A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. Elizabeth Gilbert, Leila Slimani, Avni Doshi, John Lanchester and Howard Jacobson in conversation with Damian Barr.
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. Travel writing is one of the most ancient forms of literature but does it have any relevance in the age of the internet, globalisation and Google Maps? Travel writers Katie Hickman, Elizabeth Gilbert, Peter Hessler, Howard Jacobson and Suketu Mehta discuss the genre and read from their work with William Dalrymple.
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. Writer and TIME editor-at-large Anand Giridharadas takes on the privileged classes in his scorching new book, the bestselling Winners Take All . It investigates the global elite’s efforts to ‘change the world’ except in ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it. This searing critique of modern plutocrats who seek to do more good but never less harm is described as a call to action for elites and everyday citizens alike. A session that ...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. How does one capture the life of a woman in writing? How different is the feminine biography from that of a man? Biographers Bettany Hughes, Benjamin Moser, Jung Chang, Lindsey Hilsum and Hallie Rubenhold discuss the difficulty of pinning to paper the lives of women to paper in conversation with Anita Anand.
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. China’s mammoth Belt and Road initiative, straddling almost 70 countries, is an infrastructure project of staggering complexity. Alongside writers and diplomats Manoj Joshi, Shyam Saran, Sujeev Shakya and Bruno Maçães, a Portugese politician, former Minister of European Affairs and author of Belt and Road: A Chinese World Order , discusses its ambitions and implications as it tracks new trade and energy routes, with particular emphasis on its feasibility a...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. Throughout history, artists and scientists have been bound together by a complex thread born out of the desire to experiment, taking inspiration from each other’s disciplines but working from very different perspectives. This session, featuring Tilly Blyth, Head of Collections and Principal Curator at the Science Museum in London and the author of the edifying book The Art of Innovation: From Enlightenment to Dark Matter , and Payal Arora, Professor at Era...
Three major Indian poets discuss the poetic imagination, searching its sources, inspirations and philosophy. Eminent English poet and translator Arvind Krishna Mehrotra speaks of his influences, among which he acknowledges William Carlos Williams and the Beat poets, as well as Kabir. Iconic Hindi poet and critic Ashok Vajpeyi has nurtured and founded many cultural institutions. Much awarded English poet, cultural theorist and curator Ranjit Hoskote is the author of the recent Jonahwhale as well ...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. The wizarding world of Harry Potter isn’t just about magic versus muggles. It has a dizzying array of scientific theory, metaphysics and connections between complex natural phenomena. Roger Highfield, author of The Science of Harry Potter , explores the fascinating links between magic and science, and shows how the fantastical conceits in the Potter books can actually be explained by scientific analysis. This session will be a delightful journey through st...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. Francesc Miralles in conversation with Nilanjana S. Roy. The people of Japan believe that everyone has an ‘ikigai’ or ‘a reason to jump out of bed every morning’. The international bestseller by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles shares the Japanese secret to a long and happy life and has helped readers around the world to find purpose, nurture friendships and throw themselves into their passions. In conversation with writer and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. Almost ten years ago, Om Swami renounced material wealth and left for a spiritual quest to Varanasi where he was initiated into the path of renunciation by a Naga saint in a little village. Soon after, Swami spent 13 months in intense meditation in the Himalaya. In conversation with Puneeta Roy, Founder Trustee of the Yuva Ekta Foundation, he discusses his latest book The Book of Kindness, which suggests a definitive means to achieving true happiness: thro...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. In a magical session that brings the music of words to life, the acclaimed vocalist Shubha Mudgal reads from and speaks her debut collection of short stories, Looking for Miss Sargam . Her book, set in the world of classical Indian music, is wry, tongue in cheek and full of deep insights and perspectives. In conversation with editor Sudha Sadanand, Mudgal tells us of the elusive Miss Sargam, of the traditions, realities and contradictions that a musician s...
At the age of 17, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his Birth Certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian, and he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth. This is Lemn's story, a story of neglect and determination, misfortune and hope, cruelty and triumph. Sissay reflects on a childhood in care and in doing so explores the...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. For our 19th century forebears, science meant progress and hope. Today, we are not so sure. With Google and Facebook harvesting our data and listening to our every conversation in the service of surveillance capitalism, with development bringing environmental catastrophe in its wake and with robots replacing more and more human jobs, we now fear science the industries associated with it as much as we look to it as a solution to our problems. Here, scientis...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. Kaveree Bamzai’s edited anthology No Regrets: The Guilt-Free Woman’s Guide to a Good Life is a spunky handbook featuring insights by prominent women on how to rise above conventional norms and expectations and break free. Editor and journalist Bamzai discusses the inspirations behind the book and the deeper message it conveys. Novelist and celebrity columnist Shobhaa De takes a cue from her essay in the book to share her thoughts on society, politics, moth...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. What is leadership? An invigorating session with R. Gopalakrishnan, Director of Tata Sons, that follows the path of the leader across the changes of perspective from the transactional to the corporate and the larger societal view. Moving away from the cut and thrust of operational action, Gopalakrishnan reflects on a leader’s journey emphasising the role that business leaders can play in matters concerning nation and society. He speaks with Mohit Satyanand...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. What makes Indian democracy tick? A riveting session that explores the narratives and counter narratives of the electoral process and democratic systems. Sachin Pilot is a dynamic young politician currently serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan and as the President of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee. A member of the Indian National Congress, he was elected from the Tonk assembly seat with a record margin of 55,000 votes in 2018. Acclai...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. The state of the media today warrants an unprecedented degree of skepticism and mistrust,. Fiction often carries more veracity than so-called facts. Media consumers remain unsure about the validity of sources and authenticity and provenance of information. In this timely session, Editor-in-Chief of Outlook India Ruben Banerjee, Editorial Director, NDTV and author of Defining India Sonia Singh, and journalist and author of Shadow City: A Woman Walks in Kabu...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. Couturier, costume stylist, entrepreneur and former model Manish Malhotra’s prolific career spanning over 29 years has seen him redefine and reinvent Indian fashion. His quest to combine the best of Indian artistic traditions with a modern expression has rendered an entirely new aesthetic, establishing him as one of the most beloved designers in Bollywood industry. A session to celebrate him as he stands at the turn of his glorious 30 years in costume desi...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. This session looks deep into the hearts of two of the greatest Urdu poets of the last century, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Firaq Gorakhpuri urf Raghupati Sahay. Saif Mahmood, Chinmayi Tripathi, Joel Mukherjee, and Nishtha Gautam in a session of poetic critique, performance, and appreciation.
