Higher Than a Kite!

The Kite Aloft

Cliff Playing Out the String

Jain Students

Gypsy Children Happy as can be!

Village Main Street

Grocery Store

This was our last full day at Devi Gahr. It has been a wonderful experience. After breakfast we took a tour of the Palace. It has been restored from a wreck of a place. When you look at the photos taken before the restoration, you can’t believe that anyone had the foresight and guts to start this task.

More than any other property we have stayed at in India, this is a combination of modern stylish renovation without in the least destroying the feeling of it being in a building that is hundreds of years old. It is fabulous place to stay. There is a no gift shop, the village isn’t the slightest bit commercial, there are no crafts or tee shirts being hawked. This is just the amazing juxtaposition of a high-end, isolated palace in the desert, situated next to a dirt poor wonderful village. There is no Disneyland feeling, these people are simply living their lives. Their ancestors were born and died here, their children will also. It is untouched by time.

After the tour of our palace, we read by the pool, had a bowl of soup for lunch and then of course, went for a massage.

We then went for an hour and half walk around through the village. Akhtar knows everyone. Actually everyone in the village knows everyone. We went to the gypsy area of the village, and went up on to the flat roof top of a house (actually it is probably only 2 or 3 rooms). On the roof, Akhtar had arranged for me to fly a kite. I have seen literally dozens of Bollywood movies with kids flying kites off of the flat roofs of their tiny houses. We have seen with our own eyes, kites flying in many Indian towns. As a boy I think I might have had a kite, but I am sure I never got it to fly. I have vague memories of running through a field trying to get the damn thing to fly, but I doubt if it ever did. I couldn’t comprehend how they could loft a kite from a roof top.

They easily did, and started to let the string play out. Actually it wasn’t string, this is such a poor village, they use thread to tether their kites. Soon the kite was aloft, and they handed the string to me. I learned how to play the string as the kite flew to an amazing height. We went thru two bobbins of thread, a kilometer each the kite was almost a mile away from us.

We were surrounded by maybe 30 very young gypsy children. They all were smiling and laughing and pointing at the kite. Akhtar, went and bought some bags of candy, which he gave to us to give one to each child. We were soon surrounded by children with outstretched hands looking for candy. We tried to give only one candy per child. Simultaneously, I was thinking of gypsies and diversions, and checking on my wallet. But all was well, this was just a happy bunch of kids. Before we left the roof top, Akhtar told me to release the kite string and let it fly away, to bring us all peace and happiness. I released the string, the gypsy children all clapped and cheered and the kite flew away from the village across the Rajasthan mountains and deserts.

Even Cathy took her turn flying our kite.

We left the rooftop and continued through the village. Akhtar pointed out where the untouchables live, and how he as a youngster didn’t talk to them. He then explained how he decided when he was older that he would ignore the caste system and talk to them. We saw the Jain students studying with masks covering their mouth, so that wouldn’t inadvertently breath in a kill a living insect.

We had a long discussion of how best to help the village. With all of the advantages that Cathy and I have, it is amazing to be able to step out of our palace and literally 50 yards away step back in time 100 years.

I can’t begin to imagine what the villagers feel or think when they see us.

Tomorrow we leave our Palace to fly to Mumbai. We are leaving a village that never awoke to the 20^th century, and heading for a city that never sleeps.

High in a Village

Women Washing Clothes in front of their houses

Women Carrying Bricks on their head all day long

Ancient Step Pool, still used

Silver Smith weighing out purchase to figure cost

Maharaja and Maharina

Our Guide, Ahktar

On a ride, Devi Ghar in Background

Returning to Devi Ghar

Cathy in Private Dining Room

Entrance to room with butterfly made of flowers

We thought we would spend our day in quite luxury in this incredible palace. Instead it turned out to be a wonderfully busy day as we experienced village life in India. We have always read about the villages and how people return to them from the city, because of family and deep sense of community; but today we really experienced it.

