The stamina for Pink City

The stamina for Pink City

CHITRA NARAYANAN

source; The Hindubusinessline  

THE HINDU The eager wait for talk show host Oprah Winfrey at the festival.

 

Pink City looked warm, festive and inviting on a bright Sunday morning as we drove past a bunch of runners taking part in Jaipur's annual marathon race. On our way to Diggi Palace, we passed many more, admiring their strength and stamina — we could have done with some of it.

You certainly need the endurance of a camel, the constitution of an ox, and the wits and wiles of a fox to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival.

After five frenzied days of literary fever, that's my single biggest takeaway from the festival. It's not just the crowds that sap your energy. There are also the tough entry barriers, protesters trying to distribute the Holy Koran and disrupt proceedings, liberals wanting you to sign freedom of speech petitions, people trying to buttonhole you into a debate on the Rushdie drama, and the fact that you need to stand for hours and hours without a loo break in order to catch snatches of the riveting discussions going on. You also need to have a quelling eye to shush the chatterers in the audience, fight long lines to get a cup of tea or morsel of food — and constantly stop in your tracks and wait patiently for people to finish posing for snaps with the celebrities in attendance.

But if you can do all of the above — and, perhaps, outlast and outstay the crowds of socialites from Delhi, who only arrive here for the weekend anyway — then you are in for stimulating sessions by literary heavyweights, lyrical thoughts of poetic geniuses, views and counterviews from across the border, heated political discourses on everything from Palestine to Arab Spring to gender, and riveting ideas of talented new authors. It's fascinating to watch a whole new world unfold through the lens of African authors, get insights into new media and chance upon juicy, gossipy anecdotes from colourful personas.

Imagine five biographers of Obama (David Remnick), Gandhi (Joseph Lelyveld), Stalin (Simon Sebag Montefiore), Subhash Chandra Bose (Sugata Bose) and Aung San Suu Kyi (Peter Popham) in a lively discussion on how they managed to paint such unique portraits of their subjects. “You have to be obsessed about what you are writing,” said Montefiore, who has opened up the life of Young Stalin, and is now writing the biography of a city — Jerusalem.

Or imagine hearing Fatima Bhutto and Ayesha Jalal speaking out vocally against former cricketer Imran Khan's brand of politics and describe life under the army's rule in Pakistan.

Or Tom Stoppard and Sir David Hare describing the playwrights' challenge in keeping an audience engaged.

With several sessions on in parallel — each exciting in its own way — it was a game of chance picking the right one. Sometimes, it was the quest for a chair to rest your aching feet that landed you in a hall with free chairs — as, for example, the R.P. Goenka Tent, where the baithaks for regional authors were held (a sad comment on the short shrift our local language litterateurs get compared to their English writing counterparts).

But the accidental entry turned out to be fortunate, as one was soon drawn into the discussion on epar bangla and opar bangla (Bengali spoken on either side of the border), and the writings from both sides on the aftermaths of 1971.

It was an eye-opener listening to gentle voices such as Rajasthani writer Om Prakash Bhatia, who was taking part in a session on dialogue and storytelling in Rajasthani. The Jaisalmer-based banker was quite resigned at the lack of attention that regional authors like him got, but once he got going he captivated you with his nostalgic tales of watching Satyajit Ray shoot Shonar Kila (the now crumbling Jaisalmer Fort) in his native desert town, and his own book on one of the residents of the Fort.

Even the heavily populist sessions — from Oprah Winfrey to Anupam Kher to tiger mom Amy Chua to the trio of Chetan Bhagat, Shashi Tharoor and Suhel Seth describing their survival strategies in the age of Twitter (a Nobel peace prize for the social networking media for its role in fostering Arab Spring was the recommendation!) — admittedly had their role in providing light relief.

And, if you were lucky enough to strike conversations with a book lover with similar tastes as yours, a schoolteacher who did translations in her spare time, then it was also a place to strike unexpected friendships.

Well, the five days of madness is over, and now the discussion is inevitably turning to the future of the Litt Fest. Festival organiser Sanjoy Roy of Teamwork Productions admits he has to rethink the format. Regulars who have been coming here from the early days, when it was a small affair with just a few thousand attendees, bemoan the circus it has become and shudder that this wonderful platform for writers might disintegrate and be lost for ever.

