Jaipur Literature Festival

January 24 - 28 was the Jaipur Literature Festival. I wasn't sure exactly what a literature festival entailed: it turned out to be a series of lectures and interviews by a range of authors and it also turned out to be really fun. The entire house went on Thursday to see the featured speaker, the Dalai Lama. He spoke to the crowds about inner peace, inner strength, and inner self-confidence. He talked about his most recent book, Beyond Religion, where he presents the thesis that all of humankind is bound to one another through moral obligation, whether or not one follows a specific religion. He was incredibly enjoyable to listen to, and he had the BEST laugh.

 After the Dalai Lama I saw Shashi Tharoor, an Indian politician who used to be Undersecretary at the UN and now works in the Indian Foreign Ministry. He spoke about Indian foreign policy issues, and the hour session focused almost entirely on Pakistan, with China getting a few minutes and the United States getting a 2-minute shout out at the end. It was interesting to hear his perspective and opinions, although I wished I knew more about Indian history and the India-Pakistan conflict in general in order to appreciate it fully.

On Friday, I went for the morning session and saw Andrew Solomon, author of a new book called Far From the Tree. Coincidentally, I read a review of his book a few weeks before I left for India, and I was curious to hear him speak. The book focuses on children who have "horizontal identity", as opposed to vertical identity, from their parents. This means children are radically different from their parents in some way: deaf children born to hearing parents, autistic children, severely disabled children, etc. Mr. Solomon's session was interesting but rather shallow, in my opinion. His underlying thesis is that parents and children and still able to love each other despite this incongruity in identity, but I wish he had spoken a bit more about the challenges instead of just the feel-good takeaway. He has a chapter in his book about parents of children who commit crimes, which I think would be incredibly thought provoking  but he didn't mention it at all.

Monday was my favorite day at the festival. (I didn't go over the weekend because I was in Agra.) The first session I saw was a contemporary Indian author, Jeet Thayil, in conversation with a classic Indian author Balchandra Nemade, discussing writing as a form of rebellion. Mr. Thayil was so compelling I immediately went and bought his book, Narcopolis, which won the DSC Literature prize (the prize awarded at the festival) and he signed it for me. He was incredibly friendly, and he used to live in New York, so we bonded over that.

Balchandra Nemade and Jeet Thayil

The next session I wanted to see was about women's voices, but the entire panel was in Hindi so instead my friend Rani and I went to go get some chai. We were sitting by the front lawns where we had seen the Dalai Lama speak, and were casually listening to the speaker there at the time. His name was Vikas Swarup, a name I was not familiar with, but it turns out he is the man who wrote the book on which the movie Slumdog Millionaire is based! (His book is called Q & A.) He was a wonderful speaker, and during his segment, his newest book was unveiled. Called The Accidental Apprentice, the book sounds quite good and is going next on my list.

Vikas Swarup 

After that accidental lecture, Rani and I found seats for the final session called Imagine: Resistance, Protest, Assertion.  It was a panel of notable Indian women (and one Pakistani woman) reading excerpts of their choice, some of their own writing and some of the writing of others. The readings included parts of The Handmaid's Tale, Punjabi poems by Nirupama Dutt, The Purple Sea by Ambai and a few others. The session ended with a spoken word piece by Maya Rao (http://mayakrishnarao.blogspot.in/), written in response to the December 16th gang rape in Delhi. It was ten minutes long and the audience was riveted the entire time. At the end, the moderator just said "There is nothing left to say." and that was exactly right.

From Left to Right: Namita Gokhale, Aminatta Forna, Nirupama Dutt, Maya Rao, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Ambai

Agra and the Taj Mahal

On Saturday, 8 of us set out to Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal. On the way there we stopped at Abhaneri, a small town whose claim to fame is a large step well; literally a deep well lined with steps.

We didn't arrive in Agra until late in the day and, although we attempted without success to catch the sunset on the Taj from a rooftop restaurant, we didn't get to see the famous monument until the following morning. We woke up at 6 am to beat the crowds and catch the sunrise. We walked through the red sandstone gate at the entrance and then there it was, the famous Taj Mahal. It was everything I expected it to be and then some. Definitely the most beautiful manmade structure I have ever seen.

