450 writers, spread over nearly 240 sessions at the Kumbh Mela of books with a footfall in the excess of 2 lakh—If you thought the only word apart from mammoth that must come to mind is books, think again. The Zee Jaipur Literature Festival (ZJLF) is now to be the topic of a book, Literally Yours, a romantic novella. This, "light-hearted take" on the current Indian English writing scenario—a first of its kind is generating quite a buzz given that it brings into the open the private lives and dynamics of the creative world.
450 writers, spread over nearly 240 sessions at the Kumbh Mela of books with a footfall in the excess of 2 lakh—If you thought the only word apart from mammoth that must come to mind is books, think again. The Zee Jaipur Literature Festival (ZJLF) is now to be the topic of a book, Literally Yours, a romantic novella. This, "light-hearted take" on the current Indian English writing scenario—a first of its kind is generating quite a buzz given that it brings into the open the private lives and dynamics of the creative world.
"We have borrowed from real life a lot and many characters will be recognised as we portray the angst of a writer torn between what he genuinely likes and what he thinks shall give him glory. It also shows the journey of a person driven by inspiration and love towards her first literary creation," Pune resident writer Chetaan Joshii who has co-written this book with Bangalorean Asha Francis told dna.
"I don't know an author who doesn't have a beautiful wife," says Lekh one of the characters in the book perennially stuck with this first sentence of his new novel...a severe case of Writer's Block. When he arrives at the Zee JLF, romance is the last thing on his mind and destiny, the first thing. Lipi, the other character is searching for a happily-ever-after which could either be romance about to happen or a story waiting to be written. A garbled, jealous writer like Lekh is not at all her idea of a soulmate. Yet ZJLF turns out to be the perfect milieu where serendipity serves them a heady cocktail of love, literature and realisation that between fact and fiction there is no such thing as a Line-Of-Control...and one can always merge into the other to create a charming story.
Literally Yours is a romance that shapes up amidst a dazzling literary star cast including Shobhaa Dé, Chetan Bhagat, Shashi Tharoor, Javed Akhtar, Simon Montefiore, James Waller, Vikram Chandra, Sir Mark Tully, Girish Karnad, Amitav Ghosh and Salman Rushdie, the one whose absence ended up making a bigger impact than his presence would have. And then there is the usual gang of mindsores - the pretentious Ramona Bisht, the over-hyped Manhar Gulati, the crafty "super-author" Tarun Kumar and Ranbeer Kaul who thinks that syllable and syllabus are synonyms, leading to much mirth.
Lipi's romance with Lekh blooms while rioters wait to burn Jamaal Wahabi's books...yet again. The waiting for the cameras and how everyone forgets the books piled up to burn when the cameras move away was our way of making a point about the society we live in," laughs Joshi who abandoned his career in IT after 12 years to take up writing as his mainstream profession. Completely dedicated to the written word, he is a screenplay writer by day and storywriter by night. His penchant for creative experiments has made him write in almost every genre possible, even marrying a few. Since his earlier graphic book Animal Palette was received well at the Zee JLF and nominated for Best Book and Best Writer at ComicCon 2012, CockTale Carnival, his next collection of stories, is soon to be published.
Asha Francis, who works with MNC as training and knowledge management head, has always been fascinated by stories which make an instant connect with its readers. Her romance with language led her to take up myriad roles as teacher, translator and now writer. Her short stories have appeared in Ripples (an anthology of short stories by Indian Women Writers, published by APK) in 2011. She has recently completed the biography of Prof. John Hopcroft, a US based computer scientist. The book is due for publishing later this year. Certified by the British Council as a trainer of creative writing Asha conducts sessions in creative writing at their Bangalore centre.
Whether you are interested in love, literature or just the juicy gossip on what goes on in the world of writers, this book should be Literally Yours.
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