The day started with a breakfast, where I had poha (shaved rice with spices and herbs). I love it. We then met our guide to the village: Akhtar. He is a Muslim, who was born in the village. The village is outside of the palace walls. The population is small, and has lived here for generations. The contrast between the palace and the village is immense. The palace has wifi everywhere, there is no internet at all in the village. They have recently received running water, now they don't have to go to the well. The people live in what we would assume to be poverty, and yet are very happy.

There are about 2000 people who live in the village. 40% are Jain (an Indian religion, that is virtually unknown in the US), 30% are Hindu and 20% are Muslim. They all get along together. In fact at one intersection of paths there is a Jain Temple, a Hindu Mosque and a Hindu Temple all facing each other. The caste system is alive and well in the village. For example, this is wedding season. Tonight there are 4 weddings happening simultaneously. All 2000 villagers will be invited to all of the weddings. A low caste person would go to any of the weddings, but a high caste person would not attend a lower caste wedding. It is all very rigid.

Our guide, Akhtar, is a wonderful guide. He knows everyone in the village. Yet he is a victim of the society. He comes from a large Muslim family, and he had to stop his education to get work. This is very common with large families. Luckily he has lots of drive and personality, and the guests at the Palace have assisted him, recommending the Palace to hire him as a guide. Yet his chances of achieving more than his parents will be difficult. He married young, has a child and lives in a joint family. He is very strict in making sure his wife attends to his aged parents, and he will expect his children to look after him. It is difficult to fathom how a guide from a village can relate with a tourist who has every advantage. Akhtar for example has no email address, because there is no internet. It is hard in the west to comprehend the isolation these people live in.

The local diversion in the village is smoking marijuana. Lots of the men smoke it all the time. Village life isn’t all bad! This is wedding season in India, and there are several weddings going on each day. Marching Bands, parading women and men dancing down the street, bride and groom on horseback, loud music and fireworks at night, all add to the sense of festivities and vibrancy of the village.

Here comes the Bride!

We visited a school full of cute young children who greeted us in English, a kitchen where they were preparing a wedding feast for 2000 (we sampled the bread and it was delicious), and a goldsmith who made a ring for Cathy out of copper wiring, and then sold us a wonderful ankle bracelet. They invited us into their house for Tea, and delighted in dressing us up like a Maharani and Maharaja. The entire village is a joy. I can’t begin to image what they think as they encounter what to them must be incredibly rich and lucky tourists, while they live in deprivation next to a luxury palace. I can only tell you they all were wonderful. They loved getting their picture taken, smiled and were fun to be with. This wasn’t a Disney movie, this was the real Indian Village.

We took a horse ride into the countryside, seeing all kinds of wildlife, and asking many question to our guide about village life. After another massage followed by bottle of wine, watching the sunset, we had a most spectacular dinner.

We arranged a private dinner for just the two of us, in a small-mirrored complex high up in the palace overlooking the village. We talked to the chef ahead of time and we composed a fantastic dinner. Appetizers of Chicken and Vegetable patties, Lentil-Coconut soup, Butter Chicken, Gobi Masala, etc. It was fantastic The rooms of our private dining area were decorated with rose petals and lit by candle light. We had our own butler / waiter, and musician who played for us. Down below the weddings were in full swing with fireworks and music. It was like a dream in this magical setting. It was a very memorable night.

We worried we wouldn’t have enough to do in this remote palace, but it has been non-stop. Devi Ghar is definitely a destination you should put on your itinerary!

Living like a Maharaja

Marble or Cow, take your pick

Devi Ghar

Pool at Devi Ghar

Notice the Rose Petals, on the table, nice touch!

Gobi and Biryani

We left our Havali in Jaipur and began the 6 ½ hour ride thru the Rajasthan desert. No matter how you cut it, it is a long ride! It gave us a chance to practice our Hindi, as we read signs and tried to figure out their meaning. Half way thru the trip we stopped and had a small lunch of Vegetable Biryani, and Naan. We drove on past mile and mile of marble quarries and sales yard. We finally approached our destination: Ghar Devi.

