, Ellora, Bandavgarh and Aurangabad, putting forth their importance. An exhilarating day ended with the poetry hour with Frank Báez, Anupama Raju, Rolee Agarwal and Mugdha Sinha.

Anushree Saha aka My Word Bubble (blog) is an avid reader, writer and knowledge-seeker from Mumbai, who believes herself to be a Philomath- a lover of learning. She is a freelancer, book blogger, poetry, art and journaling enthusiast. Her poems have been previously published in anthologies such as Carnations, Beyond Life, Anika and Little Love notes. Also, an Amazon Verified Influencer, you can explore her bookish world further on Instagram.