Patna Litfest 2014 takes off

With Kunal Basu at the inaugural session of Patna Literature Festival 2014

Patna, Feb 14, 2014: The rain gods have been merciless and seemed to have followed me from where I had left – the Jaipur Litfest last month.

The Patna Literature Festival 2014, which is in its second year, began some 40 minutes late today amid heavy downpour with some changes in the itinerary. But torrential rains could not dampen the spirits of the participants and visitors who turned up in strength. It was decided that the programmes would be held at the auditorium and the Buddha Lawns which were particularly prepared for this eventuality.

The inaugural session was shifted to 1:30 pm in the afternoon as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had to attend the assembly session. The result of this was that my session with Kunal Basu turned out to be the first session of the Patna Literature Festival (PLF).

This change suited me because I got a break for my second session “World in Arts: Art & Literature in an Unequal Society” which was originally scheduled to start immediately after my first session “Fiction and Films” with Kunal Basu the author of The Japanese Wife. I asked him his views on what he thought was the best work of fiction that has been filmed. He said Satyajit Ray's Pather Pachali.

With Dayanita Singh, Subodh Gupta and Aradhna Pradhan at one of the Patna Literature Festival 2014 sessions on day one

In the second session, Ashok Vajpayee, Vikram Seth, Gulzar, Om Thanvi, Pawan Verma and others were among the audience. Ashok Vajpayee and Om Thanvi asked questions during the interactive session, making it all the more lively.

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