We arrived around 4pm. As we walked up the stairs to the palace we were showered with Rose Petals from above. We were then shown to our room. This 200 plus year old fortress and palace apparently was a run down wreck. Now it is the most highly designed place we have ever stayed at. It is completely renovated without destroying its entegrity. The rooms are all marble, wifi everywhere, high-tech, and extremely stylish. We are just off-season, and there are only 10 people staying in this palace. There must be 5 employees at least to every guest.

We had a drink at the bar looking at the sunset, then went for a massage (naturally). After the massage we made it up to the restaurant for a delicious dinner.

The stars are amazing. We are in the middle of the desert and there is very little ambient light. The sky just twinkles. There is absolutely NOTHING to do here. So after our hectic time at the Literary Festival, this should be great downtime. They will give us a tour of the palace tomorrow, camel ride through the neighboring tiny village and some kite flying, that is it. More massages, a swim in their heated pool and reading some of the books we bought at the festival. It is going to be a slow relaxation for us. We look forward to it.

Final Day at the Literary Festival

Panel on Muslim Violence 

Howard Jacobson

Vegetable Curry

Simon Singh at the The Big Bang

Tandoori Lamb

Today was the last of the five days of the Jaipur Literary Festival. We are exhausted but happy. It was incredibly stimulating. We have met authors and readers from all over the world. We have been exposed to views that in America you would never hear.

The day started with Simon Singh, who has written many scientific books. He is amazingly articulate. This session was on his book: The Big Bang, where he attempts to explain the big bang theory of the cosmos. He actually made it sound interesting as he followed the original idea and its subsequent adoption. His explanation of the Scientific Method was especially interesting to me. Basically w a  strong theory is defined by its ability to predict. In the case of the Big Bang Theory it predicted microwaves would be everywhere in space. Years later, microwaves were discovered in space. This lends credence to the theory, which is now generally accepted. His session was wonderful.

The Finkler Question featuring Howard Jacobson was next. I have read this very Jewish Book, and really liked it. Unlike a previous panel that he was on, Jacobson was less jokey (although very funny) and more serious. It is difficult to tell where his act ends and the real Jacobson starts, but I suspect it is a continuum.  He states he loves being like an old time prophet, proclaiming doom is near. He feels that a book should speak for itself, and the author should not be seen, yet he likes doing these events. We all live in dichotomies I suppose. To him the story is subordinate to the sound and development of the sentence and the language.

He said he didn’t feel at home in the world, and felt shame and humiliation. When he did, he wrote about it and he felt it gave him mastery over the event. He talked about Jewishness, Israel and the Holocaust. He especially feels that in the case of Israel some people think that the Holocaust should make the Jews especially aware of how they treat the Palestinians. He rejects this, by saying the Holocaust was NOT an education course that makes you a good person. In the same vein, he bridles at the use of the term of Fascists or Nazi in regard to Israel; he feels those terms are only used to hurt. It was excellent session, with thought provoking ideas.

The next session was titled: Taming the Gods, Religion and Politics. With a mixture of Muslims and non-Muslims it quickly became a discussion (not resolved) of the question of Muslim Violence. This was a major theme during the entire Festival. The theory that predominated in the session was that one should respect the believer but not necessarily the belief. In practice of course this is difficult because the question is who defines respect, the speaker or the listener. This is not an academic exercise. One of the speakers on a previous panel we attended had to leave the conference and India because there is an arrest warrant for him based upon what he said at the conference. India does not have complete freedom of expression like the United States. Because there are major issues of religion and caste differences, the constitution prohibits speech that is offensive to someone. So there is a huge amount of censorship problem. People easily get offended and the government intervenes to stop the speech (like movies or books) before they even are published, to avoid problems.

The liberal western panelists felt the key issue should be that violence should be stopped by the government, not the speech that precedes or incites it. This morphed into a discussion of the question of is there such a thing as a moderate Muslim, or are there degrees of Muslims from liberal to very conservative, and then a separate category of violent people. Clearly in the 20^th century the vast majority of violence has been perpetrated by China and Russia and Nazi Germany all who were non-Muslim and basically atheistic.

