ZEE JLF 2016: Privacy talks on Day 2, even as sports stars, writers engage audience

It wasn't even a weekend, yet people from all over descended on Diggi Palace on Day 2 of the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival (ZeeJLF). An estimated ** visitors attended ZeeJLF on Friday — Jaipur-wallahs out for a day in the sun and blue skies, a contingent of schoolchildren, holidaymakers from Delhi, Chandigarh and other places further afield — cramming the venues of the sessions to bursting, clogging the walkways and filling the air with chatter and gaiety.

The largest crowds were reserved for Margaret Atwood, who began the day's proceedings with a conversation with a British author. And she thrilled the audience, many of whom had blocked seats well over an hour before it was to begin, with her sharp comments: "The distinction between high culture and low culture happened very recently. Everyone should read whatever they like," she said, to much clapping. Afterwards, the queue for her to sign copies winded three-quarters of its way around the front lawns.

There was a full house at the debate over 'Total Recall: The End of Privacy', part of a series of discussions around what "privacy" means in a post-globalised world. Moderated by Homi Bhabha, a professor at Harvard University, and sponsored by The Indian Quarterly (IQ), the session saw heated debate over the manipulation of technology and social media by government and corporate agencies, which had the effect of eroding individual privacy.

Warning the audience of the dangers of mindlessly uploading personal details on websites, even seemingly innocuous actions, like allowing doctors to upload medical records on the net, Niyam Prakash, a Delhi-based graphic designer, exhorted everyone to start a "quit database India movement.

"Facebook and Google know a lot about us, but how much do we know about their software? The virtual space is a manipulative arena," he said. "Governments have to make a more realistic calibration of threat perceptions — why must everybody be under surveillance to catch one rotten egg? Besides, fear is a self-fulfilling prophecy," said political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta, who was also a part of the panel.

The Honour Code, the other session of the privacy series at ZeeJLF, saw cultural theorist and philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah and Bhabha discuss how honour and morality define privacy today. Appiah, considered one of the most relevant thinkers today by The New York Times Book Review, spoke about how social, familial and national honour is imposed on people throughout the world.

"Honour determines how respect is assigned. It's about the right to respect, but these rights are addressed through identity." Pointing to how honour impinges on privacy by taking away personal freedoms, Appiah continued: "Honour bleeds. It spreads and it's a powerful force of conformity. People police you and ensure you don't lose them their right to be respected."

Anil Kumble and Bhaichung Bhutia were the other stars of the day, charming the audiences on the front lawns with stories about their heydays. Bhutia recalled how he went back home after the Indian team got into the finals of the Asia Cup in 2008 — only to have his father turn around and tell him that at least this achievement would help him get a government job. "Cricket is much like life — in the very next match I played after my 10-wicket haul at Feroze Shah Kotla, I got just one wicket," said Kumble.

The discussion, centred around a recent book Nation At Play, saw an interesting discussion on why cricket had overtaken other sports in popularity. "Whatever may be said about the BCCI, the fact remains that cricket is the best run sport in India. What the BCCI, unlike all other sports bodies in India, has done very well, is market the game," said Suresh Menon, editor of Wisden India.

Crowds, especially children, thronged old favourite Ruskin Bond. Speaking of his life and craft as a writer, Bond said, "To be a writer, you must be a reader. I must have read about 10,000 books during my lifetime."