Random jottings on a LitFest, celebration of languages
In the world of many literature festivals, sorry LitFests India hosts, some get noticed, some get written about, but many a times it is the brand and the association with particular media houses that gets them the coverage. Unfortunate though that a particular LitFest if not co-hosted or sponsored by a particular media house doesn’t get covered, or what is sponsored by one media house would be ignored by others. I still rue the day I missed Ben Okri in Mumbai. He was here to receive a lifetime award, and well I didn’t see that listed in any engagement columns of the newspapers I bought. Two days later, when I read his interview in The Indian Express I cursed myself for not having followed the LitFest schedule independently. Same way I also missed the first edition of The Gateway LitFest or the LIC Gateway LitFest that brings together the non-English or language writers of India. Luckily for the second edition my friend and ex-colleague Sabari called me, gave m...