Storytellers in the Pink City - A Report on the Jaipur Literature Festival 2019

It is any bibliophile’s dream to meet their authors, the people who gave them entire worlds to dream of, histories to watch unfold, words to see flit off the page. So went a delegation of six boys and a teacher to Jaipur to attend the 14th year of the Jaipur Literature Festival. A congregation of literary geniuses unlike anywhere else on Earth, the Festival took place over five days from the 24th to the 28th January, 2019. 

Departing the campus on 23rd, we faced an entire day of hectic travel followed by an exceptionally turbulent night, a time of many words, phrases, and laughter. The next day, we arrived at the shores of Hotel Diggi Palace the next day at 10am in time for the inaugural ceremony. The festival was declared open by the Sanjay K Roy and Namita Gokhale, two of the three founding members of the Festival. The third, William Dalrymple was unable to attend due to a recent death in the family. With the opening ceremony graced by the sensational poet Ruth Padel reading her work and an inaugural speech by Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, author of the internationally acclaimed book “Gene Machine”, the festival was guaranteed to be an exciting one. 

Each day lasted from 10 in the morning till dusk in the evening at 6, with talks happening simultaneously in six different venues interspersed with books launches. The delegation had the opportunity to meet some of the best authors of our time, including Markus Zusak, Shashi Tharoor, and Jeffery Archer. With each day we attended talks with authors talking about their experiences and books. In the process, we also got our coveted copies of their books signed: by Namita Gokhale, Noviolet Bulawayo, Andre Aciman; a treasure trove for any bookworm worth their ink. The Festival had made for a full-fledged onsite bookstore to be installed, a Festival Bazaar stuffed with clothes and shops, and every Dosco’s paradise: A Food Court that provided its famished diners with every dessert and cuisine possible. With so many temptations beckoning us with their siren-like thrall, all of us left the gates with our pockets lighter, with a dozen more bags and books than before.

As the dusk fell each day as it should, we went forward, our literary journey transforming into a musical one when we stepped inside the gardens of Hotel Clarks Amer. The Jaipur Music Stage, a set of music performances organized by the Festival all five days of the literary bonanza, comprised musicians of all forms of music from Jazz to Hindustani Classical, Global Fusion, and Rock. We had the honor and pleasure of seeing Indian Ocean, Usha Uthup, L. Subramaniam, and the Roohani Sisters performing in the misting night air as cold winds met the fiery coals of the dwarf bonfires.

As our trip came to an end as dawn arose on the 27th, we departed the Pink City.  With fond memories of each other and a clutch of new stories about ourselves, the Festival had renewed our love for the storytellers that gave us the excuse to travel beyond the barbed wire.

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