Punctual attendees of the Jaipur Literature Festival were well-rewarded as a Nobel Prize winner cracked bawdy jokes, organisers obliquely defended themselves against allegations of racism, and enthusiastic fans accosted unassuming and startled authors, and sometimes even each other.
Peter Gunsley is a 53-year-old tourist from London who came down especially for the festival. He’s an accountant with a passion for books, and has realised that he bears an uncanny resemblance to JM Coetzee.
“I’ve had three different women approach me, and one schoolchild,” he says with a laugh. “By the time the fourth person came around, I just signed Coetzee and walked off.” This case of mistaken identity set the tone for the rest of the day - world-renowned authors sat, ate and lectured next to their fans, the media, and curious onlookers.
The Real Mr Coetzee
J M Coetzee - the real one - sat regally with a woman on two chairs behind the stage, smoking contentedly as his handlers shooed away the media.
“Mr Coetzee has made it clear that he won’t interact with the media,” said a PR assistant. “He’s known to be very reclusive.”
PR assistants went into a tizzy as authors left or declared themselves too tired to deal with the guerrilla-style journalism adopted by the press, who took to accosting authors mid-bite at lunch. Kabir Bedi and Javed Akhtar held court on the lawns on one side, while on the other side, musician-poet Jeet Thayil sat with author Tishani Doshi over plates of paneer pasandi and jeera rice.
“Our festival is fun,” said co-organiser William Dalrymple. “A critic has compared the reception of authors at this festival to Salman Khan taking his shirt off in front of a convention of autorickshaw drivers… We attract authors and readers with the honeytrap of shiny baubles like a beautiful city, music acts, the tamasha aspect of the festival… And when they’re here, they’re under our control!” cackled the organiser.
“We bombard them with Sufi artists and music, serious authors and Coetzee and Pamuk. They usually end up enjoying themselves.”
He admitted the shortcomings of the festival, saying “Some authors don’t come… Maybe we don’t know about them. There are many things our festival fails to do. But we’re getting there, slowly.”
Where the bad words flow
The last two events of the day - one a conversation on feminist voices and another on feminist poetry readings - “We should go for that, apparently they use lots of bad words,” said one schoolboy enthusiastically - were packed to full capacity.
Wailing toddlers were soothed at the reading room tent with picture books and music filled the air as Day One of the Jaipur Literary Festival came to an end.
