Anil Dharker, founder-director, Tata Literature Live! says, in a first, he got to attend all the sessions unlike at the physical event

Author Rehana Munir, whose debut title Paper Moon released last year, is partial to the physical version of the festival, and was experiencing fatigue with the glut of literary sessions that had been held during lockdown. "My experience with Insta Live in the early part of the lockdown didn't inspire much confidence. The impersonal quality of a virtual interaction, combined with the inevitable tech glitches, had me quite worried," says Munir, who was invited to moderate a session. But, she says, the tech team was skilled, resourceful and thoughtful, making the experience fun with articulate panellists, and an engaged audience.

Poll

Who will win the Punjab Elections?

BJP 32.86%

AAP 41.43%

INC 25.71%

Submit

View All In Poll

Unlike the online Zoom events that have been hosted to date, this one came with a template, which we quite liked. There was a non-distracting book background on which the panellists' videos were tiled. Most panellists also sat against their bookshelves at home. In some strange way, it helped maintain the ambience. The one minor glitch was that the videos were designed keeping YouTube Live in mind, and not Instagram, where it was being screened simultaneously during the initial days. On Insta Live, horizontal videos didn't quite fit inside the square frame, and more often than not, the faces of the panellists were not visible. For publishers, who bank on book sales at the festival, the digital event may have brought some disappointment on that front. But, the year in general, has been an exception.

Author Rehana Munir moderates a panel discussion with Ashwin Sanghi, Cauvery Madhavan, Ira Mukhoty and Taran Khan (right) Naima Ramakrishnan, a Class IX student from Bombay International School, is the first teen to moderate an event at the festival

We enjoyed the conversation between Booker Prize winning author Ian McEwan and Dharker, on the opening night. Titled The Enduring Power of Words, it was good to take notes, with McEwan doling out tips on writing. Our favourite: "Start with a short story. Waste six weeks on it, rather than three years [writing a novel]. A short story is the perfect place to fail."

The big debate on whether Indian democracy is in danger, which had Mallika Sarabhai and Dr Shashi Tharoor for the motion, and R Jagannathan and Shazia Ilmi against it, had both the sides put forth their arguments sans the sparring. "We spent a fair bit of time curating the panels; we don't want people to fight, even when they do not necessarily agree. The ideas have to be well articulated, and the rebuttal that comes, should be equally intelligent," says Dharker.

Tara Kaushal

The festival did invite its share of controversy, following the abrupt cancellation of academic-activists Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad's event, scheduled for Friday, where Chomsky was to discuss his new book, Internationalism or Extinction. The academicians, who were to share their reservations about the sponsors of the event and the BJP, were scheduled to speak at 9 pm on Friday, but at 1 pm, they "received an email which said, cryptically, 'I am sorry to inform you that due to unforeseen circumstances, we have to cancel your talk today'." "…we can only speculate and ask simply: was this a question of censorship?" the speakers said in a statement. Later, on Saturday, author Roshan Ali announced that he would not be participating at the festival due to the incident.

For many first-time writers, this particular literary festival is coveted, and one where they wish to be invited. Tara Kaushal, whose stellar non-fiction, Why Men Rape: An Indian Undercover Investigation, released this year, when the pandemic was at its peak, says, "It [the pandemic] took [away] my big launch party, book tour, and the meet-greet-signings. It also slowed sales across the industry, even though my book became a bestseller, and slowed offers for translations, as the regional press is currently struggling," she says, add ing, that she was, however, glad she could share her personal journey with readers, even if virtually.

The surprise package at the event was Naima Ramakrishnan, a Class IX student from Bombay International School. This is the first time that teenagers have moderated sessions at The Little Festival, a two-day segment for children.Ramakrishnan was in conversation with Sudha Murty. Apart from Ramakrishnan, Tariecka Sinh was seen in conversation with Arshia Sattar, discussing the lesser known characters in The Mahabharata."It was a bit stressful, because this was my first time. But, Sudha Murty put me at ease. If there's anything I regret, it's not being able to do this in person. It felt a little detached," says Ramakrishnan.

Dharker does admit that an online festival can feel "clinical". "Yes, we do have greater access to writers. But, what we undeniably miss is being there, milling around, browsing through books, signing books, and comparing notes. There's no way you can replicate that."

Listen in today

Medley By The Sea A panel discussion with Aneesh Pradhan, Tejaswini Niranjana and Priya Purushothaman as the chair.

Reading The Game Cricket aficionados discuss their favourite books on the sport. A panel discussion with Anil Dharker, Naseeruddin Shah, Dr Shashi Tharoor and Ayaz Memon as the chair.

The Influence Of The Editor Amy Tan in conversation with Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi.

https://www.youtube.com/user/TataLiteratureLive

Keep scrolling to read more news

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news