Jaipur, India, January 25 – Tibet made a visible appearance at the ongoing five-day (21-25 January) Jaipur Literature Festival dubbed as the biggest literary festival in the world. For the first time ever, the festival featured Tibet as a theme for one of the sessions or which noted Tibetan writer and independence activist Tenzin Tsundue was invited to speak alongside Isabel Hilton, author of The Search for the Panchen Lama.
The session titled ‘Tibet’ was chaired by celebrated writer William Dalrymple, author of acclaimed books on Indian history including the The White Mughals.
The session covered a huge range of issues like human rights in Tibet, Panchen Lama, Tibetan democracy and future Tibetan leadership and succession of the Dalai Lama.
Isabel Hilton, who also runs China Dialogue, said that Panchen Lama’s importance to the Tibetan people remains even when he is in Chinese custody and never seen in public since 1995.
Talking about future of Tibet Tsundue said, “As long as we the Tibetans do not give up there is always hope, of course support from the US, Europe or India is important, but Tibetans inside Tibet is the main strength of the struggle.”
The session was entertaining, gripping with short and witty comments from the three speakers, and the audience. Tsundue read his poem “When it Rains in Dharamsala, ” which was received by the audience with thunderous applause.
A group of aspirant poets and writers from Dharamsala also attended the festival; among them is Tibetan poet and translator Bhuchung D Sonam, whose latest book of poetry Songs from a Distance was made available for purchase at the festival. Tsundue hopes more Tibetans can participate in the festival in the future.
The festival is attended by over 20,000 book lovers and writers from all around the world. The festival featured readings, discussions, interviews and music, dance and theatre.
Some of the biggest names in contemporary literature like Vikram Chandra, Nobel laureate Orphan Pamuk, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Enn Wright, Alexander McCall Smith, Amit Chaudhry, Hanif Khureshi were present at the festival. Personalities from the Indian film industry like Om Puri, Rahul Bose, Shabana Azmi, playwright and actor Girish Karnad, lyricists Gulzar and Javed Akhtar were also present.
Young Pakistani writers Ali Sethi, Husain, Shazia Omar won much public appreciation as they frankly dealt with complexities of the two-nations’ politics and lives of ordinary people. Burmese writer Ma Thida made suave presentation and Bhutan’s queen mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk talked about Bhutan’s culture and lives of the people of the Himalayan Kingdom.
