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| Edited By: Monica Joshi |Source: DNA |Updated: Jan 25, 2018, 06:05 AM IST
SR: Indeed! I remember that about 10 years back, I was standing outside the Durbar Hall and it was a cold and misty morning. It was 9:00 am. I was wondering how we would fill the space and will there be enough people? This year, when I was taking a walk across the Maharani College campus, where we expanded to accommodate the burgeoning crowd, it has been an eventful journey!
SR: Lots of people criticize us that it is a celebrity or white driven festival, but I say look at our list. This year, we have some 666 people on board. Of this, 250 were speakers, about 75 are international while the rest 350 are from India. Their coming together would not make it a white festival, not necessarily an Indian festival, but a happy mix of both. Out of the entire list of speakers the event has, it is for the press to choose and pick. They would choose the names they recognize and not even look at the rest which are not so glamorous.
SR: Controversies are not created by us. Somebody takes something out of the context and at times it is not even that the author necessarily says it. Around 99.9 percent of the authors do it because it’s from their heart. Authors have to be allowed to have a platform to speak their mind. These are not didactic platforms where you are making a political speech. These are platforms for debate and discussion, which are for the audience to take away what he or she wishes to, and therein lies the control. In most countries, art festivals may reflect the politics of time but they remain ring-fenced. But here, JLF not only reflects the politics of time but represents the politics of the time. Much of our debates would necessarily be talking about Trump, economic development, demonetization or whatever the need of the hour is because all of that has been reflected in writings, debate and discussions.
SR: We need more platforms like this. We need people who try and bully us into inviting X or not inviting Y to understand that today they may be bullying us against getting somebody. Tomorrow somebody else will bully us against getting them, and that becomes the unfortunate fall out of this.
SR: Since it is the biggest gathering in terms of people, press and world’s attention, there are fringe elements wanting to gain out of it. I think it has become more of a habit now, that as JLF is coming up there will be X number of FIR’s and Y number of threats. I think it has become a part of the expectation of the period. It is a waste of money, time, and energy for us. But then it’s the nature of the beast!
SR: In India, if you have to pay for knowledge, only people like you and me, who have been to public schools, can get access. This is the principle we started with and we said it would always be fundamentally free. We want young people to come and that will make it a city festival. You never know a youngster walking in just for the sake of say a pizza may step onto a great idea, which becomes his takeaway! It is crowded. It is the Kumbh! When you go to the Kumbh, do you complain that there are too many people there?
SR: There are few fundamental pillars on which Jaipur’s success rests. The first being programming. It’s the whole sense of colour, India’s particular sense of hospitality. It’s like entertaining a baraat! It’s amazing with the kind of palaces in which we are able to host. Where else in the world can any festival even hope to have such an ambience? It is this sense of Indian hospitality which is one of the key elements for its success. Year on year, more people from the city engage in the festival. And it is this collective energy that comes from this incredibly charged audience that makes it what it is today. It is intangible.
SR: The charm of Diggi Palace is one of the pillars to the festival success. This place has got an atmosphere, where you literally walk in to see that every brick has a story to tell. It’s a special character that emanates from the Durbar Hall. It is the garbhgriha of the festival. It is the sanctum sanctorum. The good thing about Diggi is that when we came here, in the beginning, it was just the Durbar Hall with two lawns. Then it became the Front Lawn, then the music stage, Mughal Tent, Baithak and so many other things. Together, it has worked, organically.
SR: We ‘ve looked at many places, but then my question is where is the character? This is not a trade fair. This is about literature, about conversation and people. It needs a different setting, different energy, a mahaul. We do continue to look around. It’s a process of evolution. Of course, the main event is here, but we are creating many opportunities as fringe events. The Maharani College extension is part of the process.
SR: As for us, it is an open space where CEO’s, the good and great, film people etc participate. Glamour has to be a part and parcel of an event. Otherwise, who would even register it. However, it doesn’t change our programming. It is irrelevant for us. People come here because it’s JLF and not because of A B or C.
