OLD AIRPORT ROAD:The two-day Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) concluded on Sunday, with the participation of several authors and public figures from around the country.
The festival was mired in controversy days ahead of its inauguration. However, the organisers said that the footfall has been good, with about 12,000 people projected to have participated in the festival.
Over the course of the event, people of all ages had something to cheer for due to a variety of events held over the two days.
On Sunday, aspiring authors and literature enthusiasts interacted with writers like Ravinder Singh, Durjoy Dutta, Zac O’Yeah and Indrani Chandrashekar, while on Saturday, a number of events were held for children.
The sessions dealt with various subjects, with writers speaking their mind on a wide range of issues, from the current political climate in the country to those that are often shut in the closet. Trends in literature, concerns of women writers, the question of whom a writer writes for and complexities involved in compiling historical accounts were discussed.
The crowd-pullers, however, were the talks and discussions held in the evenings on both days. While an eight-member panel discussed the question ‘Are we heading towards an intolerant India today?’, to applause and ridicule from the audience on Sunday, historian Ramachandra Guha kept them baffled on Saturday.
Book thieves?
The bookstore at the Bangalore Literature Festival may have witnessed instances of either kleptomania or outright thievery.One of the personnel at the store, who refused to be quoted, said that some people took books for signing and fled without paying a penny. “After many such incidents were reported, we decided to depute two men at the door to check bills,” the personnel said.
What they said...
Don’t ever confuse history with your own lives. History takes time to be written, and you might just manage two paragraphs during your lifetime.
— M J Akbar
The Sachin Tendulkar Principle: get out when people ask ‘why’, not when they ask ‘when’. I don’t dislike Sachin Tendulkar, in case someone thinks I’m being intolerant.
— M J Akbar, when the organising team signalled the end of his session
People say they are writing to preserve culture. Once, there were 33different kinds of turbans in Rajasthan. Where are these turbans now? In the museum!
— Mohammad Zaman Azurdah, Kashmiri writer