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| Vikram Seth reads from Two Lives at a Penguin programme in Calcutta in 2005. A Telegraph picture |
Q: What does Calcutta have that Jaipur doesn’t?
A: Vikram Seth.
Another star-studded chapter of the Jaipur Literature Festival has ended and the Calcutta Literary Meet is set to debut from January 26 to 31, in association with The Telegraph.
But this coming together of writer and reader on the Calcutta Book Fair grounds might have remained a dream had it not been for an email, two months ago, signed “Vikram”.
“We wrote to so many authors, almost all of them sent their polite regrets. On November 24, we got in touch with literary agent David Godwin for Vikram Seth, not even daring to hope. But within three hours, a mail landed in my BlackBerry in exceptionally large font size, signed ‘Vikram’,” revealed Malabika Banerjee of Gameplan, the organisers of the Lit Meet. (See Page 24).
So, what clinched it for Milan Mela over Diggi Palace for the author of A Suitable Boy?
“Vikram told us he had very fond memories of Calcutta, he had grown up here and he would love to come here, not only to be a part of the Literary Meet but to enjoy Calcutta as well,” Malavika revealed.
But ask the organisers of the Jaipur Literature Festival and they suggest a walkover rather than a tug-of-war over the boy from Batanagar.
“Penguin told us about his new book [The Rivered Earth] two months ago but we had used up our travel budget by then,” said festival co-director William Dalrymple.
“But we said we would love to have him if he was in India. He said he was in London and at that time the Calcutta Literary Meet popped up and offered to pay his fare, so they got him. Fair enough.”
With Seth on board, the story in Calcutta changed and how!
Come Thursday, the literary meet will embark on its maiden journey with over 30 sessions spread over six days, featuring authors from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Italy, France, England, America and more, apart from city writers in English as well as Bengali — and a top draw called Imran Khan.
Seth will inaugurate the meet and discuss his works with author Ruchir Joshi on January 26. On the closing day, January 31, he will sit in conversation with his mother Leila Seth, a retired judge and author.
Seth, often described as India’s greatest contemporary writer, is in India from his home in Salisbury, England, for a little over a month, of which three weeks were devoted to Delhi and some 10 days kept aside “for enjoying” Calcutta.
“It’s great news for the city that an author of the stature of Vikram Seth is coming for the first Literary Meet. I have loved reading his books, now I can’t wait to see him in person,” said young city author Devapriya Roy.
In both January 2009 and 2011, Jaipur was in Seth’s itinerary. In 2009, he ran foul of local Hindi newspapers, who went after him with front-page editorials for sipping a glass of wine during a session.
The next year, Seth, who even friends describe as a “gregarious hermit”, gave the Jaipur jamboree a miss. He was back in 2011, sipping from a glass and insisting that it was “Coca-Cola”, tongue firmly in cheek.
It is not known if a Jaipur organiser, on condition of anonymity, was being tongue in cheek when asked on Tuesday if Seth was missed this year. “With 258 authors around, how can anyone be missed?”
The shadow — or spur — of Jaipur was on Mamata Banerjee’s lips too. Inaugurating the 36th International Calcutta Book Fair on Tuesday, the chief minister said: “This is the first time that a literary meet is happening in the city. It has happened in Jaipur but never in Calcutta... Shuru holo, shesh jeno na hoy.... I hope we will be able to continue with it every year.
