A festival of stories

Jaipur Journals: A Love Letter to the Greatest Literary Show on Earth 

Namita Gokhale

Penguin Viking

2020

ISBN: 9780670093557

During the recent trip to Delhi as we walked in Connaught Place I told my friend of 2 instances that I had come across amidst its inviting environs. These included young people, dressed for the purpose, dancing to music, on an early morning. I stay in Delhi but am yet to come across such a happening Connaught Place she responded. Adding, I only see what I always see here. I then told her what I recalled William Darlymple (of The City of Djinns fame) say “I now do not now notice aspects of Delhi like I used to”. Manu Joseph too had mentioned, “Only outsiders can notice certain aspects about a place”.

Both these lines I had come across about 4 years ago at Jaipur; the only time I attended the Jaipur Literature Festival or JLF. Besides getting to know of authors I was yet to read, to listen to those I was familiar with, being amidst books and conversations on books, what I savoured the most was sessions on history (this courtesy my love for the subject) and some lines and stories. Lines and stories that came up as authors interacted. They enabled me to then look up more books and authors. Some of these – lines, stories, books, authors - have since stayed with me. They are like old friends one does not meet often but knows they are around and can be relied upon. This for me was the spirit of the festival. This spirit Namita Gokhale has captured admirably in Jaipur Journals.

The JLF or ‘the greatest literary show on earth’ as it is now commonly referred to, including on the book cover, has now acquired an aura of its own. It is, in a way, responsible for a lot including the sprouting of Literature Festivals across our country. The festival surely has had, to put mildly, an enviable journey. It carries different meanings for different people. A book recollecting the dream and how the team got to work on it, demystifying what it is all about, experiences with authors –or thread(s) on similar lines - could have been not difficult. Rather, for an event that, to quote William Darlymple, “had 20 visitors during its first edition, of which 8 had arrived as they had lost their way!” to have presence in 8 locations globally today this would have been expected. But, Namita Gokhale goes beyond and with much love and skills. To quote Shashi Tharoor, from the book cover, “Jaipur Journals is the work of a writer in full command of her craft.”

The cover caught my attention at the book driven chaos of the New Delhi World Book Fair. There is no mention of the book being fictional or to any of its characters being real (or bearing resemblance to those who exist!). The ‘Thank you’ and ‘Dedication’ sections too are brief. The author wastes no ink in clarifying or explaining. This is a book that is confident about itself and trusts its readers. In the early pages a character says, “to sound real a story must also be fantastic, and that merely ordinary is not always convincing”. This line fits both JLF and Jaipur Journals.

Rakeshbhai and the Harmony Book Store he runs, in Banaras, find place in later pages of the book. The very day I finished reading the book, I met him. He was yet to read it and was surprised to note that he was mentioned. He also had a few questions. Similarly, the book – with its multiple characters and stories – may leave many readers with surprises and questions. This worked for me. It may not work for all.

The book has its share of the glamour and the clichéd as well. Shashi Tharoor’s use of yet another word that is unknown to most around; troglodyte. A Javed Akhtar poem translated in English. “Time”, he writes, “is like a bird that keeps flying”. Both Tharoor and Akhtar are regulars at Literature Festivals in the country. There is also Romila Thapar quoted on history and referred to as “our foremost Indian historian”. The author talks about different facets of the festival from its young audience and inviting ambience to being “an assault on the senses”. She does not shy away from touching upon the elite ness the festival is often associated with. I read the book roughly the same time as this year’s edition and a conversation with a friend then brought out this line; “finding parking space in Khan Market is easy during the week that JLF is organized”.

This is a book about authors and books. The journeys they take. A story about stories. JLF is the heart, the connecting link, for the characters and stories. Stories that talk of letting go. To end with another quote a character, “.. it doesn’t matter, nothing matters very much ever, even though we think it does..”

~ ~ * ~ ~