Even the mild-mannered poet and critic K Satchidanandan, emerging out of a rousing session on the Literature of Dissent, rued the loss of intimacy — though he admitted that the crowds augured well for the future of book publishing in India.

Final thoughts — infuriating at times, in-your-face at others, irritatingly intellectual occasionally, but inspiringly Indian, above all. We are like that, only!

Page 3 at Diggi Palace

Success has a way of spiralling out of control, if one is not prepared for it. The huge publicity that the Jaipur Literature Festival elicited, drawing a crowd of socialites and celebrities from Bollywood and Delhi, might in the end have worked against the interests of book lovers. The participation and non-participation of the likes of Oprah Winfrey to Salman Rushdie turned a select gathering of literary heavyweights into a Page 3 open house party. The miscalculation in terms of the attendance was apparent from the packed venue and the permanent queue outside the ladies' washrooms.

“There's no place to sit down and have a chat here, and there's the risk of being denied entry into the next session. It wasn't so chaotic last time,” a disgruntled woman with greying hair remarked in a conversation at the bookstore.

Delhi's elite and high society turned up in hordes — after all, an ‘artsy' tag can prove handy, to be flaunted later at a closed-door Chattarpur farmhouse party over wine and jazz. Curious onlookers tumbled over each other to hob-nob or have their picture clicked with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Shekhar Kapoor or Shashi Tharoor, even as literature buffs struggled to catch a glimpse of their favourite authors.

During a discussion on the Palestine-Israel conflict chaired by William Dalrymple, a “wall” of burly security personnel barred many interested folk from entering the hall. While some gave up and others peeked between the gaps to catch stray bits of the conversation, it was impossible not to draw parallels between this human wall and the barrier separating Israel from the West Bank — perhaps, it was all a clever ploy to sensitise us to the plight of the Palestinians! - ROUDRA BHATTACHARYA

Keywords: Jaipur Literature Festival, Diggi Palace, Rushdie controversy, Oprah Winfrey, Anupam Kher, Om Prakash Bhatia

Border Security Force Camel contingent seen during the dress rehearsal. Photo: S. Subramanium

Haryana clears land for 19 new projects worth R2,000 crore

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Gurgaon, January 24, 2012 Email to Author

The Haryana government has cleared the land allotment of 19 industrial projects worth R2,000 crore. The High Powered Plot Allotment Committee set up by the state government has cleared the allotment of about 100 acres of land in various industrial estates developed by the the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC).

The allotments have been finalised for various projects in IMT Manesar, Growth Centre Bawal, IMT Rohtak, Rai, Barhi, Kundli and Bahadurgarh industrial estates, said Rajeev Arora, managing director, HSIIDC.

He said all the 19 projects will involve an investment of about Rs 2000 crore.

"While these projects would lend depth and range to the industrial scene in Haryana, the entrepreneurs investing their funds in the fast-growing economy of Haryana, would be the ultimate gainers, for they would get an opportunity to grow in a state whose economy has exhibited much resilience even during the recession period,” he said adding that the state offers ample scope for investment to domestic as well as foreign investors.

The companies which have been sanctioned plots include AISIN, Nippon Carbide and Asti of Japan; Kerry of Ireland and Pepsico of USA. Besides, companies such as Luminous, Lumax, Century Metal, Roulound Brakings, JD Engineering, and Toyo Springs have also been allotted plots.

The projects to be set up on the allotted plots encompass diverse fields such as automobile components, water purification equipment, fabric and garments, food and pharmaceutical ingredients, ready-to-eat cereals/foods, electrical components and dairy products.

About 26 acres of land has been allotted to Pepsico India at Barwala/Manakpur for setting up a bottling unit for non-alcoholic beverages. The project would be set up with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore.

Mehdi Hassan: Music permeates across borders

Mir Ayub Ali Khan, TNN | Jan 21, 2012, 06.57AM IST

Ravaged by ill health, legendary ghazal singer is today struggling to regain normal breathing in a hospital in Karachi. Connecting hearts through mellifluous voice overarching borders, Mehdi belongs to the generation of Manmohan Singh, Khushwant Singh, Pervez Musharraf and numerous others who migrated from one part of the Indian sub-continent to another and became aliens in their own places of birth. But they never forgot what their common heritage has been.

