When Authors Let Their Hair Down

JLF also means a number of interesting parties that are held on the sidelines of the main event. Over the years, besides the mega event at the Diggi Palace and the Music Stage at Clarks Amer in Jaipur, the publishers also host their own bashes.

This year, closed events were hosted by Westland Roopa, Aleph and Pan Mac for their respective authors and teams. The idea is to interact closely with our associates in a cosy atmosphere.

On Thursday evening, the cocktails at Rambagh organised by Harper Collins and the one at ITC Rajputana where my team and associates interacted with authors from Westland publishers saw quite a gathering. The latter saw a violinist from Jaipur playing Hindi movie numbers in the background. Film star Shatrughan Sinha, poet Javed Akhtar, actor and writer Shabana Azmi, author Devdutt Pattanaik, Pawan Verma, Anita Nair, Savi Sharma and others interacted with our associates. The guests had a whale of a time with a variety of spirited drinks, sumptuous food and dulcet music. One special feature of the evening was that each male guest had a turban tied for an ethnic touch. On Friday, it was Jeffery Archer and other authors from Pan Mac, besides closed-door events with ROOPA and Aleph authors.

January means a rich mix of art, culture, literature, polo and much more. The pleasant weather complements the aura of the Pink City. To celebrate this spirit, a special event ‘January of Jaipur’ has been curated. It is an evening of warm conversations about all things Jaipur in the month of January.

There was, however, an unfortunate incident of a branch of a tree falling over some people at the restricted delegate area. The injured were given medical aid and taken to the hospital and discharged after treatment. The unexpected rains also could not mar the spirit of the festival and the sessions ran as scheduled. The organisers have learned from the 2014 rains and are now better equipped to handle the vagaries of weather.

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