The Bangalore Litfest Day 1.
The theme of the day's talks attacked intolerance in one way or the other. The keynote address by Shashi Deshpade was good despite her scratchy throat rendition.
Devdutt Patnaik and Mani Rao discussed their renditions of the Gita. I was inspired. Must read it too. Why should one wait for old age? Better to absorb the wisdom when there are years ahead of us.
Upamanyu Chatterjee and Zac O'Yeah entertained the crowd with their witty banter. Chaterjee has written 'English August'. They began by discussing his story in Granta called, "Othello Sucks." This set off a color discrimination debate that received his witty solutions.
Sunil Sethi moderated a good session dealing with the "Confessions of a Biographer" with Jaishree Misra, Manu Pillai and Yatindra Mishra. Sunil's 'Just books' on NDTV was one of my all time favorite TV shows. Sadly he has discontinued it now.
Akar Patel read beautiful essays by Sadat Hasan Manto, the themes of intolerance still very apt in today's scenario. He has a beautiful voice and reads Urdu like it was his mother tongue.
Vasanthi Hariprakash moderated a lively session by the couple Ayushman Khurana and his wife Tahira. The couple have co-authored a book titled, "Cracking the Code" dealing with tips on how to make it in Bollywood. Despite the love for the written word, Bollywood stars draw huge crowds and good applause in Litfests. He remarked he had actually carried the hefty heroine in the climactic race in the movie "Dam laga ke Aisha."
In his other avtars, before becoming an author, he's been a RJ, Roadies winner, drama actor, TV actor, singer and Bollywood star.
Take home: Ayushman suggested that one has to manufacture or conjure a chair when there are none when the music stops in a game of musical chairs.
Create your own opportunities. Reinvent yourself till you fit the groove. Hmm...good advice.
Met a few friends and will meet a few more tomorrow.
Vikram Sampath's stepping down didn't influence the seven participants who boycotted the festival to return.
The venue at Royal orchid was thoroughly windblown. You either chapped in the sun or shivered in the shade. Food was expensive as expected. The love for literature helped one ignore all the discomforts. Hope this festival grows and stays out of 'intolerance and award wapsi' spats in future.
The theme of the day's talks attacked intolerance in one way or the other. The keynote address by Shashi Deshpade was good despite her scratchy throat rendition.
Devdutt Patnaik and Mani Rao discussed their renditions of the Gita. I was inspired. Must read it too. Why should one wait for old age? Better to absorb the wisdom when there are years ahead of us.
Upamanyu Chatterjee and Zac O'Yeah entertained the crowd with their witty banter. Chaterjee has written 'English August'. They began by discussing his story in Granta called, "Othello Sucks." This set off a color discrimination debate that received his witty solutions.
Sunil Sethi moderated a good session dealing with the "Confessions of a Biographer" with Jaishree Misra, Manu Pillai and Yatindra Mishra. Sunil's 'Just books' on NDTV was one of my all time favorite TV shows. Sadly he has discontinued it now.
Akar Patel read beautiful essays by Sadat Hasan Manto, the themes of intolerance still very apt in today's scenario. He has a beautiful voice and reads Urdu like it was his mother tongue.
Vasanthi Hariprakash moderated a lively session by the couple Ayushman Khurana and his wife Tahira. The couple have co-authored a book titled, "Cracking the Code" dealing with tips on how to make it in Bollywood. Despite the love for the written word, Bollywood stars draw huge crowds and good applause in Litfests. He remarked he had actually carried the hefty heroine in the climactic race in the movie "Dam laga ke Aisha."
In his other avtars, before becoming an author, he's been a RJ, Roadies winner, drama actor, TV actor, singer and Bollywood star.
Take home: Ayushman suggested that one has to manufacture or conjure a chair when there are none when the music stops in a game of musical chairs.
Create your own opportunities. Reinvent yourself till you fit the groove. Hmm...good advice.
Met a few friends and will meet a few more tomorrow.
Vikram Sampath's stepping down didn't influence the seven participants who boycotted the festival to return.
The venue at Royal orchid was thoroughly windblown. You either chapped in the sun or shivered in the shade. Food was expensive as expected. The love for literature helped one ignore all the discomforts. Hope this festival grows and stays out of 'intolerance and award wapsi' spats in future.
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