Jaipur Literature Festival - Overhyped Leftist Brouhaha!

DAY 3 of The Jaipur Lit Fest. I had the immensely enjoyable experience of sitting through a talk by Nicholas Coleridge, the just retired President of Condé Nast International. An amazingly gifted raconteur he kept the large audience in splits while talking about his publishing years, and regaled us with anecdotes, including an uproarious one involving Lady Diana, from his recently published memoirs, The Glossy Years. I intend to read it soon

Book Launch: Diya Kumari of the Royal Family of Jaipur on the left, the author Francesca Cartier Brickell on the right 

Colours of Rajasthan brightened up the venue. 

Diggi Palace Durbar Hall - one of six venues in the heritage palace and its expansive grounds

Shobha Dé and Amit Khanna ad lib in the absence of the missing moderator. The moderator, Kaveri Bamzee, shrill and pompous was a needless distraction. 

The main thoroughfare inside the festival grounds was a popular selfie point.

Day 4 of the JLF. The highlight for me so far has been William Dalrymple who spoke about his book 'Anarchy- The East India Company Corporate Violence and Pillage of an Empire'. The overall experience for me has been marred by left-wing intellectuals and moderators who dominate most of the discussions and find opportunities to create overt political overtones

Between sessions I took the opportunity to check out the old city - this is Tripolia - the three door entrance to the City Palace

The exteriors of the lovely Hawa Mahal, Old City.

DAY FIVE, Jaipur LitFest, closing day. Really engaging sessions by Jung Chang, author of 'Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister', a boring one on 'Doodles of Leadership' by two talking business heads, an interesting biased one by Stephen Frederic Dale on 'Babur: The First Mughal'. The highlight for me has to be a very engaging, honest talk by the Bollywood stylist-cum-designer Manish Malhotra. In a sea of pompous leftist farts, his was a voice of humility and level-headedness that totally charmed the audience. The low has to be the very vulgar Suketu Mehta, author of 'This Land is our Land: The Gujarati Experience of Migration at Home and Abroad' who gratuitously injected contemporary politics into his very boring address. I came to Jaipur specifically for the LitFest. Sometimes things appear larger and more glamorous from afar much like Bombay does in movies. It's always best to experience things oneself rather than rely on secondhand or mediated information. Would I come again - NEVER.

Manish Malhotra-Bollywood royalty: down-to-earth, humble, engaging,  poised and very articulate, totally charmed the large audience. Best session of the 5-day sometimes very political, hate-filled and boring festival with expensive food. 

The artist is at work behind this completed work. One of the few charming things in a very political event. 

Hallie Rubenhold talking on her book 'The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper'

Yes, they're self-congratulatory events paid for by corporate money cleverly raised in the name of a literary cause at which the same set of people meet again and again. Yes, self-serving and incestuous are good words. They're exclusive events at which only the people on the inside are paid and benefit from the prestige and connections. A lot of idealistic and young people moved by the glamour needlessly devote their time gratis to aid this selfish enterprise.