The Times of India Literary Carnival saw celebrated authors, renowned film personalities and social jet-setters come together on a common platform to give and take lessons in language and literature

FILMS, FASHION AND FABLES

The Times of India Literary Carnival saw celebrated authors, renowned film personalities and social jet-setters come together on a common platform to give and take lessons in language and literature

Firaaq was a cathartic experience: Nandita
    Who’s an Indian?” that’s the question Nandita Das posed as she joined the panel for the discussion titled ‘Alien in my Own Land’. Actor Aamir Bashir and author Sudeep Chakravarti also shared their points of view on the topic. Aamir, who is from Kashmir, said, “Kashmiris have to carry an ID card to prove that they belong to this nation. Isn’t that enough to make them feel alienated? I am an outsider here because I am from Kashmir, and not having shared their feelings for all these years makes me feel more alienated.” Sudeep added, “Storytelling in the form of movies or books is a way to bring change.” Nandita, whose movie Firaaq was based on the Gujarat riots, said, “Firaaq was a cathartic experience.”
Language lessons with literary laureates Mrinal Pande, Shanta Gokhale and Prasoon Joshi were present under one roof to talk about the importance of one’s mother tongue in today’s times. The session titled ‘Losing Language, Losing Identity’ had the trio discussing the changing form of language. Prasoon said, “If people use a single English word while speaking Hindi, they call it Hinglish. I don’t get that. If there is a certain word for which a term hasn’t been coined in Hindi, what’s wrong in absorbing it?” Gokhale added, “It’s great if you absorb words from other languages as
    long as you don’t lose some part of your language.”
India is the biggest market for films
    The opening session of the day had Anusha Rizvi and Urmi Juvekar talking about their journey as writers. Anusha’s Peepli Live and Urmi’s Shanghai were unlike the traditional song-anddance films, but, the essence of the stories was very Indian. Anusha and Urmi were at their candid best while answering questions posed by the audience. The duo didn’t feel the need to jump on the crossover-cinema bandwagon. “India is the biggest market,” said Anusha. Urmi added, “One doesn’t just end up writing crossover films unless they’re commissioned because it can take up to two years to write a script.”
The tale of two friends
    Actors and friends
Ranvir
Shorey and Vinay Pathak read dramatised excerpts from the graphic novel Sudhershen by Rajesh Devraj and Meren Imchen. The duo, who gave their voices for a variety of characters, concluded the session to a thunderous response.

Ranvir Shorey

Vinay Pathak

Nandita Das

Aamir Bashir

Fusion folk singer Susheela Raman enthralled the audience in the evening with some of her new compositions. She was accompanied by Kutle Khan, Nathuram Solanki and Sam Mills

Prasoon

Anusha Rizvi

Urmi Juvekar

Shabana Azmi, who read excerpts from Anita Desai’s In Custody, also got many compliments for her sartorial statement and quirky footwear at the event

GUEST APPEARANCES AT THE CARNIVAL

Madhoo Shah

Nasser Abdullah

Fahad Samar

Jayant Kripalani

STITCHES AND BITCHES The fashion session of the fest turned into a discussion of all things couture and copied

    Because there are no barriers to entry in various aspects of fashion, mediocrity is bound to creep in. That is also why there is rampant plagiarism in the fashion industry. — Tarun Tahiliani, fashion designer, on why fashion in India is still not a mature industry

    Earlier, fashion was a lot more about tamasha on the ramp, but it is now becoming much more serious. People are putting a lot more effort — Queenie Singh, jewellery designer, on how fashion stereotypes have changed with time

When asked about fashion’s frivolous reputation, Wendell Rodricks quipped that designers do a lot of serious work, which goes unnoticed. He shared that he was recently approached by a visually-impaired professor to help create clothes which people like him could wear easily. So, Wendell used embroidery techniques to create tiny braille style french knot patterns using which blind people could identify the colour/size of the ensemble they were wearing! Wendell Rodricks