Anuj Dhar flagged off the events on Day 2 with The Netaji Files
Maya Mirchandani, Nandan Nilekani and Mohandas Pai at the Bangalore Literature Festival (Photo: R. Samuel)
Bengaluru: The only downside to the Bangalore Literature Festival is that it comes to an end! Certain discussions from Day 2 teetered dangerously on the verge of deteriorating into political mudslinging, but that is hardly an indication of the festival itself.
Despite the murkiness of the controversies that surrounded it, the festival did what it has always set out to do - provide an open platform for discussion and give authors a chance to interact with their readers and with each other.
Anuj Dhar flagged off the events on Day 2 with The Netaji Files: Anuj Dhar on the legacy of Subhash Chandra Bose.
Dhar's 2012 bestseller detailed what he calls India's biggest cover-up - the declassification of the Bose files.
"Who would have thought that the Netaji disappearance would be discussed at a literary festival?" he asked. "We started our investigations back when times were more intolerant - the Congress ruled this country for many years and they have a zero tolerance level toward Subhash Chandra Bose."
During the course of one thrilling hour, he talked about espionage and Nehru's involvement in spying on Bose and all those dear to him and the concealment of the findings of the Shah Nawaz Committee and Khosla Commission reports.
History was the buzzword of the day, it seemed, with Tipu Sultan, the Partition and World War 1 making for an informative, albeit low-key Sunday afternoon.
Dr Janaky Sreedharan, Mridula Garg, Kashmiri author Mohammad Zaman Azurdah and Subodh Sarkar came together for the panel Are We Speaking the same language?
“When we express ourselves in a language which we have learned, you cannot do justice to it unless you’ve lived that language," said Azurdah, in what proved to be a highly stimulating lunch-time session.
Although the morning sessions weren't too sparsely attended, things picked up soon enough with the packed lawns by the time afternoon rolled around.
The evening's debate on intolerance was a crowd-puller, what with its provocative subject matter and the star-studded panel. Vikram Sampath found great support from the audience, who were, by that time, crowding around the sides and squatting on the grass in anticipation of the tamaasha that did follow! Sampath received the loudest cheers by far as he took his seat on stage.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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