Cheered on by the audience, authors read out passages from The Satanic Verses on the first day of the Jaipur Literature Festival, reports Abhishek Mande.
'Our fractured world has been embroiled in wars and hatred, and many sessions reflect these concerns.'
Dattatreya Hosabale and Manmohan Vaidya have been invited as speakers at the event starting tomorrow.
'Surprised by the absence of any sloganeering or even mild protest in an ambience so free and self-regulated, I asked a friend from Delhi whether he too, with sharp political antenna, was surprised at how smooth and easy going everything was,' notes Ambassador B S Prakash.
Interrelations of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday took centre stage at the Jaipur LitFest where panelists discussed the upswing in talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan besides India's ties with its neighbour.
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports on the twists and turns of the high speed, crazy literature festival
A string of film celebrities like Waheeda Rahman, Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad among others set to explore the intertwining of cinema with literature at the fest.
Balaji Telefilms owner Ekta Kapoor becomes the target of a mob claiming to be members of the Rajput community for depiction of the historical figure of Jodha in her on-air serial titled Jodha Akbar. Sanchari Bhattacharya reports
Encouraged by the success of the ongoing crime and punishment series at the Jaipur Literature Festival, the Crime Writers Association for South Asia has been co-founded by Namita Gokahle and author Kishwar Desai.
It has been a helluva Day One at the Jaipur Literature Festival. In perhaps what has been one of the most stellar line-up of the festival, rediff.com saw some of the greatest names in literature and journalism walk the grounds of Diggi Palace, the venue of the festival. Abhishek Mande reports.
Lit fests in India have become vibrant cultural celebrations across India, bringing together celebrated authors, emerging voices, poets, thinkers and passionate readers, many of them very young, under one lively roof.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa is at the festival, watching the event unfold from the sidelines, posting live updates as they happen. Follow what's the latest from Jaipur on Vicky Nanjappa's MyPage!
Apart from controversy, it was cricket that seized control of the fest on Day 3, says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel
To be held alongside the Japur Literature Festival, the three-day BookMark conference will look at different aspects of the publishing industry -- from self-publishing to e-books, digital content to distribution.
Two Nobel Laureates, four listed writers of this year's Man Booker Prize, Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists, winners of Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Crossword Prize and film stars will be the attraction at the most sought after literary event in India -- the Jaipur Literature Festival.
After a raging row that forced Salman Rushdie to keep away last year, this year's Jaipur Literature Festival kicked off to a peaceful start amidst tight security with overriding sentiments favouring independent space for authors and the need to defend the freedom of speech.
The author faces threat from homegrown terror outfits as well as organisations with political interest. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
'Many of the biggest events at such lit fests have nothing to do with books or authors, but about current events and the changing nature of society,' points out Aakar Patel.
The dramatic moves of Donald Trump, which have shaken up the global order, dominated the discussion. A sense of bewilderment prevailed, but there was also expectation that President Trump would settle down to a more traditional style of governance after a time of shock and awe, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, an attendee at literary festivals in Calicut, Jaipur, Kochi, Sharjah and Thiruvanathapuram.
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher sparred during a debate over the limits imposed on freedom of speech and were joined in by a politically divided audience at the Jaipur Lit Fest.
Joshi said he does not want the 'dignity' of the prestigious event to be compromised by the Padmaavat controversy.
Sanju Samson's century, Punjab Kings' record 265 chase, Rinku Singh's Super Over heroics and standout knocks from KL Rahul, Abhishek Sharma and Virat Kohli headline an action-packed Week 4 of IPL 2026.
Rediff.com's Abhishek Mande, who is attending the Jaipur Literature Festival, brings forth all the details of a 'rather slow' Day 2 of the festival.
Rishi Sunak, who seems to be on an extended holiday in India -- we spotted the former UK PM at the Jaipur Lit Fest and at the fourth T20I at the Wankhede late January -- was at Lok Kalyan Marg on Tuesday.
Muslim groups on Wednesday softened their stand over the visit of Jeet Thayil, who read excerpts from banned book of Salman Rushdie during Jaipur Literature Festival last year, saying they have no objection provided the act is not repeated.
In what could further stoke the Salman Rushdie controversy, a section of authors at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Friday launched a campaign demanding immediate lifting of the 23-year-old ban on the controversial writer's book The Satanic Verses.
Stealing the limelight at the Jaipur Literature Festival the Dalai Lama on Thursday spoke about India's immense contribution to learning since ancient days beginning with the Nalanda University, in his talk on the Buddha's influence on the literary world.
Ending the suspense, Jaipur Literature Festival organisers on Tuesday said that the video session with controversial author Salman Rushdie will take place as planned after Rajasthan government gave the go ahead.
Writer-Director Suparn Verma and Rediff.com correspondent Abhishek Mande are attending the Jaipur Literary Festival, the leading literary event in the Asia Pacific. After their enthralling experiences on Day 1, Suparn didn't have a good Day 2; although Abhishek cuckooed all through the day. This is what he has to say:
The eighth edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival kicked off on Wednesday to a grand start with a bevy of authors, poets, Nobel Laureates along with some Bollywood celebrities, trooping in to the pink city to participate in one of Asia's biggest literary jamboree.
The Devyani Khobragade row, India-Pakistan bickering over Afghanistan and a nightclub act by two diplomats were some of the issues discussed at one of the sessions at Jaipur Lit Fest, reports Sanchari Bhattacharya.
It's never to late to squeeze in a quick trip this month.
Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, whose wife Sunanda Pushkar was found dead on Friday night, was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences after he suffered a "cardiac condition" in the wee hours on Saturday.
'I stopped getting work after 2004. Between 2005 and 2018, I had no work.'
'I believed that no matter what happened, I would be there to take care of him.' 'He believed it too and even when he fell ill, he had total faith in me, ki main sab theek kar doongi.' 'I tried, I really tried, but I fell short and he went away.'
The Aam Aadmi Party reflects anger, which is among the people of India, said film star Irrfan Khan at the Jaipur Literature Festival, which kicked off on Friday.
'If you can do new things everyday, your mind will be challenged.'
'Chetan Bhagat is not great literature. Is that like you write third rate books and people can't do much better than to read those third rate books. Is it really an achievement?'
'Even apart from the Bengal famine, there was a great deal more bloodshed and deceit than I was prepared for.' 'Almost every one of the acquisitions was won by extreme extortionate methods and what came out was that these relatively honest officers found themselves doing very dishonest things.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances