Indian Stories
The programme of the Lille India Festival meet I am conceiving and will be convening is getting nearly finalised. The list of speakers includes, a.o. in random order:
- Shashi Deshpande
- Suketu Mehta
- Naresh Fernandes
- Amit Chaudhuri
- Tarun Tejpal
- Indrajit Hazra
- Shashi Tharoor
- Ruchir Joshi
From Bombay to India, from India to Globe, and vice-versa, we will be looking at facts, fictions and frictions which are shaping India today.
On October 21st and 22nd, 2006, in Lille, France.
designer, writer-director
Well, nice to see so many writers together. Must be quite a meet. I have come across many talented witers in the blogosphere. One should not restrict oneself to stories alone but non-fiction writers should also be invited. Just as TV programs like Indian idols have thrown up tremendous singing talent, the blogosphere is full of the potential “Shoba des” and “Khushwant Singhs”. Wonder when they will be unearthered.
In an article in the Hindustan times magazine brunch, Mr Shashi Tharoor had said that “The full time writer is a rare phenomenan anywhere in the wrold”. In that article, examples of people from all walks of life who wanted to be writers were given. I am myself in that category and have come across similar cases in books like “Working identity”. It would not be out of place to mention here that the great hindi novelist, Munshi Premchand endured a lifetime of penury for the love of writing. Now , we are living in the age of information revolution and mass communication. You should discuss ideas on how to unearth writing talent and make writing more marketable so that people do not lead miserable lives- what is the point in living if a majority of your waking hours are spent in a profession not of your liking.
There is one particular depression in which the maximum no of casualites has been in the writers and poets category. At least, now one can try to improve their lot.
I will sum it up by saying that all kinds of writing should be encouraged, not just fiction.
An example of non-fiction here would be Suketu Mehta’s “Bombay Maximum City”. Any thought ?