Jaipur International Literature Festival

Tess and I at JLF.

     I could write pages and pages describing the intricacies of the Jaipur Literature Festival, JLF. I went to so many lectures... and debates... and discussions that even the speakers themselves would start to get confused. I do remember my favorites, and I remember the important thoughts and feelings I had, which I will try to bring to light.


     The first morning found us all excited and extremely chatty, not knowing exactly what was in store. The fest had been built up by the professors, the second year SSLA students, and complete strangers. Apparently, Oprah attended last year inviting the largest crowd the fest had yet to see in the past five years. I wondered who would be the main speaker this year. The butterflies of excitement in my stomach grew in anticipation. I finished a light breakfast of soggy vegetable sandwiches and a wonderful fluffy, if oily, slice of parotta. Due to my college budget, I stuffed a few sandwiches in a ziplock and followed the group outside.

Fashion Street, location of the Bluebird Hotel.

Fashion street looked different in the early morning light. The shops were still closed, painted garage doors shutting out the life that only comes alive in the evenings. A few morning shift workers cleaned the footpaths and entryways to the nicer hotels and restaurants, shaking up the dust that further pollutes the air. But, beyond that newly created cloud, one can see the beauty of the freshly made samosas, the hard work of the vegetable sellers, and the smile of the nonchalant camel that casually strolls by. I smiled, hopped in a packed rickshaw decorated with marigolds hanging from the mirrors, and headed to the JLF at Diggi Palace.

Lyla and Manasvin.

Dubar Hall inside Diggi Palace. 

There were people everywhere, but it didn't take away from the atmosphere, if anything it added to it. It wasn't long before I learned who the keynote speaker would be, the fourteenth Dalai Lama. Hundreds of people worked their way to the front lawns around 12 for the 2:15 lecture. Make sure not to panic or gasp when I tell you, but I headed in the opposite direction. It might be purely selfish not to see someone so prominent in today's society, but I was really interested in another talk about trains in India and Italy, given at the same time. It was a great decision because turned out to be one of my favorite talks during the entire five day festival. I even bought the book, Around India in 80 Trains, by Monisha Rajesh, one of the speakers.

Enjoying the JLF programs. They were a life-savor. 

Monisha was quite entertaining as she read a couple of chapters from her witty memoirs of traveling all over India in various styles of trains. The other speaker was a sarcastic British male who has lived in Italy the past thirty-five years. He answered every question in such a mocking manner; it was hilarious. Surprisingly, there was quite a large crowed in Dubar Hall. All of us mutually avoided the insanely packed circus listening to the ring master cloaked in his burnt orange/red monk garments. As much as I regret hearing him speak, I laughed and learned a lot about train travel. I compared it to my year of riding the Amtrak from Brookhaven to Memphis in highschool. Lost in my memories, I zoned out for the last bit of the session.

Entryway to JLF.

However, so you don't judge us, Tess and I made it to the end of the Dalai Lama's lecture and caught a glance of the infamous peacemaker.