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The Jaipur Literature Festival(JLF) is back on ground after gap of two years with more to offer than before with ten days of online sessions of various speakers. For the first time, the festival is being held in a hybrid mode with sessions available online and offline. Another difference is the venue as the festival is now being held on the grounds of Clark’s Amer in Jaipur.

With over 200 speakers lined up for the festival on ground over a period of five days, JLF kickstarted on Thursday morning with calming strains of the Morning Music at the Front Lawn and a scintillating performance of Raag Miya Ki Todi by Shri Ujwal Nagar, maestro of Hindustani classical music as well as the lead classical singer of the Indian fusion band Advaita. 

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In his welcome speech, Festival Producer and Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, Shri Sanjoy K Roy said, “We welcome you all to the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival. Last year, we were able to pivot online and through our digital series JLF Brave New World, JLF WORDS ARE BRIDGES, and the 2021 Jaipur Literature Festival, which was entirely digital – reached over 27.5 million people across the world. It’s the first year that we have taken the Festival hybrid; we started on March 5 and will go on till March 14. So, it’s a ten-day programme of incredible riches!” Rajasthan tourism minister Shri Vishvendra Singh also made his presence at the event on the first day.

At the 15th edition of the JLF, a session featured Portuguese politician and author Bruno Maçães, talking about his book Geopolitics for the End Time: From the Pandemic to the Climate Crisis, a sharp study of an emerging world order that is competitive and driven by the need to adapt and survive in increasingly hostile natural environments. In conversation with former diplomat and author Navtej Sarna, Maçães discussed the future of the world’s political landscape. 

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A session featured Hans Jacob Frydenlund, Norwegian Ambassador to India, Shri Chandrakant Singh, recipient of the Vir Chakra, Shaheen Anam, Executive Director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, and Walter J Linder, German Ambassador to India. Together they discussed the possibility of peace in a world that is torn. 

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From distributing home-produced albums on a scooter in the 80s to becoming a national sensation, Remo Fernandes talked about his book, Remo: The Autobiography of Remo Fernandes offers a window to the musician’s exhilarating life and compelling story. The other speakers at the on ground festival included Shashi Tharoor, Manoj Bajapayee and Neena Gupta amongst others.

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Over 10,000 visitors are expected to attend the festival on a daily basis and while the event was supposed to be held in January as usual, it was postponed to March due to the pandemic. The festival is also offering a Heritage event and Jaipur Music Stage which is running parallel to the main festival as it was in the previous editions as well.