In Pakistan's critically acclaimed movie 'Khuda Ke Liye' the protagonist is a singer who goes to the US to study music further. When the teacher there asks him to give a sample of his singing talent, he begins with lines that come from the rich Hindu mythological background-Neer bharan kaise jaaon-indicating the yearning of Radha for Krishna. That song perhaps drove home the point of a common heritage of people of India and Pakistan, especially in Hindustani classical music. Mehdi Hassan is a symbol of that tradition that has survived the partition and flourished.

When news reached India that the ghazal maestro has been put on a ventilator, the first reaction came from Rajasthan, the state of his birth. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot picked up the phone, spoke with the singer's son Arif and offered to treat him in India. The health condition of the singer, Arif said, does not permit him to be disturbed. Gehlot was expressing concern for one of the greatest sons of Rajasthan.

Mehdi Hassan's family comes from Luna, a village in Jhunjhunu district of the Shekhawati region in Rajasthan. He migrated to Lahore couple of years before India was partitioned. He was 12 years of age then. The singer is said to still have some close buddies in Luna which he visited three times in the last six decades.

It is not just in Luna that he has friends. TOI has discovered at least three persons in Hyderabad who have spent considerable time with Mehdi Hassan. Mohan Hemadi of Sur Mandal remembers how the singer came to his residence in 1978 and spent the entire night singing and talking. Abdul Mughni, a noted ghazal singer who began his career with cloning Mehdi Hassan and Jagjit Singh, recalls the suggestions the maestro had given him to improve his singing. "He showed me how to move from one sur to another, all the while enhancing the beauty of the song," says he.

May be there is no other person like the Hyderabadi Rashed Abdul Qayoom who after meeting Mehdi Hassan in Toronto in 1977 entered into a life-long relationship. "One day Talat Aziz (the popular ghazal singer from Bollywood hailing from Hyderabad) phoned me to inform that Mehdi Hassan, his guru, has agreed to joint performances in North America. That was a rare honour for Talat Aziz. It was also rare for the music lovers to listen to two singers-one from India and another from Pakistan from the same stage. I tagged along. They gave performances in 25 cities in the US and I attended all of them. The Indian-Pakistani diaspora loved it," he recalls.

Festivals to look forward to in early 2012

by Sadhana Bakshi Jan 21, 2012

For those who have missed Nagaland's Hornbill Festival and the Pushkar cattle fair in Rajasthan and are feeling a bit under the weather, they can still sample some of India's colourful customs, traditions and celebrations by taking part in any of the five festivals that we have listed below. As the months roll on, there would be more to choose from, given India's eclectic mix of people, myths and legends that have survived for centuries, binding people and in recent years, learning to showcase their uniqueness and inviting others to also join in. Most of these festivals see a large flow of tourists, photographers and domestic travellers gripped with a sense of urgency to sample a taste of India.

Jaisalmer Desert Festival, 5-7 February
The Desert Festival is an annual event that takes place in the heart of Rajasthan. The three-day festival is organised in association with the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Jaisalmer, providing an excellent window to the state's folk culture and concluding on the day of Poornima.

During the festival, the desert folks sing and dance eloquently to the triumphs/victories and tragedies of the land. And if you are a history watcher, you will know that there have been plenty in this part of the world. Other major attractions include the traditional gymnasts, mystical snake charmers, entertaining puppet shows and captivating folk music concerts. It is a great opportunity also to see some of the local and national musicians perform. The tourists are particularly enthralled with some of the competitions that are part of the festival - turban tying competition, longest moustaches competition, camel racing/dancing festivals. The food is great and there are a lot of knick knacks to be picked up.

Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai: February, 4-12
The nine day-long festival has become a much looked forward to event with a true celebration of art, culture, folk music, theatre, films, literature and other creative pursuits. Mumbaikars are quite proud of having given shape to this annual event that keeps growing every year. Organised by the non-profit, Kala Ghoda Association since 1999, it sees a liberal sprinkling of film screenings, plays, workshops for adults and children, photography sessions, visual arts and heritage walks. Every evening, at Rampart Row Street there are doll parades, art shows and street playes. The festival takes place in multiple locations in the famous Kala Ghoda area of south Mumbai and is widely attended by people of all age groups and backgrounds. Some of the prominent venues hosting events of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival include Jehangir Art Gallery, National Gallery of Modern Art, Elphinstone College and the David Sassoon Library.

