Bengaluru: The crowds who packed themselves under the rainbow-themed arena at the Bangalore Literature Festival to see Shashi Tharoor were not disappointed. His opening statement was enough to send the Twitterati into a frenzy across the country. It was the RSS, he said, which hit upon an extraordinary striking metaphor to describe their inability to curb Mr Modi.
“They say Mr Modi is like a scorpion sitting on a Shivaling. You can't move it with your hand and you can't hit it with a chappal either. And if you think about it, it is a very profound understanding of the relationship between the RSS and Modi," he said. With the audiences reaching for their phones immediately, to tweet the event, it wasn't long before Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad sought an apology from the Congress.
It was a controversial reference to a profile on Mr Modi published in The Caravan back in 2012, titled "The Emperor Uncrowned," by Vinod Jose, who wrote, "Shortly before I left Gujarat, one RSS leader described his own feelings in a bitter sigh: 'Shivling mein bicchu baitha hai. Na usko haath utaar sakte ho, na usko jutta maar sakte ho.'
The much-adored Congress leader had previously promised that his latest book, The Paradoxical Prime Minister, would not just be "400 pages of floccinauccinihilipilification," much to Twitter's delight. And true to his words, Tharoor has faced some flak for appearing to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt. "I welcomed some of his statements immediately after his election in 2014, for they were conciliatory.
Shashi Tharoor, Shashi Tharoor, Shashi Tharoor – the young, the spirited and the tech-savvy could find little else to talk about on Sunday morning, as the much-loved Congress MP took things off to a roaring start. Incidentally, neither could the BJP, made apoplectic by the analogy likening the RSS-Modi relationship to a "scorpion on a Shivaling" , as audiences rushed for their phones to tweet the happenings. He may have kept Twitterati occupied all day, but he didn't quite manage to steal the show at the Bangalore Literature Festival.
It is a mark of its excellence, no doubt, that audiences didn't give in to the heady lure of the national pastime – fighting about politics. Author Snigdha Poonam took the stage soon after to discuss her book, 'Dreamers: How Young Indians are Changing the World'. Her accounts of the big dreams she heard of – media mogul, motivational speaker, movie star – came from people who have little else apart from hope. It struck a chord with her audience, no doubt still in the afterglow of the Tharoor session.
If children crowded into the workshop run by journalists Barkha Dutt and Shruthi H.M., the #MeToo had onlookers roaring and hooting their approval as Sandhya Menon, Sister Jesme, Tushita Patel and Vinta Nanda took the stage with Barkha, for a passionate session that spilled out of its time slot and ran well into the next.
Journalist Dan Morrison interviewed Naina Lal Kidwai about her book, Survive or Sink, while Ashwin Mahesh and Harish Narasappa discussed Absence of the Rule of Law. Held at the Red Couch, this session brought in a fair number of the city's activists, adding another touch of diversity to the BLF.
Sophie Hannah stole many hearts, for she has brought Hercule Poirot back to life. The reigning queen of contemporary crime fiction describes embracing her weirdness, being wacky and letting outlandish ideas arise.
The arrival of diplomat and author Pavan Varma was met with enthusiasm and there was barely standing room as he met journalist Shuma Choudhary in conversation. He captivated the audience by describing the diversity of Vedic thought: "Out of the six schools of Hinduism, five can be considered atheist," he said, referring to his book, Adi Shankaracharya. The moderator's attempts to inject political humour and commentary into the conversation were dismissed, abruptly, for time was short and there was much to be said.
And again, the downfall of BLF 2018 is that it must come to an end and people lingered after the final session, enquiring hopefully if there was anything else in store. Literature, poetry and philosophy came together with journalism, foreign policy and the India that lies ahead. If the tremendous excitement that a group of writers could muster is a sign of things to come, there is hope!
