If you love reading but want more than just books, head towards Jaipur this week. The Jaipur Literary Festival kicks off on Wednesday and will continue till January 25.
With Vikram Seth, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Pico Iyer and Hari Kunzru attending, the Diggi Palace will become Lit Fest Central for five days. “What’s brilliant about this festival is that it’s free and open to the public,” said
author William Dalrymple.
Vikas Swarup, author of Q&A, on which the Golden Globe winning film Slumdog Millionaire is based, will be there chatting.
Slumdog critic Amitabh Bachchan will be there too— attending ‘Bachchanalia’, showcasing the star’s movies and memorabilia.
Hard-core travellers on the literary trail, though, will look out to hear lesser-heard voices: Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler’s Ark, based on which Steven Spielberg made Schindler’s List;
Mohammed Hanif, Pakistani author of the rip-roaring A Case of Exploding Mangoes; Tarun Tejpal, just out with his novel, The Story of My Assassins; Infosys co-chairman and author of Imagining India Nandan Nilekani, in conversation with historian-biographer Patrick French — just to name four in a list of more than a hundred participants.