Far From The Madding Crowd

An article chronicling the decline of Latin, much like the way many Indian languages met their demise.

Jai Arjun Singh on the Jaipur Literary Festival in his report for the Business Standard

An interview with domestic worker Baby Halder and author of A Life Less Ordinary (Zubaan Books/Penguin). Baby Halder had lived a difficult life in rural Murshidabad. Her father was often missing; her mother walked out on the family when Baby was seven. Married when she was just 12 to an abusive husband, she had the first of her three children at the age of 13. She escaped to Delhi when she was older and worked in several households as a domestic worker before she found employment with the professor she reveres and calls “Tatush”, who encouraged Baby to write.

Richard Crasta, the author of “The Revised Kama Sutra: A Novel of Colonialism and Desire” exhorts the Indian reader to stand up against censorship  in literature

In democratic societies, it is a sacred principle that politicians belonging to opposition parties, a few courageous politicians that is, do indeed speak the truth to power (Jayaprakash Narayan, Mandela and Gandhi, of course, though the latter two are great men, far above politicians), which is why their existence and freedom of speech is a crucial sign of democratic health, and should even be a matter of national pride. But compared to ordinary politician-members of the Opposition, writers are in a unique position to speak truth to power, because they are not required to lie or fudge the truth to get votes. This is why a country that does not present alternative viewpoints and writers with as much freedom as it does its politicians is a failed democracy, and its people have been cheated.

Tagore is still a best seller and now that the Visva-Bharati University’s copyright over the works of Rabindranath Tagore have expired, there is mad rush to cash in on the master’s works.  As explained here, the major differentiator has been price but there is also a demand for good books.

Have to thank Mr. J.L.Bell for this:

“The Child and the Fantastic: readings in children’s fantasy literature”, Children’s Literature Association India (CLAI) International Conference

Hotel Trichur Towers, Thrissur, Kerala, Southern India
March 26 to March 28, 2007
Conference Organizer: Anto Thomas, St. Thomas College, Calicut University, Kerala, India

CLAI hopes to provide a platform for scholars in children’s literature from all over the world to share their experiences of reading or teaching fantasy.

The keynote address will be by Alida Allison, Professor, Children’s Literature Program, National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, San Diego State University, USA.

The fantastic entertainment at the conference will be a performance of Alice in Wonderland transformed to the Kathakali art form.

The world’s libraries are heading for the internet, says Bryan Appleyard. If this means we lose touch with real books and treat their content as ‘information’, civilisation is the loser

A blog on the assassination of Hrant Dink, one of the most prominent Turkish Armenians.

Conceived as the first step towards making Jaipur a literary hub for the country, the second edition of the festival, held this year from January 19-21 was indeed a big success. The audience has been diverse and the fest has had its share of celebrities. From curious tourists to would-be authors; from school children to their teachers, they have all made their presence felt.

An interesting archive of interviews with book artists and poets. The lively conversations are about craft, inspiration, careers, and aspirations.