The session then talked about religious nationalism and felt there were only two choices: 1) Suppress it (and it will probably become violent) or 2) Fight out in the political arena.

What needs to be separated is religious authority and political authority. The worse violator of that would be Iran, but Israel was also mentioned.

The panel was very well balanced and informed.

The next panel was on the acclaimed book, Mao’s Great Famine by Frank Dikotter. This was an amazing discussion. Frank basically went into China to the archives in various provinces and found the documentation of the Great Leap Forward and the collectivization of the peasants. The data was meticulously recorded but never reported. He spoke passionately about what he found. He determined that approximately 45 million people died. This is equivalent to ALL who died in World War II.

These deaths weren’t a result of a misguided attempt to modernize the country. What he found was that these deaths were the deliberate. He expected to find famine he found violence. Violence to eliminate the old, the feeble, the weak, the elderly. Food was used as weapon, people didn’t starve to death, they were deliberately starved to death. What happened was 20 times worse that what happened in Cambodia under Pol Pot.

It ended when Mao decided to end it, and he blamed it all on his underlings. He took no responsibility. This was not a misguided policy of Mao, but the policy. China is different today, but there is no recognition, no museum of this horror. It is simply forgotten and not talked about.

No matter how many peasants have been lifted out of poverty, Mao must be remembered as a mass murderer on the scale of Hitler or Stalin (or even greater). This was a very powerful seminar, and I ordered his book, I really want to read it.

The final session for us was a reading and discussion of the book: “The File”. This is another book I will read. Timothy Garten Ash is a professor and correspondent. For 10 years his research was in East Germany. After the wall fell, he went back to Germany and found the secret East German file that was assembled on him. He related how he then decided to research his file and contacted his friends who secretly informed on him to secret police and the secret police who recruited the informants. For the most part, there wasn’t anger but rather a cathartic experience as he better understood the subtle ways that  even good people can become corrupted by an evil government. The book is rather like the movie: The Lives of Others.

His conclusion was in a totalitarian state that then becomes liberated, the best course of action is to open the files so all can read them, recognize that those that perpetrated evil will probably not be punished for they will have fled with their ill gotten gains. The model is the Truth and Recognition panels in South Africa and the way East Germany files were opened. This is not an academic question he is currently advising the Burmese Government on how they should open their files.

He spoke a lot about the data gathering. He used a term I have never heard: Private Superpowers, to refer to Google and Facebook and how much data they know about you. They know far more than any government. Right now they only used it for targeted advertisement but if combined with government authority it would be far more detailed then anything any government has ever known about its people. In addition, not only do they know everything about you, but there is such an abundance of information and sophisticated analysis available that that can predict what you will do. That is the truly scary part.

He summed it up by saying conversely, if you lived your life as though you were always being watched, you might in-fact live a very good life.

We returned to the hotel, exhausted, and had a lot of wine, as we relaxed talking with the authors that are staying here at the Haveli. Tomorrow morning we leave the hotel and drive 6 ½ hours into the Rajasthan Desert to the Magical Fortress of Devi Ghar.

Must a Writer be an Actor?

Who Knew?

Chicken Tandoori

Foreign Correspondent Panel

William Dalrymple

Every day we are awakened by the “Call to Prayer”. We actually like it. The Haveli is located in a Muslim quarter of Old Jaipur, and there are many, many mosques. Each mosque has loud speakers on top of its minarets, and the Call is blasted. No two mosques start at exactly the same time, so for about a 5 minute period you hear the Call, coming from all directions, none in sync with another. You also hear the call at night, while we are drinking wine. We always pause our talking and listen, enjoying this most exotic experience..

We started off the day with a reading by William Dalrymple from his just released book “The Return of the King”. This one hour  with William Dalrymple was enough to justify this entire trip to India. We have read many of his books including what to us is his masterpiece: The Last Mughal. He spent the hour speaking and reading from his new book, “The Return of the King”. NOTHING I could write could equal the experience of hearing him. Not only is he a fearless scholar who travels to remote and dangerous areas, but he is also an incredibly gifted storyteller as he writes his amazing stories. Further, when he lectures he is like an actor, holding the audience in the palm of his hand as he relates his stories.

