Unmet expectations lead to discontent, discontent to confrontation and long unsettled confrontation to wars. But thankfully, there also exist evidence of rationalisation and human goodness to counter this logic of wars. And it is so, more thankfully, not just in the hearts of an enlightened though voiceless few, but also in the minds of an articulate and creative fraternity of individuals.
This is how hopeful and secure I felt for all of us at the Jaipur Literary Festival this year.
While last year, it was the prospect of meeting the creators of some eminently treasurable books and movies that got me going, this year was different. To begin with, the theme centering on “Terrorism, Fundamentalism and Pakistan”, as William Dalrymple mentioned, set a serious tone already. The first sounds of we-are-here-for-a cause resonated when I heard Nadeem Aslam, the young Pakistani-origin author of "The Wasted Vigil", address a jam-packed hall, “I had never seen myself in light of being a Muslim, but after 9/11, I did. I told myself that I am a Muslim and we look like this too. And, I thought, I am not going to let Osama Bin Laden define the way we Muslims are.” He said he was aware that “people down here (at the citizen level) know we are all the same but people up there (referring to the establishment) don’t” and was looking to bridge the gap by means of his writings. While he blamed many for injecting arms and weapons into third world countries like Afghanistan, Tarun Tejpal, head of the Tehelka news magazine and author of “The Story of My Assassins” overtly expressed anger against India, “How can you live in India and not be angry? If my book sounds it…I am happy.” Referring to the Bhagawad Gita as a book of choice for Indians that acts as the touchstone to discern the moral from the murky, he added, “We are the most complex and contentious society of the world. Hinduism’s strength is its weakness too. The good isn’t differentiated from bad the way it is in Islam and Christianity. We have an extraordinary gift of genuflecting to the rational and genuflecting to the irrational and see no contradictions between the two. Even the most brilliant thinkers and scientists are like that.” Clarifying to the audience about his differing stands as a journalist and a writer he said, “A journalist is like a warrior. He knows what’s right and wrong but to the same question an author may fumble and scribble and give a bigger picture. It is a great privilege to do both and there is no dissonance.” Certainly no mean task.....Continue
This is how hopeful and secure I felt for all of us at the Jaipur Literary Festival this year.
While last year, it was the prospect of meeting the creators of some eminently treasurable books and movies that got me going, this year was different. To begin with, the theme centering on “Terrorism, Fundamentalism and Pakistan”, as William Dalrymple mentioned, set a serious tone already. The first sounds of we-are-here-for-a cause resonated when I heard Nadeem Aslam, the young Pakistani-origin author of "The Wasted Vigil", address a jam-packed hall, “I had never seen myself in light of being a Muslim, but after 9/11, I did. I told myself that I am a Muslim and we look like this too. And, I thought, I am not going to let Osama Bin Laden define the way we Muslims are.” He said he was aware that “people down here (at the citizen level) know we are all the same but people up there (referring to the establishment) don’t” and was looking to bridge the gap by means of his writings. While he blamed many for injecting arms and weapons into third world countries like Afghanistan, Tarun Tejpal, head of the Tehelka news magazine and author of “The Story of My Assassins” overtly expressed anger against India, “How can you live in India and not be angry? If my book sounds it…I am happy.” Referring to the Bhagawad Gita as a book of choice for Indians that acts as the touchstone to discern the moral from the murky, he added, “We are the most complex and contentious society of the world. Hinduism’s strength is its weakness too. The good isn’t differentiated from bad the way it is in Islam and Christianity. We have an extraordinary gift of genuflecting to the rational and genuflecting to the irrational and see no contradictions between the two. Even the most brilliant thinkers and scientists are like that.” Clarifying to the audience about his differing stands as a journalist and a writer he said, “A journalist is like a warrior. He knows what’s right and wrong but to the same question an author may fumble and scribble and give a bigger picture. It is a great privilege to do both and there is no dissonance.” Certainly no mean task.....Continue