From gravity and climate change to the world of films, food & fiction, Day 4 of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2025 explored a diverse range of themes
History. Who chases it, who knots it up together, and who contradicts it? In a highlight session that brought together some of the best names in fiction, Nandini Nair began by asking if fiction arises from the desire to chase history. For Andrew O'Hagan, it is official histories that should provoke interrogation from writers. David Nicholls said he believes in the act of creating personal histories for his characters, which often means building emotional landscapes. Jenny Erpenbeck noted that fiction writing is an exercise in learning and that she has always confused research with speaking to various people for her novels. V.V. Ganeshanathan’s approach to character-building involves becoming obsessed with them. Geetanjali Shree noted, “As a fiction writer, you are chasing your insides, which you have no idea what they contain, which is a very scary act.”
In The Spirit of the Game, Deepa Malik, Rahul Bose, and Nandan Kamath discussed Kamath’s recently released book Boundary Lab: Inside the Global Experiment Called Sport. Another session, Geopolitics: Turmoil in West Asia, brought together a distinguished panel. Navdeep Suri analysed the current geopolitical landscape of West Asia, highlighting the influence of various global players while emphasizing that the Palestinian issue remains central to the region’s turmoil. Lindy Cameron addressed key geopolitical challenges, emphasizing that resolving territorial disputes requires political action beyond dialogue. Selma Dabbagh highlighted the contrasting responses of international organizations, noting the disparity in their approach to Palestine compared to other global conflicts.
One of the First Edition book launches introduced award-winning writer and Festival Co-Director Namita Gokhale’s latest book, Jaag Tujhko Door Jaana, the Hindi translation of Never Never Land. The translation was done by her co-panellist Aishwarj Kumar, who spoke about the intricacies of translating a literary work from English to Hindi during a time when the former has replaced a portion of the latter’s vocabulary.
Theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham, in conversation with entrepreneur Mukesh Bansal, spoke about her journey towards fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming an astronaut. Rham shared the pain of seeing her lifelong dream slip away at the final moment due to a previously unknown medical condition. She emphasized that embracing failure and staying calm is the best way to move forward. The session highlighted the importance of gravity as the most fundamental unifying force in the universe and how it connects us to everything—from the core of our universe to its origins. The session concluded with Rham asserting the importance of women in science to make the field more diverse.
Day 4 of the Festival began with a captivating Carnatic performance by Sandeep Narayan. He began by singing Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati, accompanied by L. Ramakrishnan on violin and Sai Giridhar on the mridangam.
The day featured a range of fascinating sessions. In one, Avi Shlaim immersed the audience in Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab Jew, a deeply personal reflection on his family’s life in Iraq and the rich heritage of the Jewish community that once flourished there. His memoir intricately explores themes of identity, displacement, and the profound impact of migration on both personal and collective history. At the heart of his narrative lies his mother, whose firsthand experiences and vast knowledge of Iraq became the foundation of his work.
“It was a sheer accident that made me an actor. I wanted to be a painter, and I also believed I would die as a painter,” said Amol Palekar in a session focused on his memoir. Palekar’s “flamboyant” stories from his acting days took the audience back there, much like his performances did. An anti-establishment activist, Palekar's memoir traces six decades of theatre and film history in India and its internal politics. Sandhya Gokhale, a film director and Palekar’s partner, also shared their journey as activists fighting harsh censorship laws in the country over the past decades.
In another session on climate change, Mridula Ramesh pointed out that the weather in Jaipur was uncharacteristically hot for early February. John Valliant’s book Fire Weather declares that we are entering a new fire regime, indicating that rising global temperatures are causing climate disasters that leave many populations vulnerable. Speaking about the brutal and violent nature of fire, Sunil Amrith spoke about the history of imperial violence and inequality, which has paved the way for environmental destruction. Amrith used Amitav Ghosh’s fiction and nonfiction work to explain how humans have largely ignored and forgotten the nonhuman in their lives, histories, and literature. According to Valliant, fires are melting the myth of human exceptionalism by teaching us the frailty of our existence.