His story is amazing. In 1842, 18,000 British solders marched into Afghanistan. They easily captured the capital Kabul, and established a military base at Kandahar. Do these names Kabul and Kandahar resonate with you? The war was ginned up by the Neo-cons of the day, using flimsily evidence. Beginning to sound familiar? They installed a puppet government from the very same tribe that gave us Hamid Karzai. The British and their Indian Sepoys were opposed by the same groups that today are the Taliban. England at the time was at it very zenith, the strongest country the world had ever seen. Two years later, 1 British solder out of the original 18,000 survived and limped back to Jalalabad. All the rest of the army was destroyed. This was the biggest single disaster in the entire history of the British Empire. It was to be repeated, almost exactly by the Americans after 9/11. Dalrymple told this story, in the most vivid, exciting way. All of these sessions at the Jaipur Literary Festival are taped and will be available on the Internet. I strongly suggest you spend an hour and watch this. Most sessions end with Q & A, but this was so powerful a session, no questions were necessary. It took our breath away. One thing that surprised me was that I had always assumed that Afghanistan war was the right US War; the Iraq war was the wrong one, and we took our eyes off the ball when we switched from Afghanistan to Iraq. These writers believe that Afghanistan itself was a mistake from the beginning, urged on by NeoCons who had no idea of the history and peoples of Afghanistan.

The next session was about reporting from war zones. The writers who participated on this session, report for the major newspapers from the most dangerous areas: Pakistan, Congo, Afghanistan, etc. It is harrowing work. I can’t conceive of the difficult conditions they endure to write their stories, and ultimately the books. The main discussion was about reportage, where the writer tries to give the facts, and is subject to an editor and the ultimate writing of longer pieces and books, where only they decide what will be in print. These journalists and authors are fearless, I can’t even begin to comprehend their courage.

Next was a session on gay writing. India is a very traditional society and it was interesting hearing writers and readers discussing the difficulty of being gay in India, and how rapidly the norms are changing. Literature is the expression of freedom. Literature is often about sadness and difficulties, otherwise the book would be three words long: “Everyone was Happy”. In trying to explain, sexual and gender differences one Hindu scholar had a very Indian approach and said “What doesn’t make sense to man, makes sense to God”. I liked that idea, in spite of the reference to God.

The final session of the day was about a very interesting (I think) man who was a diamond merchant, magician, and other things in India. The presenter, who talked about his book, and read from his book, was absolutely awful. We walked out. It is interesting in an environment like this you have to be an actor in addition to a writer, able to entertain the crowd, to generate sales of your book. William Dalrymple is the best. He is a showman for his book. The author of the diamond merchant book was just not a public speaker. It is amazing, how this lessens the impact of what he is trying to say. It is unfair, a writer should be judged on his writing, but the commercialism requires him to be an actor, in support of his book. This author failed, and yet it is possible his book is wonderful. Life isn’t fair.

Weather Report: Dry Day

Debating the Constitution

Censorship debate

Men bathing in street leading to Festival

It is getting crowded at the Festival! 

Special Lamb

We awoke and went for breakfast. There was a sign on the door “Dry Day”. I thought good, no rain, no monsoon. Leave the umbrella behind. I soon learned, to my dismay, that today is Republic Day (The day the Indian Constitution was signed). On this day it is illegal to serve Alcohol in India. That is what a “Dry Day” means in India. We immediately freaked. How would we get through the dinner without wine? We finally remembered that foreigners bearing passports are allowed drink in hotels. We were relieved!

We met a woman friend, we knew from a previous visit to The Jaipur Literary Festival. Catherine is a fearless woman, who travels to very dangerous areas (Egypt during the revolution, Kashmir, etc.) She is filmmaker and textile importer. In addition, I think she is an adrenalin junkie. She had just returned from Pakistan. She felt like she was the only white person in all of Pakistan. Although she had a driver and bodyguard, being there really traumatized her. She related to us the un-relenting hatred of the Pakistanis for America. It was very frightening to hear her speak, because you had the feeling that nothing is going to stop them. And they have nuclear weapons. Not a great way to start the day.

