THE ‘SMART SET’ Over a 1,000 visitors at BLF 2021

The tenth edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival boasts a star-studded lineup with over 160 participating authors.

Pallavi Dubey | NT

Bengaluru: Nearly a thousand people visited the Bangalore International Centre on Saturday morning, bright and early and in time for bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni as she flagged off the Bangalore Literature Festival. Ten years ago, the first edition took place at the Jayamahal Palace Hotel, where curious visitors wandered in and were very pleasantly surprised. In 2020, the pandemic cast its shadow over the event, which took place mostly online. This year, in its tenth edition, the festival was back with a bang, boasting a star-studded lineup with over 160 authors, with something for everybody. Stepping away from the subdued hybrid-event style, BLF is a physical event only - sessions aren’t being streamed live and will be uploaded a few days after the festival comes to an end.

Taking place in the auditorium, the first-floor hall and on the second floor as well, BIC was packed to the rafters. Author Vivek Shanbhag dominated the stage on Sunday, in keeping with the theme, ‘The Many Language Worlds of Karnataka’. ‘Ask Me Anything’, featuring journalist Aakar Patel, was a big hit. Generally not known for being garrulous with his fans, Patel managed to keep them in splits. The panels themselves covered a broad spectrum of topics, from the little known languages of Karnataka, ‘Romance IRL’, exploring the ‘Traditional Architecture of Kodagu’ with Brinda Somaya, cinema in ‘the new normal’, and ‘India’s Fight Against the Pandemic’. Tennis star Sania Mirza made an appearance, in conversation with journalist Prajwal Hegde via Zoom. Author Arshia Aattar and Anmol Tikoo paid tribute to Girish Karnad in a panel titled ‘The River Has No Fear of Memories’.

Publishers do the rounds at the lit fest and have, in the past, even been part of competitions for young authors. Self-publishing has gathered much traction over the last few years, with authors no-longer limited to the approval of major publishers. Prathibha Nandakumar led a session titled ‘Readers to Writers: The Online Revolution, featuring Banashankari Kulkarni, Shaina Srinivas Shetty, Rohini Ranganathan and K.V. Kasturi Ram. “It was a very refreshing session,” she said later, “with four authors sharing their journeys in self-publishing. They also shared their experiences about how they started writing and how it liberated them in many ways. It was a lovely session with them sharing sincere opinions and explaining how digital publishing gave them an identity that was deprived to them till then. They were very clear about their writings as well as their future goals.”

Chetan Bhagat was the day’s big-ticket offering and he arrived on Saturday evening to a packed auditorium. He was unfazed by the crowd, even joking about gaining weight during the pandemic and his dislike for masks. “It is not that simple to be simple,” he quipped, laughing off the critics who despise his simple style. “Like the crazy number of spices that go into Indian cooking, my books have a mix of everything from mystery to romance. I make the Indian buffet.”