Konkan Turtle Festival, February, 2012
The Konkan Turtle Festival was first held in 2009 and is gradually getting more organised. The festival is conducted jointly by the Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra (SNM) and Kasav Mitra Mandal (KMM) and is held in Ratnagiri. During the 29-day festival, as many as 1,000 Olive Ridley hatchlings are released in the sea. After the Orissa coast, the Konkan coast of western India has become the most important nesting site for the large Olive Ridley turtles. They are also found in smaller numbers on the Goa and Tamil Nadu coasts. In view of the large scale poaching of the Olive Ridleys here and theft of eggs, the SNM initiated the turtle conservation project in 2002 with considerable success. In the past seven years, as many as 25,000 hatchlings have been released into the Arabian Sea.

The festival is part of the conservation efforts of the SNM and KMM and is fast gaining ground with ecologically sensitive people from India and abroad. Last year, more than a thousand tourists, including many foreigners, landed in and around Velas coastal village. They were provided basic accommodation at nominal rates by the local villagers on the beach to enable them view and photograph the tiny turtles flipping out to the sea. The festival is gradually gearing up in terms of arrangements and related activities. This year's dates are yet to be announced.

Elephant Festival, Jaipur, 7th March
Although the Pushkar fair and the Camel fair have just gotten over, you can still make it to the Elephant fair. Elephants are regarded precious and majestic since the "puranic" era. Their supremacy is also well illustrated in Hindu Mythology where according to legend, at the time of 'Samudra Manthan' when demon and Gods were busy "churning the ocean", the Gods were fortunate to receive an elephant called "Airavata" which later became the divine vehicle of Indra, the king of lords.

Since then the elephant is regarded as a symbol of royalty in Indian culture and many festivals are associated with it. The most popular is the Elephant Festival, held in Jaipur, on the day of Holi in Phagun. People gather in large crowds to see elephants, dancers and musicians which draw visitors from all over the world. The elephants are all dolled up for the occasion, with decorated trunks and tusks. And the most noticeable feature of this festival is that all the Elephants which take part in this festival are female Elephants.

Gangaur, March 25-26, Rajasthan
Gangaur is celebrated all over Rajasthan, and is one of the state's most important festivals. Most of the action during the festival period is seen in Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, and Nathdwara. In Udaipur. Gangaur coincides with the Mewar Festival. The central attempt is to honour goddess Gauri who is none other than a manifestation of Parvati, Lord Shiva's wife. She represents purity and austerity and the festival in a sense highlights the supreme love and respect that Shiva and Parvati shared. Legend has it that Parvati returns to her parental home during Gangaur, to bless her friends with marital bliss. On the last day, she is given a grand farewell by her loved ones and prepared for her departure, when Lord Shiva arrives to escort her back home.

The festival is mostly for women, allowing them to dress up in all their finery, pray for a good husband if unmarried and for their welfare in case they are married. The last few day of the festival sees colourful processions of bejeweled images of the goddess Gauri winding their way through lanes and busy areas of cities and villages, accompanied by local bands. In Udaipur, there's a boat procession on Lake Pichola accompanied with fireworks. Women balance several brass pitchers on their heads and move in unison to local music. In Jodhpur, thousands of women carry water and grass in pots, dressed in colourful attire. In Jaipur, a traditional procession starts from the Zanani-Deodhi of the City Palace, passing through Tripolia Bazaar, Chhoti Chaupar, Gangauri Bazaar, Chaugan stadium, and finally converging near the Talkatora. Elephants, old palanquins, chariots, bullock carts, and folk performances are all part of the entourage.

Sadhana is a Delhi-based travel researcher who would love to be a gypsy, living frugally and travelling where her heart took her and seeing the world on a budget

From Left to Right) Vijay Shankar Vyas, C.P. Deval Rima Hooja and Hariram Meena participate in the discussion, “Rajasthan Ek Khoj: The Spirit of Rajasthan” that is moderated by Malashri Lal. Photo Rohit Jain Paras ( At Jaipur Book Festival 2012)