The first panel that we went to was excellent. It was about the utopian idea of India. The ideal of the state was to create equality. India was a very unequal society, separated by caste, religion, language, education, etc. The Indian Constitution tries to rectify this inequality and this is the primary challenge of India. The authors were passionate in their views on how the constitution has either helped or failed to help the people.

Overt corruption is the bane of India, and there was much discussion about it. One panelist suggested the only four areas where there is true meritocracy, without corruption are: 1) Sports, 2) Entertainment 3) Crime 4) Politics. In any of these 4 areas anyone could rise to the top.

The sessions all end with audience questions and the panelist are challenged by provocative questions.

The next session dealt with the economic potential of India, which depends upon a sorely lacking infrastructure. India has a very centralized government, but very independent states. It is very difficult to govern. One interesting thought was that countries have hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure. Hard Infrastructure includes, roads, dams, electrical plants, etc. Soft Infrastructure includes vigorous press, independent political parties, etc. Hard infrastructure problems are easier to fix then soft ones. Advantage: India over China. Is this wishful thinking or the truth? We will find out.

There was a lot of discussion of the problem of dynastic succession; especially the  non-rise of Rahul Ghandi. Will he step in as a national leader or is he a lightweight? Stay tuned.

We went to a rather boring lecture on literary criticism. The one take away for me was that literary critics are the only critics that use the same medium (writing) as the one that they are criticizing. Painting critics don’t paint their criticism for example. The outcome of this phenomenon is that many critics feel they are as good a writer (or better) than the author they are writing about, jealousy is a major problem.

A much better session was on freedom of expression. India has many laws (as do other countries) trying to limit speech on the internet. India’s constitution mandates only limited freedom of speech. You cannot say something in India that will offend another group. The problem of course is what is offensive speech. This leads to a lot of interference by the government with movies, books, and even events like this one, where Salmon Rushdie was prevented from speaking  last year. So much of the issues especially in India, deal with cultural sensibilities and the way that people so easily take offense at what is said and written. There was much discussion back and forth about the role of censorship, self-censorship and freedom of expression. It was a very stimulating hour.

One idea I hadn’t really thought about is how intricately freedom of speech is correlated to freedom of assembly. If you can assemble to protest, freedom of speech is meaningless.

We finished the day by returning to Baba, to pick up some jewelry, almost all of which were ready, and check on Cliff’s suit, that wasn’t ready. I did make sure that Baba took care of our driver. Baba gifted us with some items which made me realize Indian Jeweler 1, Jew 0 in the negotiating game. Bargaining is the true national sport, not cricket.

Returning to our Haveli, we spent an hour drinking and talking with Gary Shteyngart.  We also talked about Anti-semitism, Israel and England with the writer Linda Grant. She has written many books about Jews and Israel. She practically fell out of her chair laughing when Cathy and I said and tried to defend the idea that the US isn’t an imperial power.

We had a delicious dinner at the hotel, and wine was served – we toasted the Indian constitution and all of its flaws with Indian wine. After dinner I joined a group of writers for talks and drinks. Laurence Norfolk discussed his new historical novel, “John Saturnall’s Feast”. It is set in the 17^th century about a chef. I think iRobby and Tamara would love it!

Oye! Reel to Real

Sharmile Tagore

Potatoes with Mustard Seed done in the Tandoori

This was the 2^nd day of the Jaipur Literary Festival. Each hour there is 5 different venues each with a different panel. You have to read up on the program to figure out which panel you want to sit through, because you can only see one of the four. In addition, you are faced with some panels are more popular then other, which means, getting a seat can be frustrating. We did our homework and decided on several panels that we wanted to see.

