Jaipur Literature Festival On Mentza Unscripted

11th March 2022.

The transportive powers of fiction are incomparable and have nurtured a space for infinite imagination in our minds. Tarana Husain Khan’s The Begum and the Dastan paints pageantry of the feudal past, a myriad of characters, themes and moments in time. Vandana Singh Lal’s novel about twin sisters disillusioned by the structures of modernity titled, So All is Peace, offers a specific social commentary via the medium of endless supposition. Khan and Lal, both experiment with genre, style, established notions and varying perspectives in their work. In conversation with literary agent Kanishka Gupta, they discuss writing fiction and the journey across possibilities at the Jaipur Literature Festival. 

Sanjiv Saraf in conversation with Pavan K. Varma at Jaipur Literature Festival. 

S. Vijay Kumar’s Idol Thief tells the astonishing true story of the New York-based antique dealer Subhash Kapoor, named as one of the most prolific commodity smugglers in the world. Kapoor’s pieces have graced museums across the globe. While he is serving time in prison for the theft of artefacts worth millions, the extent of his crimes is incalculable. In conversation with historian and author of Lords of the Deccan: Southern India from the Chalukyas to the Cholas Anirudh Kanisetti, finance and shipping expert Kumar, who had investigated Kapoor's case among several others, discusses his first book and the rampant but precise pillaging of India’s temples and ancient wealth at the Jaipur Literature Festival. 

11th March 2022.

Besides being the official language of Nepal, Nepali is amongst the 22 scheduled languages of India, with a comparatively more prominent diaspora of Nepali speakers in India than in Nepal. In a fascinating session that takes us into the vibrant realm of contemporary Nepali literature, Buddhi Sagar's bestselling novel Karnali Blues presents us with an achingly tender narrative about the relationship between a father and son through different phases in their lives. Chuden Kabimo is an award-winning novelist and author whose latest book, Song of the Soil, translated from Nepali to English, is an intense and evocative story that gives new emotional depth to the 1980s Gorkhaland movement. In conversation with Prabhat Ranjan, they discuss the inspiration behind their poignant stories and the translation process from the vernacular to English at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

11th March 2022.

We inhabit as many worlds as the languages we speak, read and write. There is a club of gifted writers who can communicate their creativity in both their mother tongues and learned languages, famously including Samuel Beckett and Vladimir Nabokov. In an insightful session, three writers whose lives and writings straddle different worlds and literary cultures, Onyeka Nwelue and Fırat Sunel, discuss their literary endeavours in English and Turkish with Puneeta Roy at the Jaipur Literature Festival. 

11th March 2022.

Art Matters Series at Jaipur Literature Festival. 

11th March 2022.

Paramita Satpathy and Anukrti Upadhyay in conversation with Saket Suman at Jaipur Literature Festival. 

11th March 2022.

Rajasthan has long been a dynamic cultural centre and home to prestigious art forms. Vandana Bhandari is an author and academician in the area of textile, craft and fashion. Her book on Textiles of Rajasthan at the Jaipur Court showcases the rich Rajasthani textile traditions patronised at Jaipur, from woodblock print and cotton embroidery to gota, and intricate leheriya. Giles Tillotson is a historian with expertise on Rajput and Mughal architecture, who has overseen the publishing programme of the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum for a decade. He is co-editor and contributor to Masterpieces at the Jaipur Court along with Mrinalini Venkateswaran. In this book, over 40 scholars from around India and the world, including the Museum team, have hand-picked and written about the objects that make this collection spectacular. They range from well-known examples such as the architecture of the palace and magnificent paintings, to lesser-known, rare and important manuscripts and books. Both join historian Rima Hooja for a session on the magnificent treasures commissioned and collected over centuries by the Jaipur court.

10th March 2022.

A series of multivocal poetry readings where different languages, rhythms and styles converge in a joyous celebration of imaginative possibility at Jaipur Literature Festival. 

10th March 2022. 

The vast history and many interpretations of Sringara, from ancient tradition and theatrical presentations to modern dance dramas, are immeasurable. Sringara is an aesthetic peak, believed to be the mother of all nine rasas in Indian dance. Amorous love serves a simple definition, but it embodies the most intimate, universal and diverse aspects of the romantic union - passion, desire, fear, separation and even sickness. Performing Arts legends Sohini Roychowdhury, an exponent of Bharatanatyam, and Sharon Lowen, one of Odissi, Mayurbhanj and Manipuri dance, join Manjari Sinha for a fascinating conversation about the evocative and evolutionary form at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

10th March 2022.

Every great literature is rooted in geography, in music, in the intangibles of identity. Cultural and socio-political changes triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union led to a new and evolving literary sensibility. Academic and National Film Award-winning film critic Rashmi Doraiswamy examines the literary landscapes in Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, Belarus in Soviet and post-Soviet times at Jaipur Literature Festival. 

10th March 2022.

Dazzling theatre personality Dolly Thakore's autobiography breaks all barriers and vividly describes her life with searing honesty. Co-written with Arghya Lahiri, who carries twenty years of theatre experience, Regrets, None is humorous, witty and candid as it discusses the glitz and glamour of her eventful life. Thakore traverses continents and encounters a motley assortment of people from all walks of life. Feminist, publisher and author, Ritu Menon’s biography of the remarkable actor and dancer Zohra Sehgal, who lived a full life until the age of 90, Zohra: A Biography in Four Acts, is uniquely structured in theatrical style. Menon puts into context how the creativity of dancer Uday Shankar and actor Prithviraj Kapoor impacted Sehgal. In conversation with Sanjoy K. Roy, Thakore, Menon and Lahiri discuss the essence of theatre, its genius, its magic, and its pervading misogyny.

10th March 2022.

Contemporary artist Olivia Fraser moved to India in 1989. Initially, she was a travel painter before apprenticing herself to miniature and Pichwai artists from Jaipur. There she learnt the language of a fabulously rich, rigorous and intricate painting tradition which she has deeply drawn on. Combined with her great interest in yoga and meditation, Olivia has produced profound works – paintings that could be considered spiritual road maps to reflect a journey within. The Lotus, a defining motif, brings alive worlds of sensation in her paintings. Olivia’s striking forays into the Indian art world find luminous expression in her book, A Journey Within – an artistic journey with stunning works of meditative calm and beauty.

10th March 2022.

The rich oral, linguistic and literary traditions of Rajasthan find their voice in a variety of dialects, although Rajasthani still awaits official recognition in the schedule of Indian languages. A poet, translator and distinguished literateur, C.P. Deval, discusses languages, literature, poetry and music of the desert state in conversation with writer and poet Anukrti Upadhyay at Jaipur Literature Festival. 

10th March 2022

Laxmi Prasad Pant, Mukesh Mathur and Shirish Khare in conversation with Tasneem Khan at Jaipur Literature Festival.

10th March 2022. 

Anukrti Upadhyay, Shabir Ahmed Mir, Rijula Das and Shehan Karunatilaka in conversation with Shunali Khullar Shroff at Jaipur Literature Festival.