Usha Uthup, Mozhdah Jamalzadah to headline 15th Jaipur Literature Festival
India's undisputed pop icon Usha Uthup, Afghan-Canadian singer, media personality and women's rights activist Mozhdah Jamalzadah and a few other notable personalities will be having insightful conversations on the fifth day of the 15th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Uthup and her daughter Srishti Jha will discuss with musician and writer, Vidya Shah about the songstress' biography The Queen of Indian Pop: The Authorised Biography of Usha Uthup.
The singer will be throwing light at her colourful and inspiring career, music, memories, milestones, her first gigs and then meteoric rise to stardom, through strife, celebration and intimate musings and the book that captures it all.
Afghan-Canadian singer, media personality and women's rights activist Mozhdah Jamalzadah who speaks boldly on the rights of women, pertinent subjects and taboos, will be talking about her biography Voice of Rebellion: How Mozhdah Jamalzadah Brought Hope to Afghanistan by Roberta Staley with journalist Jyoti Malhotra.
She started singing "to remind the Afghan people that women are a very big part - they've always been a big part - of society". Being a powerful voice among the people of her generation, her life has so many stories to tell the world and the conversation at the event will give an insight into her life and the book.
British writer Monica Ali, whose debut novel Brick Lane has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, will be engaging in a chat with Bee Rowlatt where they will talk "who we are and how we love in today's Britain".
Since its inauguration in August 1947, a time of extraordinary fervour and hope, India has presented an enduring puzzle. How do you establish and consolidate democratic citizenship in a society with mass poverty, social inequality and illiteracy? For decades, India has challenged conventional ideas of democratic citizenship, that it is only attainable after a certain degree of economic and social development. However, our civil and political liberties are at stake owing to the decline of democratic citizenship in India and other parts of the world. Is this the end of the road for the world's largest democracy? Or, is there yet hope for renewal? A panel exploring the politics of hope amid growing anxieties, and questions for the future of democratic citizenship in India.
Day 4 Round Up:
On the fourth day, the 15th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival unfolded at its virtual platform. The day's sessions were a testament to the rich variety of the multiple forms of storytelling that the Festival explores, ranging from books, ideas, performances. The day opened with the calming strains of sufi music by the gifted singer-songwriters from Srinagar, Kashmir, Ali Saffudin & Noor Mohammad. The two came together to give the audience a unique never-seen-before experience that set the tone for an exceptional array of sessions.
At the Durbar Hall, historian and archaeologist Himanshu Prabha Ray along with the chair of Tantric Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris Andrea Acri discussed the process of influence and its kinds. The session explored the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism, Sanskrit and Indic forms of art and architecture on large swathes of Southeast Asia. Together Ray and Acri were in conversation with the Festival's Co-director Willian Dalrymple. While talking about Buddhist masters Ray said, "I would like to say that the term Indianisation itself is a Pizza effect. It started as a European terminology and really was an effort at couching what the Europeans, particularly the French, considered the civilising mission in Asia".
At another session, Retired diplomat Vinod Khanna along with independent Delhi based researcher Malini Saran surveyed the Ramayana traditions of Indonesia and the way in which Indian cultural elements were absorbed in it. Their book 'Ramayana in Indonesia' is comprehensive and extensively researched. With historian and Festival Co-Director William Dalrymple, together they discussed the spheres touched by the Ramayana traditions in Indonesia which includes literature, performing arts, philosophy and regional traditions.
During the conversation, Saran talked about Ramayana in the arts of Java and Bali and gave an exciting presentation. "The inherent qualities of the Ramayana - to entertain, to instruct and to edify - promoted their special status...the malleability of Ramayana gave local artists freedom to shape and interpret this material within the bounds of their artistic forms to make it their own," said Saran.
For registrations and more info visit Jaipur Literature Festival Website