The first one we attended was entitled “The Writer and the State”. It had a wide range of authors that have written in or about totalitarian states or states going through transitions. The countries covered ranged from Chile, to China and even India. The discussions were heated particularly about the Latest Nobel Winner who is Chinese. He has defended to some degree the Communist censorship. Some panelist condemned him in the strongest terms, other expressed sympathy for his delicate situation. It was very thought provoking. One idea they presented was that time is the ultimate critic of the quality of a work. Some things are written under the worst political conditions of repression and government control and it is very easy for us to criticize the compromises the author made, however, with the passage of time we can better appreciate the work, almost independently of the author. The entire session was like an intellectual tennis match, it was quite fun to see the authors dropping quotes and names of obscure authors and being responded to in kind.

There was a very funny presentation with among others Gary Shteyngart. There was an absolutely hilarious, quick witted Indian writer: Manu Joseph that stole the show for me. We have read his books and he just released a new one. Gary S. especially believes we are country of writers not readers.

Javed Akhtar, is an Indian legend and probably the most beloved person at the festival. He was born an Urdu speaker. He is a Bollywood screenwriter, a lyricist, a poet, a reciter of poetry and political activist. He is natural actor and raconteur. When he speaks he switches between English, Urdu and Hindi. He is incredibly animated and he holds the audience in the palm of his hand, even if they don’t understand the words he is speaking. He is a passionate atheist, who detests all religions and dogmas. We heard him last year when he spoke and it was just as enjoyable to hear him this year. He discussed for over an hour: Ghazals the poetry form that came from Persian, and has morphed into the most beautiful way of expression. It is quite formalized in its construct. I never thought I would enjoy hearing the ins and outs of writing poetry, from Javed-Ji it was a fabulous experience. Urdu which was the language of spoken mostly in Delhi and Lucknow, is now the language of Pakistan. It has morphed from a secular language to a very political / religious language. Javed-Ji, mourns this greatly. He summed it up by saying the Pakistanis thought Kashmir and Urdu belonged to them, and they were wrong in both cases! The Indians in the crowd loved it. There were hundreds of school kids in attendance. At the end the entire audience begged him to recite one more Urdu Ghazal. Can you picture children in America pleading for another poem?

There was a great session with the Bengali Actress Sharmile Tagore who has acted for over 55 years in starting in films directed by Sangit Roy. She has seen it all – from Art Films to Bollywood. She had a loving adoring crowd. Like many of the speakers she tied the recent rape case in Delhi into her responses.

Javed’s wife, Shabana Azmi, is a very famous actress who is very politically involved. She had a session on Sex and Women in India Cinema. India Cinema as do many cinemas objective women, and she is an activist against gender discrimination in all forms. She, like Javed, is extremely passionate in her speech and life.

There was a spirited session about the novel post 9-11 we saw the end of the session. Reza Assam, from America, defended Islam against the idea that 98% of terrorists are Muslims. He disabused an audience member who asked a question based upon this idea. Meanwhile the other panelist brought up the idea of religion and martyrdom as a major issue. The discussion was excellent.

The final session we attended was hilarious. It was entitled: “The Jewish Novel”. It started with the story “At a conference it was announced that the subject would be: Jews like to argue – a man stood up and said: “excuse me, but I beg to differ”. Because India has a large Muslim population and there were Pakistanis attending the festival, I couldn’t have predicted how this session would go. It was like a Jewish Comic Smack down. Although there were others on the panel, we thought Gary Shteyngart and Howard Jacobson were great. I can’t do the jokes and funny responses to questions justice, but bottom line, they are both outrageously funny. I don’t think the Indian audience got a lot of their jokes and word twists, but we were laughing out loud. If you haven’t read: The Finkler Question or Super Sad Love Story, you are missing two great books! The authors gave outrageous answers to the interlocutor. I could have imagined Woody Allen on the panel.

The weather here on the Rajasthan desert is very cool at night and warms up during the day. We eat and drink at night outside, warmed by gas heaters and wood fires, during the day we slowly shed our jackets, scarves and sweaters. The food at the hotel is excellent. We keep trying different dishes and wonder why it Indian Food in Los Angeles can’t be like the hotel food. It is the Muslim festival of Eid, and Indian Republic day is coming up. They expect the Literary Festival to be even more packed today (Sat). We will see.

