Kanakakkunnu Palace

Hay Festival comes to Kerala

By

Bhawani Cheerath Rajagopalan

The erstwhile Maharajas of Travancore have always been complimented on the vision the whole line of rulers have displayed over generations, to make the land a well-governed unit, and the subjects given some of the exquisite facilities and imposing structures which remain symbols of the glory. The city’s palaces, museums and gardens remind us ever so often of the farsightedness of the rulers. One such occasion was the Hay Festival which had the Kanakakunnu Palace grounds as the venue for three days, November 12-14, for the Hay Festival.

Three days of interaction with authors, poets, journalists, thinkers, participants made possible by the leading publication from the Malayala Manorama group of publications, The Week,(co sponsors of the Festival) has left each participant with the ‘can’t wait for the return of the Hay Festival,’, to the city same time next year, craving. The lovely palace halls came alive with verse, passionate reading sessions, heated discussions on India in the globalised scenario, secularism vs. fundamentalism, and chit-chats with authors, and book–signing opportunities.

Jaishree Misra

Where does one start? Vikram Seth, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, William Dalrymple, Jaishree Misra, Tarun Tejpal, K Satchithanandan, ONV Kurup or the mild-mannered N S Madhavan, or the no holds barred talk of Mani Shanker Iyer. Of course, the list is not complete here. You had Peter Florence, the moving force behind the Hay Festival, Gillian Clarke the poet who also is another of the major person of the Hay-on-Wye literary event, interacting with guests and delegates.

Gillian Clarke

Well the ‘Suitable Boy’ would be a good starting point. Anita Sethi engaged the author in a lively interview for forty five minutes before the audience got their opportunity to ask questions. For those of us who are yet to read ‘Golden Gate’ and get a feel of Seth’s way with verse (words, too), this session would make you dart to the library or bookshop and get hold of a copy. He confessed he was not pushing himself hard enough, but a ‘Suitable Girl’ is on the anvil. Naturally, that gave the listeners at least one or two questions to ask of Seth. And, promptly he replies to ‘Will it be as long as the Suitable Boy?’ One never can tell at this stage, so the author added, “May be it will be haiku!” His penchant for instant rhyme was there on display. A few words on his time spent with his dentist Uncle Shanti and German wife, based on whom he has written ‘Two Lives’ was equally interesting. Uncle Shanti was in Germany, in the War years. He got accommodation in the home of a German family consisting of a mother and two daughters. As luck would have it, the younger daughter was not too happy taking in the ‘dark’ Indian. Years later she became Uncle Shanti’s wife!

Kashmir was in the news for the killing of young boys, the ‘stone-throwing agitation’, the call for the withdrawal of the AFSPA, since May (hope my memory serves me right). Naturally to have Basharat Peer, the Kashmiri journalist and author of The Curfewed Nights to share with us his angst as a Kashmiri, yearning for the restoration of calm to his

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 its interesting.......

chilman | December 22, 2010