Come January and corporate India heads to Davos to become part of the Global Elite. It?s a heady environment and well worth the hefty price of admission, but here?s a thought: if many of them were to attend another annual jamboree in Jaipur, which is free, they would return equally enriched. The Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) is a bit of a misnomer. It started out focused on literary pursuits, but has evolved into a Woodstock for the mind, a place that has started to attract the best and the brightest from the entire spectrum of thought, ideas and creativity, from politics to economics, science to technology, history and academics, social trends and entrepreneurship and everything in between. Above all, it takes a close look at where we are headed as a globalised society. Apart from listening to, and meeting, authors of books, fiction and non-fiction, who are influencing thoughts and opinions, it?s also an opportunity to see how the chaos of 70,000 people daily can be managed, how wonderfully invigorating a festival of this nature can be, how a mix of people from all over the world can intermingle, interact and be on the same page regarding freedom and democracy, the global economy and the ethics of making money, of value systems and, during one engrossing session, on who will rule the world?
It works so amazingly because it is a private operation between a trio of organisers, event managers and the owners of Diggi Palace, the sprawling resort in the heart of the city, the venue for JLF. Such has the reputation of JLF grown that it?s become the place to be heard and seen for thought leaders, politicians, economists, policy wonks, Ivy League professors, social workers, journalists, celebrities, filmmakers, scientists, indeed, spanning the entire area where ideas and innovation circulate. This year, you could start the festival by listening to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen?s witty and compelling keynote address, where he approached the ?God of Medium Things? with seven wishes for a better India, among them, discarding religion-based politics, the media becoming sensitive and responsible and humanities getting equal attention in the race for scientific advancement. He had another jam-packed session later themed on ?Choices and Freedoms?, a freewheeling conversation with Penguin Random House chairman John Makinson,
who is, incidentally, his son-in-
law, which also focused on the rise of
a new political class in India represented by the Aam Aadmi party and its broader significance.
The range and level of discourse and debate is impressive mainly because of the quality of speakers invited, the themes selected and the time given to the audience to get involved in the debate. That ranged from issues to do with global dominance, women?s empowerment, revolutions without borders, freedoms, political ideology?one session was titled ?Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest? and another was on ?Has globalisation failed? Markets, morals and the dictatorship of reason?. These are all issues that impact us and society in general, including the business community. The discussions were all to do with contemporary issues and with leading experts in the field. The one on globalisation was debated between Harvard professor and political philosopher Michael Sandel and John Ralston Saul, the Canadian essayist and thinker, on a question that concerns us all?namely, what makes for a just society?
How should income, opportunities and power be distributed? According to what principal?
What was invigorating was the number of young people in the audience, increasingly politically active, representatives of a turbulent democracy at the cusp of change, who enthusiastically joined in the debate, with their own ideas and personal experiences. Another session that saw enthusiastic participation was titled ?India at the Crossroads? featuring Sunil Khilnani, professor of politics and director at King?s College, London, and author of the critically acclaimed book The Idea of India. The theme of democracy, globalisation, freedoms, political change, sexual orientation, morality and money, the privileged elite and, intriguingly, whether there was an ?Indian way of thinking? were at the core of JLF 2014. Then there were the stars, not Ekta Kapoor or Irrfan Khan, but Jonathan Franzen, American essayist, novelist and poster boy for today?s generation of writers, and Reza Aslan, Iranian-born religious scholar who has just written a book on Jesus called The Zealot.
The Jaipur Lit Fest has got better and bigger mainly because it has such an uplifting effect on everyone who is there regardless of age, gender or political and economic ideology. Differences are sorted out in a civilised manner, which is what makes it so different from other events where topics on politics, governance, gays, corruption, accountability and business ethics would invite verbal and physical confrontations. Just to hear a gathering of some of the finest creative minds, and for free, is reward enough, but there?s more: the arrangements, the facilities, the people you meet, the interaction between the stars of the show and the real aam aadmi, the atmosphere and being part of a event that enriches you in numerous ways. An Australian couple in the hotel I was staying in were intrigued enough to accompany me to the opening day. They had planned two days in Jaipur, which they extended to five, all spent at Diggi Palace. It?s that kind of a festival.
The writer is Group Editor,
Special Projects & Features,
The Indian Express
