The Great Indian Literary Festival #TGILF

The Great Indian Literature Festival was a three-day literature festival, held in Udaipur. It was an invite only event and I was one of the invitees and a panellist as well. You can follow it on TGIL Facebook Page here.

The debates, discussions and impact of bringing regional literature to fore as well as the invitees and itineraries were all shared and I was totally geared for the event.

As soon as we reached the Udaipur Airport we met up with other members and moved to Hotel Swaroop Vilas. Getting settled over breakfast and tea. It is a beautiful property steeped in the traditional beauty of Rajasthan.

Bestselling Author Amit Shankar is the brainchild behind this idea and encouraging regional literature and the real gems of Indian literature is a theme very close to my heart. I found this to be the ideal platform for good, wholesome Indian Regional Literature. You know that I always share about Simmi Harshita and her books in an effort to promote Hindi Literature.

Day 1 started with getting to know other guests over lunch followed by the inaugural session with a discussion on the impact and course of #TGILF on regional literature.

Followed by an insightful talk by Prof. Dinesh Singh as he shared his views about the impact of Indian regional and Hindi literature.

The venue then moved to Vatsalya – An Orchard Farm for the formal lamp lighting and inaugural speeches. It was also followed by book cover launches for the TGILF Anthology as well as Amit’s new book.

The sessions on day 1 were

• Huff and Puff – Bottlenecks for regional literature and what stops it from being more widely appreciated and distributed.
• The Missing 24 FPS – Why many literary works are not converted into screenplays.
• One on One – Mulk Raj Anand. Amit Shankar spoke with Katie Dubey about her Uncle Mulk. It was an amazing, insightful session about ‘Uncle Mulk’.

Artist and painter, Nanda Khiara  joined us with her thoughtful, vivid and vibrant paintings expressing Rajasthan in all its glory.

The night was later aglow with the flying lanterns which all of us left into the inky night. these bright beacons as significant as the thought and idea behind this literary festival.

This infusion of literary thoughts and perceptive discussions were followed by a scrumptious dinner before we headed back to Hotel Swaroop Vilas for a very comfortable stay.

The fan girl moment was also meeting the beautiful, vivacious and talented Pankhuri Awasthy and hearing her talk about her craft as an actor, a reader, a book lover and the impact of books on television and screenplays.

Couldn’t resist adding two pics 😛 😉

The next day dawned bright and early with such a fresh feel that by the time we finished our breakfast we were eager for another invigorating session with the literary maestros.

A drive through Udaipur took us to The real Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – Ravla Khempur for the Day 2 of TGLIF. The sessions were as diverse and impactful with the views aired, opinions and ideas far reaching. Not to forget the scrumptious, traditional Rajasthani lunch served and savoured.

The day was packed with many aspects of literature, books and writing.

• One On One with Sumita Pant as she shared her thoughts on her father Sumitra Nandan Pant. See the video here.

  

• Bury the Pulp – can we do without pulp fiction? I think not.
• The Dying Art of writing – as a craft where does it stand in the age of less is more.  

• Digital – the New Platter. The impact of ebooks, videos, reading apps on paperbacks.

• The Lost World – is literature lost in a LitFest?  

• Get, Set, Go – success, numbers or good writing. Can the two merge?

The evening came too quickly but not before, we had some lovely candid photos. The event reinforced my belief that good writing and good books will keep flourishing but not without our support.

Apart from talking about books I also met authors and a few good books to add to my TBR List at the #TGILF.

The vibrant Mona Mohanty with her book Betwixt Twists And Turns

The insightful Kusum Choppra with her book Silver Dreams

The dynamic Mahendra Jakhar with his new release The Swastika Killer.

I have shared the buying links of all the books, do give them a try – there is something for everyone.

It is easy to just exist but to truly live you have to follow your heart and make a commitment. The authors, writers, artists and creatives I met at #TGILF have left a lasting impact on me and my words.

See you next year.