Hello Dalhi

Dalhi Lama

Manil Suri

Shashi Tharoor

Would the Dalhi Lama Approve?

Chicken Methe Daal and Rice

Today was a perfect start to the Jaipur Literary Festival. The Festival started with a keynote address by Mahasweta Devi, a famous Bangali writer. She is quite elderly (88 years old) and revered for her social activism.

As we went to breakfast Cathy spotted Gary Shteyngart who is staying at our Haveli. He is one of our absolute favorite authors. If you haven’t read “Super Sad Love Story” by him, you should! We talked to him, and he definitely is not the nerd he portrays himself as in his novels.

We then went to a panel with a Pakistani author, who basically defended the tribal values of honor. We both disagreed with him, but it was interesting to hear him discuss the plight of tribes in the modern world.

The next panel was great. We have read both of Manil Suri’s previous books, and really like him. He is a gay writer, who is also a college mathematics professor in the USA. He has a new book out, City of the Devi (set in Mumbai), that he read from and talked about. The interlocutor was excellent and it was a the best session of the morning.

The highlight of the day, was for sure seeing and hearing, His Royal Highness the Dalhi Lama. We skipped lunch to make sure we would see him, for there were thousands in attendance. We were in probably the 10^th row. I didn’t know what to expect, but he was questioned by Pico Iyer (who sounds like Truman Capote with a British Accent), an author we have also read. The Dali Lama, is very funny, he laughs a lot, while making his points. His main message was that you should question everything, even the sayings and principals of The Buddha. If you decided that what you believe conflicts with the dogma you are taught, go with what you think is correct, if you are an atheist or a believer it makes no matter - it is all about personal ethics. At the end he summed up his belief by saying essentially, if faced with an unsurmountable problem, use your intelligence to overcome it, it you can’t overcome it, try again to figure out a solution, if you can’t figure out a solution, just accept the problem, don’t be angry, there is no solution. It was exceptional experience to hear him talk for over an hour.

We then went to a session with Shashi Tharoor. There is no-one America that is like him. He is an accomplished writer with many books. He is a power in the Indian Government as an elected Member of Parliament and Minister in the government. He is extremely good looking and could be a movie star, he is highly educated with a PHD and extremely eloquent. He is lady’s man beyond belief. He has got it all! He could talk for hours about Indian Government and history. He basically described the current political climate, especially as it relates to Pakistan. It was amazing to hear him discuss, so fluidly, and humorously so many critical problems. Bottom line for him, is that International issues, need to be secondary to raising the health and welfare of the average Indian. This is very complicated in a world where TV anchors clamor for war with Pakistan after the beheading last week of several Indian Soldiers by Pakistanis. It was an enlightening discussion.

We then went to a session with Javed Aktar. He is one of our favorites, a Bollywood Screen Writer, a Poet in Urdu and leading intellectual. The entire session was in Urdu and Hindi, and we skipped out early.

We then went to Baba our Jeweler in Jaipur. Oh how, Courtney would love him. Basically he is manufacturer and wholesaler of jewelry. Unlike most jewelry stores, he sells the gems, separately from the setting (gold or silver). So you sort through all kinds of gems, and also discuss settings. He is also a business man, and isn’t going to miss a sale. So, the sessions with Baba go on and on. He has an apparently endless amount of stuff to show, and if he thinks you have any capacity to buy, he doesn’t stop. It is all a good show. We wound up spending several hours with him, before we finally extracted ourselves. It was fun, and his jewelry is well priced. So, bottom line, if you go to Jaipur, Baba is your man.

We have a special relationship with our driver, Vijay, we have who is with us all week in Jaipur. We have used him before, we feel like he is family. Most drivers get a commission from a store when they bring you there. I asked Vee Jay if he was getting one from Baba. He said no, because we knew about Baba, he didn’t, we went to Baba based upon a recommendation of a friend in Silverlake. When I found out he wasn’t getting anything from Baba, I told him I would make sure he would and will talk to Baba about it tomorrow when we pick up Cathy’s emerald ring. I am sure I can help him.