Bidisha Roy
NEW YORKCITY (TIP): The third edition of JLF New York – Jaipur Literature Festival — described as “the greatest literary show on Earth” — came to New York, presenting a series of conversations and performances examining the human experience through the imaginations of some of the world’s leading authors, thinkers, and performers.
Teamwork Arts, producer of the Jaipur Literature Festival, in partnership with Asia Society and Museum, brought to New York the iconic eventon September 17 and 18, featuring internationally acclaimed authors and thinkers.
This was be the second year that Asia Society hosted the festival in New York City. The festival opened with a reception on the evening of the 17th, held in partnership with DAG a leading gallery dedicated to Modern Indian Art in NYC.
Photo / courtesy Tirlok Malik
The program and panels took place at Asia Society on September 18th, whichbegan with a musical ‘Jugalbandi’ by Utsav Lal (Piano) and Alec Goldfarb (Guitar).
The inaugural address session was grace by India’s Consul General in New York Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, Tom Nagorski, Executive VicePresident of Asia Society, Sanjoy K. Roy,Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, writer, publisher Namita Gokhale, and William Dalrymple, one of the founders and a co-director of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival.
Tom Nagorski said that the Asia Society is proud and thrilled to host the event again.
Highlighting the aim, Sanjoy K. Roy said, “Our target is to bring multiple voices together and to bring diversity and to get different point of views across the world leaders who gather at the UN every year.”
For Namita Gokhale, JLF is a platform that ‘builds up an environment which brings book and ideas beyond the usual tracks and gatekeepers.’
According toWilliam Dalrymple, the ‘hunger’ of readers’ to interact live with the authors is the driving force.
Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, who was the last speaker, emphasized on focusing on regional literatures at the festival across US, citing the example of growing Telugu speaking population in New Jersey. “Our population is growing here. Young educated people are coming and they speak their language. It’s not the second generation Indians who do not speak their mother tongue and they demand for language literature. I think we may consider this in our future editions”, he suggested.
The programincluded the launch of William Dalrymple’s latest book, The Anarchy (Bloomsbury Publishing), on the rise and significance of the East India Company; actress and film star Manisha Koirala whose latest memoir recounts her battle with cancer; Margo Jefferson speaking on Caste, Color and Gender; Priyamvada Natarajan talking about her book Mapping the Heavens, with insights into the nature of our universe; Food, Memory and Culture featuring Adam Platt, contributing editor and restaurant critic for New York magazine and Columbia University’s session These Lands We Call Home, where a panel of writers and thinkers examined the current age of immigrants and global movement, as more and more people claim a multiplicity of coexisting identities. An array of provocative panels and debates discussed the issues that shape our thoughts and perspectives.