At the Diggi Palace Hotel

With Author Jeet Thiyal of Man Booker fame

Jan 25, 2013: It is the second day of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 and I am writing this blog entry from Room No 618 of hotel Diggi Palace which was once a haveli.

It was built in the 1860s and is now a heritage property. 

The hotel's upkeep is excellent with manicured lawns. With its large leafy garden, the hotel is like an oasis in the heart of Jaipur.

With Pakistani Author Nadeem Aslam

The past two days I was very busy with the Jaipur LitFest attending various sessions, meeting and authors. 

It was more like a mela where you can meet literary personalities from across the world and also many from the glamour world. The journalists were of course all there swarming the fest. 

Diggi Palace has been hosting the Jaipur Literature Festival since last year.

With Sanjeev Bothra and Himmat Shah

I am grateful to the owner of Diggi Palace, Thakur Ram Pratap Singh Diggi and his wife Jyotika Kumari. 

They were kind enough to give me a very comfortable suite with a good sitting area at the Diggi Palace itself and that too at a time when getting hotel accommodation is next to impossible.

With Vinod Bhardwaj and L C Pant

It was very convenient for me, and others known to me, to take a break from the LitFest sessions that were being held at the same venue. It was really nice of them to give me a room on my last minute request at this great place. I am really thankful for that.

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