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Literature Live! A new Mumbai lit fest to bookmark
Split between Mumbai and the beautiful hill town of Lavasa, this open festival's literary line-up and location sound promising
Once you get past the crude branding art work and stop judging this event by its cover, you'll find Times of India's Literature Live! festival satisfies cultural hunger pangs.
The four-day festival covers a lot of ground -- both literally and literary -- and is ambitious to be Mumbai's answer to the annual Jaipur Literature Festival.
Lavasa's a location coup for a culture vulture and bookworms gathering.
On the final day, November 15, the festival shifts to the Dasvino Club in Lavasa, a hill city in the Sahayadri mountains being developed by title sponsor Lavasa Corporation Limited.
If this blogger's pictures don't lie, Lavasa's a pristine slice of nature and would be a real location coup for a bookworm gathering.
Anchored by noted Indian columnist Anil Dharker, a few unexpectedly wonderful experiences are to be had if you take the time out to attend.
Such as sitting in on New Yorker Sorab Wadia's stage presentation of "The Kite Runner" or checking out Ameen Sayani's contemporary version of the Indian national anthem. Sayani points out that our country's most famous song feels "outdated" and is geographically inaccurate now too!
Charles Correa's talk, November 13
An absolute stand-out from day two, for me as a city editor, is "New Cities", the 3-4 p.m. session on November 13. Mumbai-based Charles Correa, one of India's most distinguished architects, will talk about his new book, "A Place In The Shade -- The new landscape and other essays".
Charles Correa identifies defining issues of the urbanization process rapidly transforming India. He has written, "You cannot look at cities without wandering into architecture on the one hand and politics on the other." "Tragically," writes his publisher Penguin, "over the last few decades, urban real estate has become the primary source of financing for political parties and the politicians who run them. But our towns and cities are assets too precious to be squandered in this manner."
I believe all Mumbai and Maharashtra citizens will, or perhaps should, feel especially moved by this subject.
Download the program and decide if you want to register online. Literature Live! is a non-ticketed event, free entry on a first-come, first-served basis. Else follow the festival on Twitter at #literaturelive.
