Storytellers at a fair

Situated 11 kilometres from Ajmer, Pushkar in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan features prominently on the itineraries of tourists, especially for its age-old camel fair — one of the world's largest — held in the last week of October. The Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) times its international Pushkar fair to coincide with this camel fair and provides visitors a spectacular cultural experience. This year, the International Pushkar fair will be held between October 25 and November 2.

But this year the RTDC, in conjunction with Siyahi, one of India's leading literary consultancies, will also organise a daylong Pushkar Literature Festival 2009 on October 31.

The event will feature personalities including Tarun Tejpal, CEO of Tehelka.com and author of Alchemy of Desire; Prasoon Joshi, an award-winning Hindi poet, lyricist and leading Indian ad-man; Lord Meghnad Desai, British economist, professor and writer; Aman Nath, author of several books on Rajasthan known for reconverting ancient Rajasthani palaces and aristocratic homes into hotels; Pavan Varma, diplomat and author of books such as Havelis of Old Delhi, and novelist Namita Gokhale.

How did the idea of the Pushkar Literature Festival come into being?

Mita Kapur, CEO of Siyahi, said: "It was during a conversation with Manjit Singh, Chairperson and Managing Director of RTDC, that the idea of instituting the Pushkar Literature Festival was born. He expressed his desire to add more life to the Pushkar fair and presenting our culture through literature."

Added attraction

According to Singh, the objective behind the Pushkar literature festival was to attract more tourists to the Pushkar fair.

"Siyahi organises literary activities throughout the year and a large number of tourists come to attend them. We are bringing acclaimed authors, poets and performers together in this festival to promote literature and tourism in Rajasthan," Singh said.

Kapur lauded the RTDC for having taken a proactive, creative approach in redefining tourism by combining literary and heritage tourism. "The international Pushkar fair has been one of the most sought-after tourist events for people from across the world. RTDC wants to offer the tourists a little more by adding a new dimension to the fair through the literature festival," she said.

The location and surroundings contribute greatly to the atmosphere of any literature festival. So what will Pushkar offer to the festival?

"Imagine the backdrop Pushkar offers: bells ringing from camel carts decorated in vibrant red, bright green, orange and royal blue, while pilgrims take a holy dip in the Pushkar Lake that gives the town its name," Kapur said. "If we have so many Indian stories being narrated against this backdrop, what more could one ask for?"

The festival will take place at the RTDC tourist village in Pushkar. It will not limit the presence of Rajasthan to being merely a physical entity. It will also examine and interrogate indigenous Rajasthani literature and oral literary traditions while also taking into account Rajasthan's cultural significance. "Aman Nath will conduct a session called Parikrama, on travel in Pushkar and Rajasthan, which will focus on how Pushkar has emerged as a cultural microcosm," Kapur said. "Veddan Sudhir, a poet from Udaipur, will hold a session called Katha Kahani that will be a blend of folk legends of Rajasthan and contemporary social, cultural and political milieux."

The writers participating in the festival are excited about being part of the event. Gokhale, who will be reading from a simplified version of the Hindu epic Mahabharata she wrote for young and first-time readers, said: "I hope to communicate some of the excitement and intensity of this ancient epic to my audience." She said she was looking forward to visiting Pushkar as she found the history, mythology and architectural beauty of the town very evocative.

"It is exciting to think Pushkar will become a site of literary as much as spiritual pilgrimage," Gokhale said. She also believes Pushkar gets charged up with an especially vibrant energy during the fair. "It is the site for a local, rooted-in-tradition festival that maintains its cultural continuity with the past and also a happening tourist destination and photographer's delight".

In this context, Gokhale perceives Pushkar as an ideal backdrop for the Pushkar literature festival, the festival providing a focal point to articulate the continuity and change that is the hallmark of Indian writing today.

Dynamism set against a backdrop

It is the spirit of literary dynamism and an ambience special to Pushkar that Kapur hopes the festival will witness a confluence of and create an impact on the attendees, urging them to return to what will be an annual event.

"We aim at promoting the love of literature across all ages and cross-sections of society; it is a great opportunity for people to interact and learn from such literary meets," Kapur said. "Apart from that, we sincerely believe it is an outstanding way of introducing them to the various forms of literature and oral traditions of India."

Priyanka Sacheti is an independent writer based in Muscat, Oman.