Selfie with the Taj 

We had to wear shoe covers inside in order to protect the monument 

After many many photos (presented here are a just select few), we made our way inside. The inside is less impressive than the outside, with the only noteworthy room being the main chamber, where the walls are covered in Arabic verses from the Qu'uran and inlaid with precious stones. After many many more photos, we left the majestic Taj and headed back to our hotel for breakfast.

After breakfast we visited Agra Fort, 1 km north of the Taj Mahal. It is a shame that this fort has to compete with such a prestigious neighbor, as it is a gem itself. We had a guide, Shahid, who gave us all sorts of fun facts and trivia about the fort.

Gate to Agra Fort

"Carpet Garden" -- the plants meant to look like a rug 

View of the Taj across the river

Hari and Shahid 

Sunday night we headed back to Jaipur, sleepy but satisfied.

A 5-Day Adventure: Jodhpur and Meharangarh Fort

The drive to Jodhpur was 6 hours, once again passed by playing 500 and just staring out the window. We finally pulled into the hotel and the hotel itself was worth the wait. It was filled with greenery and felt completely removed from the noise and chaos of Indian roads. The rooms were spacious and even had a heater!

            We didn’t arrive until late in the afternoon, so after resting a bit from our drive, we set out into the old city to walk around. Jodhpur is somewhere between Jaipur and Jaisalmer in terms of size and busyness. In the old city there is a large clock tower, left over from when the British were there. There wasn’t too much to see in the old city, though we did enjoy some peanuts and freshly squeezed orange juice bought off the street.

            Our last stop on our journey was Meharangarh Fort, just north of Jodhpur. Its claim to fame is that it was featured in Dark Knight Rises as the prison Batman escapes out of (just the façade was featured; there was no pit prison inside). It is an imposing force on the skyline of Jodhpur.

            Inside the fort was a museum that was once the palace of the royals that lived there. There were also some impressive views of Jodhpur. The buildings in Jodhpur’s old city are primarily blue (explanations as to why vary from religious purposes to theory that the blue buildings repel insects). Whatever the reason, the view was beautiful.

Sword belonging to the Mughal King Akbhar

Royal Palace

The blue city of Jodhpur 

            By this point we were all quite tired and were happy to be headed back to Jaipur for some of Purnima’s cooking and some solid rest.

A 5-Day Adventure: Into the Desert

From Jaisalmer we began the most-anticipated part of our journey: a camel safari and a night spent in the desert. We drove about an hour outside of Jaisalmer to an establishment in the desert with several huts and a large outdoor eating area. After a chai break, we mounted some camels. Camels are awe-inspiring animals. They’re enormous (a fact you only truly appreciate when you’re sitting on top of one several feet in the air). They’re bony but incredibly strong. And they seem to be perpetually smiling. The camel sits down in order for you to get on the saddle, and then it stands up, an experience I was not prepared for. The man leading my camel said, “lean back” and I said “what?” and then the camel jolted forward and backwards as it came to a standing position. Fortunately, I didn’t fall off.

            We rode the camels into the dunes, where we dismounted and watched the sunset, which was unlike any sunset I’ve ever seen before. The sun was incredibly clear and you could see it dipping down beyond the horizon.

View from the camel

Selfie on the camel

Selfie with the camel

            After sunset we got back on our camels (I was a bit more prepared this time) and rode back to the camp. There we had dinner before gearing up to go back into the desert for the night. The temperature gets down to about 38-45 degrees at night, so we all bundled up. (I wore 3 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, a jacket and an extra blanket.) Then we all got on a camel cart that pulled us out to where we were sleeping. We laid down mats and two extra layers of blankets and then all huddled up together for the night. The sky was extraordinary. At first the moon was very bright, and the stars were pretty, but nothing I hadn’t seen back home. But when I woke up in the middle of the night, the moon was gone and the stars shone out. I didn’t want to go back to sleep because I was just staring at the sky. Makes you appreciate how vast the universe really is.

            The next morning we saw the sunrise, which was once again stunning, and then packed up camp and hopped back on the camel cart. After breakfast we got back in the car and set off for the last stop on our trip, Jodhpur.