JLF - Day III

"Raavi Paar" - my favourite of all I attended

I look like a kaam wali bai standing next to her

wow wow wow

our Oprah

The third day at JLF was supposedly going to be a hectic one, and it indeed turned out to be one. Well, it had to be since Oprah was coming. I woke up early and finished my breakfast quick to be at the Diggi palace  to attend the first session at the Bank of America Mughal tent. It was the one by Shashi Tharoor. He was moderating a panel on the "Superpowers of the 21st century". Though it was sounding more like a discussion on the falling of superpowers. I was not concentrating much on the session, as my senses were more attached to running quick to grab a place to watch Oprah. This was the almost first session at 10 am that day. Almost first because there was one at 9:40 am, and I fear if any one from the general public went to attend that one. Any ways, I left the Tharoor session after attending it for half an hour to sneak into the Tata Steel Front Lawns. I was not amazed to see the entire lawn filled with people, people and only people. Suman Yadav was singing some religious song, I am sure she too must have been surprised to see so many people alighted to watch her recital on Kabir. If she knew the crowd had gathered to attend to the Oprah session after hers, then she really must have been sad that day.

I could manage a place to stand at the side end. I kept standing for about 45 minutes and then Oprah arrived in a golden coloured salwar kameez, though the salwar seemed more like some pedal pushers. It was interesting to see so many people huddled up to see just one person. The side tramps, the balconies, the roof tops, no place was left vacant. In fact one of the big sized placards was about to fall since it could not resist the force from the people standing all around it. I was not able to move even a bit from where I was standing in the crowd. I could barley lift my hands to take a picture, I had to request a young girl standing next to me to take one for me. Thought the pictures came out hazy and unclear from my digital camera, I still feel privileged to have captured the pictures in my memory as well as in my camera. Miss Barkha Dutt interviewing her looked so excited while in conversation with Ms. Oprah Winfrey. She seemed to be her biggest fan of all. If someone like Barkha Dutt was all begging up for a job with Oprah, you know the magnitude of personality what Oprah is. Rather the people in the crowd that were crying while listening to her was another proof to it. The lady did not say anything in a sad tone, though the things that she said were indeed sad, like the molestation as a minor, being born poor, suffering discrimination, and of course being single. I think the question on being single that Ms. Dutt asked was more a personal one, rather personal more to Ms. Dutt herself. What Oprah replied to it was again something that touched me. She admitted that appreciating a woman for her strength, good work and good will gestures is all fine, but when it comes to being married to the same woman, is altogether a different issue. I realised that I am lucky in life. To get a man by your side who not only loves you, but also lets you be you is a big blessing in life. I was also amused to find Oprah saying so much of stuff that I also keep talking about, in exactly the same words. Like she said that being in India' s traffic feels like being a video game character. I too said the same thing when I was experiencing travelling within Kerala villages in the local buses there. Also, she happens to be a great fan of the book Shantaram, and she shared that whenever she reads a good book like that, she wishes that the book never ends, and she feels sad when it really does. I said the same thing to my husband just a week back before I heard the same from Oprah's mouth.

I doubt if anyone willingly went to attend any other session going on during the time Oprah was happening. If I had been amongst the unlucky ones to miss out on the Oprah sessions, I would have then gone for the Fatima Bhutto's at my favourite Bank of America Mughal Tent. I had schemed to watch Ms. Fatima in the upcoming session later on the same day at 2:30. So, then I found a comfortable place to sit at the Mughal tent, cause I eagerly was looking forward to the session "Raavi Paar: Readings from Punjab". I was shrivelling with enthusiasm. I am so fond of anyone with a good sense of humor and Punjabi flowing in-between. I was updated during the session that what Mr. Hanif was reciting poems in the Shahmukhi dialect of Punjabi. It was such an entertaining and engrossing session. I ended falling in more and more love with Sir Gulzar and the hunk Mr. Hanif. I could have managed meeting Mr. Hanif after the session, but on realising that my heart beat was at an alarming tempo, I decided not to. Please note it was for the same reason that I deliberately ignored him and went pass by him on the Day I of the JLF. Wow, I just had an upgraded self-control.

I really had planned everything well in advance of this festival. Therefore, I had packed Aliva biscuits, a small tetra pack of juice, few candies and an orange in my bag to be suitable during the times of non availability of food. After the Raavi Paar session, I had to decide upon attending either the session on Twitterati or the one where I could hear Ms. Bhutto. The one by the latter was on Wars, Revolutions and the Writers on exile at the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group Baithak. So, I ditched that one for the "Survival Strategies in the time of the Twitterati". So I was comfortable at my seat since I did not had to leave it, and another set of speakers would have come to satiate my aliment for the knowledge and wisdom. But there was a catch. There was an hour of book launch by a woman, which was to be done by none other than Mr. Bhagat, yes, our Mr. Chetan Bhagat. I just can go on and on and on with my reasons for hatred to him, but I will spare that to some other blog post. Luckily, I had to jhelo that pseudo person for only half an hour, since another writer's book launch happened at the last hour at the same venue, causing Mr. Bhagat and his college senior's wife (the lady with her book launch) to leave the stage. Ahhh I was so relaxed. But then it was the time to face the man again in a panel with Mr. Tharoor and Mr. Suhel Seth in discussion on social media revolution and it's relevance in a writer's life. Luckily I was seated at such a place where I could hardly watch the speaker whom I detest, so I was all fine with just hearing him. But then hearing him is the biggest trouble. That man speaks anything, anything under the Sun that could make him more popular, or that could earn him a little more money, or that could get him to contest through the BJP. Therefore, without doubt, I termed him as the Chikni Chameli of writing since that day. Though the session had good things to look forward to, such as the humble and wisdom filled experiences from Mr. Tharoor. It was so nice to know that the man graciously accepted all his follies that happened on twitter, and since then he has revved up his tweets to deliver more serious and meaningful messages. I wont comment on the third speaker of the session, Mr. Seth since I am yet to form an opinion on him. I have only seen him act and throwing his ideas on a public forum, I still need to read anything that he writes to form a firm opinion on him. I was waiting for the session to end, so that I could run up to the book signing arena to catch Mr. Tharoor to get an autograph or if luck were to side me, perhaps a picture too. I guess I was the first one in the queue that formed after an empty table, such was the magnitude of the followers for him. 5 minutes passed, and he just did not arrive, I was getting anxious what if he does not come!!! Just then someone appeared before me who made me forget all about Mr. Tharoor, it was none other than Ms. Bhutto. Oh my God she was so pretty, I requested one kid to click a picture of mine with her. That kid hurriedly took out picture and I was so happy. All the while attending the Twiterrati session I was regretting about failing to attend Ms. Bhutto's session twice, but a mere click with her made me forget all my resentments. After that I was examining my picture with her and also waiting for Mr. Tharoor to come at the signing bay, since I thought I would be the first one to meet him. If it had not been for an angle, I surely must have missed meeting Mr. Tharoor that day. A young kid asked me if I knew where Mr. Tharoor would be, I took full use of the opportunity and we both started on to look for the correct queue to find him. Luckily, we found the queue. I was already carrying Mr. Tharoor's book, so I saved money from buying it from the festival's book shop. The moment my moment with the man arrived, I was on cloud 9. I told him that I met him a year back at the Delhi airport, but could not manage a picture then, so he got my cue and readily posed for a picture. I was so thrilled, just then when I was about to leave the queue, the kiddie who accompanied me asked me if I could click his picture as well. I readily accepted his request and then we both exchanged our facebook ids which made me promptly share his picture after i returned home from the JLF. Well, this is indeed the times of social revolution....

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