Day 2 at the Kasauli Litfest-'18 

Posing with Sir Mark Tully: a moment to cherish

The sullen ‘caretaker’ I spoke about in my last post made heart-warming amends  by serving me hot and crisp paranthas for the breakfast next morning. Already,  the litfest venue, when I reached there late in the morning, was abuzz with excitement as there were interesting sessions on the anvil for day 2: October13. Syeda Hameed as interlocutor, and Reba Som and Ian Magedera were on stage discussing on the European videshinis like Sister Nivedita, Mother Teresa and even Sonia Gandhi who had made it to India and impacted us in their own ways. In the meanwhile a little commotion could be discerned in the veranda of the Club.  A tall, handsome figure of Shashi Tharoor draped in an orangish jacket came in view. There was already a throng of eager fans surrounding him – school kids included – seeking his autographs. It is not for nothing that women find him so impossible to resist, I thought. Pin drop silence descended over the place when he assumed his seat on stage and then began to speak on his new  book 'Why I am a Hindu' with Rajiv Mehrotra doing a masterful job in the role of an interlocutor. There was laughter and humour as witty barbs were flung at him about his politics, his ‘Tharoorisms’ and how and why women drooled over him. Tharoor answered them all with superlative candour, élan and finesse. He was equally  erudite and eloquent when he spoke on his understanding of Hinduism. He said that Hinduism is an eclectic faith as propounded by Vivekananda. It is not just about ‘tolerance’ but also about ‘acceptance’. About ‘Kama’, he said that Hinduism looks at it as one of the 4 natural elements in human life…unlike the parochial, pseudo-moral concepts propounded by the Orthodox Church. Victorian culture, he added with a chuckle, dictated even the piano legs to be covered because they resembled woman’s legs!

When he concluded, the audience was in thrall. And many were bursting with questions to ask and comments to make- yours truly included. I just told him about his book ‘Riot’ which I said I had read and loved. He said, “Thanks.” Then I added that it has a fair dose of ‘kama’ in it. He replied, “Yes, of course, it has; after all it is a love story.”  What I told him next evoked laughter in the audience: “Well, I gave the book to a woman – return requested - I wanted to impress. I was expecting a sweet, little ‘note’ tucked in the book on its return. But  inevitable happened and the hoped for didn’t: the book adorns HER bookshelf.”

If Shashi Tharoor held the audience captive, the one and only Navjot Singh Sidhu who came next,  mesmerized it no less with his exuberance and ‘Sidhuisms’. He spoke on ‘Believe to Achieve’.  Recalling his cricketing days, he said that lacking in self-belief, and sticking to his coach’s advice on how to handle fearsome West Indies’ pace bowlers: “होले, होले; पोले, पोले; थल्ले, थल्ले”, his legs used to shake. But then after a few balls had buzzed past him menacingly, he had a moment of reawakening. He discarded all advice and coming into his own, he stepped out of the crease at the next ball and hit a six. And what followed next was a flurry of record number sixes and fours in that historic match.

Well, you may have things to say about his politics and ‘misdemeanours’ if you like, but there is something special and charming about him. It takes guts not to be a run-of-the-mill stereotype, to do your own thing and live life and do politics on your terms. That’s why I love both Shashi Tharoor and Navjot Sidhu.

It was interesting to listen to illuminating discussion on Indo-Pak relations between Tilak Devasher and Lt Gen (Retd) Kamal Davar with the eloquence of Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain acting as interlocutor, making it even more absorbing and thought provoking.

Speakers who provided us such a wonderful intellectual feast included Sanjoy Hazarika, Geeta Gopalkrishnan and several others. I also loved a very lively discussion on ‘Women’s Socio-Religious Reforms’ by Zakia Soman, Masooma Ranalvi, Salman Khurshid and Shayana Bano. It was a shocking revelation for me when one of the speakers told so candidly about her own bad experience of genital mutilation that is  perpetrated on young girls (before they cross the age of 7) of Bohra community of Muslims by the quacks using clumsy methods and under unhygienic conditions. This reprehensible practice is still rampant. Gutsy Harinder Baweja was at her scathing best asking sharp and pointed questions from Salman Khurshid trying to wriggle out by his politically correct answers to many Muslim women-related issues.

I had stayed glued to my chair all through the day soaking in these magic moments.  Now the twilight hour was descending on Kasauli. The breeze was getting nippier by the moment. The message was loud and clear: DRINKS. And while Balaji Vittal, Annirudha Bhattacharjee and Abhilasha Ojha regaled us with sweet old songs, the Club hall was resonating with the buzz of human voices and the clinks of glasses. I deserved my fair share too which I had with glee.

 I would have loved to attend the concluding day’s events next day. But then I had my own miles to go and promises to keep back home. So rising early, I thanked the ‘caretaker’ (without tipping him), bade adieu to the Kasauli litfest, and headed home refreshed and recharged with a delightful stopover of 2 hours and a hearty Pahari lunch with my evergreen friend Tilak Vyas at Chandigarh.

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