“India spoke the voice of the Global South. The normal drafting of declarations is done by developed countries. In the G20 declaration, the language is the Global South. The voice and the pen are that of the Global South,” said G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant in a highly attended session. Kant described his experience working with PM Narendra Modi to achieve consensus on the G20, shaping the future of India’s role in global governance. He emphasized that the G20 should be a people’s movement, and that the Global South should lead climate negotiations. Africa and Asia are where global growth is highest, and Kant argued that negotiations should reflect that. Norwegian ambassador May-Elin Stener and Australian High Commissioner Philip Green also provided a global perspective on the significance of India’s contributions.
“I think that in India, it [Ikigai] has interested many people because it’s a country full of young energy.” Large crowds gathered for the co-author of the international bestseller Ikigai, Francesc Miralles, and Shashi Tharoor, member of parliament and multi-time bestseller, to discuss Miralles’ newest book, Purushartha: The Four-Way Path. Miralles suggested reading Purushartha, which aims to simplify thousands of years of Indian wisdom. Tharoor referenced his book Why I Am a Hindu and explained that there is no singular definition of Hinduism, which acknowledges the existence of multiple truths, appeals to the sceptic, and, in many ways, is a religion of the 21st century.
Huma Qureshi and Bee Rowlatt, in conversation with Anish Gawande, discussed their latest works. Rowlatt spoke about One Woman Crime Wave and Qureshi shared insights into Zeba: An Accidental Superhero. Both authors discussed themes of liberation, class, and social inequality, with Rowlatt highlighting the absence of these themes in British literature.
In Writing Memoir, various panellists shared the reasons that drive them to write about themselves while also complicating the limits of self-writing. Jassa Ahluwalia cited the multiplicity of his identities as the reason for wanting to write and document his mixed-race heritage. For Avi Shlaim, the unconventional memoir largely traces the history of the Jews of Iraq while also documenting his childhood and family. Scottish writer Andrew O’Hagan explained that memoir writing is not simply about reality. Inspired by Wallace Stevens and Coleridge, he believes that reality is but a poor thing until human imagination gets to work on it. Even a nation, he argued, is not a reality; it is an “imagined community.” For David Hare, autobiographical writing was about understanding and preserving the intellectual history of the 1970s in Britain.
Have you ever had an experience where you just tasted something that takes you back to a point in your life? Former MasterChef Judge and food critic Matt Preston, in conversation with Vir Sanghvi, spoke fondly of his time at his grandmother’s house and the events that led him to learn cooking as an “act of self-defence” against her “terrible” cooking. All this, however, reflected the time he spent with her. Preston spoke of his love for India and how its people have embraced him and MasterChef here. “Food is an experience. It’s this amazing idea that food can move you at great times because it is so central to who we are as human beings. I wonder sometimes whether we underestimate the power of food. And that’s not just the fancy restaurant food; that’s the food of your soul,” said Preston.
Shashi Tharoor drew large crowds to his final session at the Festival, in conversation with editor and journalist Vir Sanghvi. Tharoor, whom Sanghvi called the “Shah Rukh Khan” of the Festival, has always attracted the largest audience. Tharoor discussed his career in Indian politics, starting with his historic election in Kerala. Due to spending most of his life abroad at the time, many thought he was unqualified for the job, but through appealing to the people of Kerala, he was able to win. Tharoor discussed the importance of earning the right to represent the people and the bureaucratic challenges within parliament. Despite his expansive career, Tharoor has always felt connected to India, which compelled him to return and participate in politics.
The day also saw the launch of various new books, including Chandan Kiwad by Malini Awasthi; Shooting Straight by Arjun Subramaniam; How India Scaled MT G20 by Amitabh Kant; The Living Legend: Ramayana Tales From the Far and Near by Vayu Naidu; The Phantom’s Howl by Arundhati Nath; and Mandal Dhwani by Malashri Lal.
The final day of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2025 at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur, will be held on the 3rd of February 2025.
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