Journalism of Courage
An eclectic mix of topics ranging from literature and geopolitics to economic and climate crises dominated the discourse during the fifth edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival held in person here this weekend after two years of virtual offerings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every year, the festival brings together renowned writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders and entertainers on one stage reaching out to a wide audience worldwide.
The highlights of this year’s two-day festival beginning on September 9 were excellent fast-paced and engaging panel discussions on literature, art, music, cookery and history that were attended by book lovers in large numbers.
“JLF brings together speakers from the Occident and the Orient. The diversity among the speakers this year will present an array of conversations highlighting the most important topics in the contemporary world,” Managing Director,Teamwork Arts, and Festival Producer Sanjoy K Roy told PTI.
Acclaimed authors and thinkers included former ambassador US Michael Pelletier, author and professor Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, mathematician and writer Manil Suri, FotoFest executive director Steven Evans, New York Times bestselling author Varsha Bajaj, James Beard Award-nominated local chef/restaurateur Anita Jaisinghani, and a host of other top American and Indian talents.
“We are thrilled to collaborate again with Teamwork Arts and Inprint to be back in person for the fifth edition of JLF Houston,” said Michael Buening, director of performing Arts and Culture, Asia Society Texas Center.
“We must have our students engage with the world, as we are so interlinked with each other through trade and culture and an event like JLF Houston is the most natural and logical thing for Global Engagement to educate, engage and lead in providing global education our students” said former US Ambassador Michael Pelletier, currently First UH Executive Director of Houston Institute for Global Engagement.
A music and spirituality session on Friday evening by author and classical singer Dr Reba Som took the audience on a journey through 19th-century Indian mystic Swami Vivekananda’s extraordinary life.
Houston-based award-winning writer, poet and academic Divakaruni, captivated the audience with an engrossing conversation about her new novel, ‘The Last Queen’, portraying one of the most fearless women of the nineteenth century, Rani Jindan, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s last queen.
Varsha Bajaj, whose recent book, ‘Thirst’, is a poignant take on class, wealth and equity around the disparity of water in the suburbs of Mumbai was in conversation with writer and civil leader Andrea White.
Mathematician and novelist Manil Suri discussed his book, ‘The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Math’, with Pakistani American writer Maya Kanwal.
Dalit activist Guru Prakash Paswan interacted with political commentator and writer Sunanda Vashisht at the session titled, “Intersections: Searching Equity’, and discussed the wounds of history and the processes of restorative justice.
His co-authored book, ‘Makers of Modern Dalit History’, features inspiring accounts of individuals who battled the divisive, discriminatory force of caste, their forms of protest, activism, social reform, and legacy in contemporary India.
Anita Jaisinghani — chef and founder of the Pondicheri restaurant in Houston, paid homage to the wisdom and techniques of Indian cooking.
Her cookbook ‘Masala: Recipes from India, the Land of Spices’, is an ode to India’s rich culinary history.
Other notable sessions were, “Points of View: An Archival Gaze of Photography in India,” a showcase of photography in colonial and post-colonial India hosted by Gayatri Sinha and Steven Evans in conversation.
Celebrated poet Roberto Tejada in conversation with Rich Levy, where audience were taken on a poetic trail. Authors Naheed Phiroze Patel and Sonal Kohli discussed their writing journeys and latest books ‘Mirror Made of Rain’ and ‘The House Next to the Factory’ respectively.
After Houston, JLF will beheld in New York from September 12 to 14 and from September 16, a three-day festival will be held in Boulder, Colorado.
Producer JLF Teamwork Arts, organised the event in association with the Asia Society, literary nonprofit Inprint, the University of Houston (UH), India House,Indo-American Chamber of Greater Houston (IACCGH), Brazos Book Store, and Pondicheri restaurant.
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