‘Cup runs over’ as Litfest fills weekend with meaning, magic

To the line-up of renowned writers at the Times Litfest, Amitav Ghosh had his own names to add, names of those who had inspired him and shared their stories and humour with him. “Though a writer is at his desk all day long, seemingly alone, there are voices around us all the time who inspire and give us strength,” he said after accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award from Sangita Jindal - Chairperson, JSW Foundation.


Among the dozen authors and poets he counted as his inspiration were Dom Moraes, Kamala Markandeya, Nayantara Sahgal, Ismat Chughtai, Sunil Gangopadhyay and AR Ramanujam.

The ceremony marked the closing of three days of literature, ideas, debate, discussion, art and music at the eighth edition of the Times Litfest. With Waternamah: The Romance, The Crosscurrents, The Crisis as the theme, conversations ebbed and flowed as more than 12,000 people filled the halls and lawns of Mehboob Studios.

Friends caught up in the quadrangle, children played among art installations as their parents listened to their favourite writers, and teens as well as senior citizens reclined against the mini, black and white recreations of Mumbai landmarks such as the Harbour Master’s office and the sealink to take selfies. The decor reflected the theme of water and Mumbai’s connect with the oceans.

More than 100 writers, musicians, poets, thinkers and scientists discussed everything from cognitive science, river linking and religion to cloud-spotting, maritime trade and zero waste management. Thinkers from the rarefied world of the Ivy League such as Steven Pinker,

Rebecca Goldstein

and Sunil Khilnani shared space with simple yet strong writers and activists like Manoranjan Byapari and Bhanwari Devi.

“I feel like my cup runneth over,” said Ghosh, who received the country’s highest literary award, the Jnanpith, earlier this week. “It’s a great honour to be here, it’s amazing that it all comes at the same time as the Jnanpith, which is the pinnacle of all things,” he said.

For Neesha B, who comes home to Mumbai every December from New York, the litfest is a place to catch up with friends. “I tell all my friends I’ll be here for three days, and they come from all over to hear the great conversations and make some of our own,” she said.