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. A surprise crossover novella set in a small town in Rajasthan takes us across languages and genres to an essential human story about two sisters and their quarrels. Based on Charan Singh Pathik's short story ‘Do Behnein’, Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaptation Patakha is a comedy-drama that forays into both film and text. An engrossing conversation with Vani Tripathi Tikoo, where Bhardwaj and Pathik speak of their collaboration as well as the craft of narrative acro...
A live session from #JaipurLitFest2020. Shashi Tharoor is a politician, public intellectual, award-winning author of 19 books of fiction and nonfiction, avid follower of cricket and author of Shadows Across the Playing Field: 60 Years Of India-Pakistan Cricket . Gideon Haigh is an eminent sports journalist and author of Crossing the Line: How Australian Cricket Lost Its Way and From Flock to Baggy Green . Acclaimed news anchor, writer and senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai is the author of Democ...
Hallie Rubenhold, author of "The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 at the Diggi Palace on Jan 27. Hallie Rubenhold is a bestselling author, social historian, broadcaster and historical consultant for TV and film. Her most recent book, The Five, has been won the Baillie Gifford Prize 2019 and shortlisted for the Crime Writer’s Association Gold Dagger. It is the ...
Anosh Irani, author of "Translated from the Gibberish: Seven Stories and One Half Truth" and "The Parcel", in conversation with jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 27. Anosh Irani’s novel, The Parcel , was a finalist for the 2016 Governor General’s Literary Award. It was longlisted for the 2017 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and is currently on the 2018 Dublin Literary Award longlist. His play, Bombay Black , won five Dora Mavor Moor...
Peter Meech, author of "Billy (the Kid)", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 at Diggi Palace on Jan 27. Peter Meech is an author, screenwriter, director and producer. His memoir, Mysteries of the Life Force: My Apprenticeship with a Chi Kung Master , has been translated into several languages. He has an MA in Communications from Stanford, where he won a Stanford Nicholl writing award. His debut novel is Billy (the Kid)....
Stephen Frederic Dale, author of " Babur: Timurid Prince and Mughal Emperor" , in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 in Diggi Palace on Jan 27. Stephen is an Emeritus Professor of South Asian and Islamic History and a Distinguished University Scholar at The Ohio State University. He first visited India in 1963 as a Fulbright Lecturer in English at the Banaras Hindu University and returned in 1967 to work in the Madras/Chennai a...
Rheea Mukherjee, author of "The Body Myth", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 27. Rheea Mukherjee is the author of The Body Myth and was shortlisted for the TATA Literature Live First Book Award 2019. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Buzzfeed, Scroll.in, Electric Literature, Out of Print Magazine and Southern Humanities Review , among others. She co-founded Bangalore Writers Workshop in 2012 and c...
As Artificial Intelligence takes over human narratives, Marcus du Sautoy questions the shape of our future. In his book The Creativity Code: How AI is Learning to Write, Paint and Think , he expounds on how algorithms work, the nature of creativity and how engineers are tracking our emotional responses to art. In a riveting session, du Sautoy, the Simonyi Professor for Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, discusses intuition, the creative process and its correlation with mathema...
Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer were awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences 2019 for ‘their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty’ by breaking down a complex problem into ‘smaller, more manageable questions’. Abhijit Banerjee returns to the Jaipur Literature Festival to speak of his RCT research-based approach to development economics. In conversation with journalist Sreenivasan Jain, he explains the need to understand and measure what happens in the rea...
Ravish Kumar, a much- awarded and fearless journalist, is also the author of tender nano storie and the Ramon Magsaysay awardee in 2019. In a thoughtful and probing session with writer and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy, he speaks of his books and beliefs, his poems and love stories, the compulsions of prime-time news and the duties of responsible journalism.
Deepa Agarwal, author of "Journey to the Forbidden City" and "The Begum", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 26. Deepa Agarwal is an author, poet and translator who writes for both children and adults. She has over 50 published books to her credit and is the recipient of the NCERT National Award for Children’s Literature, among other honours. Her recent books are The Begum , Blessed, Friendship Stories and Journey to ...
