Curtains down on BLF 2021

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: The laughs were quicker and louder this year, ringing out like gunshots across the Bangalore International Centre. The panelists were full of wit and humour too – everybody wanted a bit of good cheer, it has been a long time since people gathered together this way. There was camaraderie and laughter everywhere, after an extended period of gloom. People came in droves, with well over a thousand visitors on Day 1 alone. The tenth edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival closed with a bang. Around 30 authors and speakers took part on Sunday, with fans crowding the bookstore at the venue, hoping to grab copies and have them signed by their favourite authors. The pandemic has cast a long shadow and traces of it remain. Organizers went to extra efforts to make sure the halls were well-ventilated, which were still only filled to fifty percent capacity.

Not much could dampen the festive mood. Author Vivek Shanbhag, who was taking a walk through the bookstore, was happy to be there in person. “If we must have the festival, then it should be a physical one. I am happy to attend only if that is the case. Then again, it’s only in Bengaluru that the writer community has such a feeling of mutual support.”

Journalist B.N. Haneef, who has written over 15 books, the most recent being Jinnah Komuvadi, a biography of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, was at the festival on Sunday for a panel titled ‘Beary - The Many Language Worlds of Karnataka’, with N.A. Mahamed Ismail. “This is an effort to honour the unique linguistic diversity of our state,” he told News Trail later. “There are so many languages in Karnataka - Arebhashe, Beary, Dakkani Urdu, Halakki Kannada, Havyaka Kannada, Kundapura Kannada, Kodava, Konkani, Koraga, Navayati, Sanketi and Tulu. They are a testament to our great diversity.” There are well over 70 languages in Karnataka alone and over 19,000 in the country, Haneef explained. “Professor Purushottam Bilimale and Shakira Jabeen gave excellent presentations on imagining the future of multilingualism in the nation and the state,” said Prateeti Ballal, who curated the session.

Journalist B.N. Haneef, who has written over 15 books, the most recent being Jinnah Komuvadi, a biography of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, was at the festival on Sunday for a panel titled ‘Beary - The Many Language Worlds of Karnataka’, with N.A. Mahamed Ismail. “This is an effort to honour the unique linguistic diversity of our state,” he told News Trail later. “There are so many languages in Karnataka - Arebhashe, Beary, Dakkani Urdu, Halakki Kannada, Havyaka Kannada, Kundapura Kannada, Kodava, Konkani, Koraga, Navayati, Sanketi and Tulu. They are a testament to our great diversity.” There are well over 70 languages in Karnataka alone and over 19,000 in the country, Haneef explained. “Professor Purushottam Bilimale and Shakira Jabeen gave excellent presentations on imagining the future of multilingualism in the nation and the state,” said Prateeti Ballal, who curated the session.

Josy Joseph, who discussed his latest book, The Silent Coup: A History of India’s Deep State, with Nitin Pai on Sunday, describes his path-breaking career in journalism as something “which happened” without “any determined calculation.” He came to Delhi, he says, to “become a civil servant but never took the civil service exam.” Instead, he became a reporter. Typically modest about his many achievements, he says, “Maybe I was lucky that there was a phase in my career when there was a demand for good quality journalism.”

Other sessions that ran to packed houses were ‘Mercy’ by David Baldacci and Ashwin Sanghi, both of whom attended virtually. Fans crowded the auditorium for Jeet Thayil’s ‘Featuring Jeet’, during which he read from his own work. Bee Rowlatt’s ‘Feminist Adventures in History’ with Amrita Tripathy was also very well-attended.

No shortcuts to wealth creation

Money Wise: Timeless Lessons on Building Wealth had many avid listeners - who doesn’t want to create wealth? Those hoping for a shortcut method learned that there is none. “Your first crore will always come from what you earn through your job. It’s very rare to meet a person who says, you know, I’ll save five lakhs and it will multiply twenty times to become a crore. That is hardly the case,” said Deepak Shenoy, author of Money Wise.

“Most people earn their first crore or million or whatever, through their jobs and what they put aside. You do it through your savings. Your savings can grow but the incremental amount that you earn from your job and savings is higher than how much return you get from the money you put in,&rdq