Sunlight streamed through tall trees, dappled lawns played with shadows, the arched Durbar Hall of Diggi Palace was the fulcrum where words, thoughts, ideas, truths, opinions, speculation jostled each other at the Jaipur Literature Festival. With historian and author Simon Schama proclaiming “We finally have a writer in the White House,” to columnist and magazine editor, Tina Brown radiating her thoughts with easy and sharp wit on what it entails to be writing a book on Hillary Clinton, the city buzzed with stories, plots, poetry, music and all else seemed to be of no importance.

The presence of a group of Pakistani writers drew parallels to the journeys of both the countries. India and Pakistan have survived 60 years. Tracking down the authors through their experiences and readings revealed a feeling of ‘we know this and yet it’s different here’. The writing that is emerging from Pakistan as contemporary fiction, tends to be more explicitly political than most contemporary Indian fiction and the country’s deeply troubled history and current crisis have spawned a dynamism lacking in some Indian writing.

By the second day, we were getting used to seeing authors Nadeem Aslam, Mohammad Hanif and Daniyal Mueenuddin hanging out in the sun together, or hopping from tent to tent making the most of the word-play on display. “Hanif’s book could not have come out at the time in which it is set,” Aslam said, referring to acclaimed novel A Case of Exploding Mangoes, a darkly comic account of former Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq’s death in an air crash in 1988. Hanif, who quit the Pakistan Air Force Academy to become a journalist, recently moved back to Pakistan after living in England for more than a decade. But even those who live abroad feel a ‘sense of urgency’ to record events and places before they change, said Aslam, who visits Pakistan every year. That’s why, in The Wasted Vigil, you get a sense that the writer is writing like his ‘quill is on fire’.

“Before 9/11, I really hadn’t thought of myself as a Muslim. After 9/11, I say I am one. A Muslim is not a guy with a beard and that also sends a message to Osama Bin Laden that ‘I won’t let you define what a Muslim is.’” There was applause in the hall and just as much for Hanif who was asked for the reactions that his book, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, invoked from General Zia’s family. The dapper reply was, “There was no reaction since no one in General Zia’s family reads books.”

The usual stream of questions were directed at the writers from Pakistan – do you think Pakistan is finished as a state…does democracy really live there? To which Daniyal Mueenuddin, whose collection of linked short stories In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, is to be published next month, replied, “That’s very easy. Yes.” But not so for Hanif, a BBC journalist based in Karachi, who has won praise for his spare, soberingly funny debut novel, who claims that he still lives ‘with hope’. Mueenuddin came across as a quiet brooder, enough to leave a few young lasses swooning over him. “Now, that’s one sexy writer...the Pakistani writers are really something...!”

Cups of coffee and kulhad wali chai were downed while hopping in and out of the three venues. Diggi Palace was strewn with book lovers, literary personalities, students of all shapes and sizes. It was good to see Hari Kunzru, Aslam, Vikram Seth, Hanif, Pavan Varma, Keki Daruwalla, Pico Iyer, Rana Dasgupta, also trying to be present for as many readings as they could. Overheard: Swapna Das Gupta ribbing Random House India’s Chiki Sarkar, “Do you ever publish any Indian authors?” to which Sarkar promptly showed off Namita Devidayal who was at that moment standing right next to her. Conversation buzzed over food and wine; the evenings were special with music concerts. Author Charles Nicholl wanted to go shopping for carpets, a young one-book-old writer rushed to pick up a black and red ensemble for the writers’ ball on the closing night, while agents and publishers hobnobbed with aspiring authors. Visiting cards were whipped out, promises to hook up made. The mood and tone were festive. I guess Jaipur has its own ways of getting into people’s bags. Vikram Seth shuffled through his bag to take out his shopping from Anokhi – some toothpicks – to reach for his books for a reading.

Literature is not just about fiction, poetry and biographies, was the message being sent out in the wide range. Sitting outside the main hall can have its bonus points. While listening to Schama’s tongue-in-cheek “you’d be disappointed if politicians weren’t corrupt”, I spotted feminist and historian, Urvashi Butalia have her bit of fun posing like a dancer for a photographer – he waited till she gave a sober ‘herself’ kind of shot.

Of course Delhi socialites and their clique were all over the place...it was a curious and interesting mix of crowds. The festival seemed to have appealed to the serious literary reader (of all ages) who feeds on layered genre literature, skeptics, cynics, humanists, as also to the young girl in her teens, the lad on the mobike, the lady with the Gucci bag, the spectacled prof, someone who reads only newspapers, someone who likes to be seen at ‘the event’...well, all sorts of people who fill up the world essentially and the ‘lit fest’ in Jaipur did just that.

What was your experience like, being in India and at the Jaipur Literature Festival?
I have been to some literary fests in UK and they are all very white, middle aged, middle class. Jaipur seemed like a proper mela with hordes of children hunting for autographs, the Bauls jamming with Namita Devidayal, poets reciting their verse. I met more writers than I have in my entire life. I don’t know about others but we had one long party.

How difficult is it to write about your own country?
It’s really difficult but then what else can one write about? I know there are really imaginative people who can write about other places, even about places that don’t exist but sadly I am not one of them.

Are the issues that you deal with as a writer from Pakistan similar to India?
I have obviously not read most of the Indian writing. But I think there are many more Indian writers writing about many more subjects. Chick lit, thrillers, teenage novels. Now I have heard there are going to be Indian Mills and Boons and historical romances as well. There are very few writers from Pakistan and they all seem to be tackling different subjects. They get clubbed together because of their nationality.

Do you feel democracy will ever survive in Pakistan?
I hope so. If Pakistan is to survive, it has to learn to nurture democracy. We have had long spells of dictatorship and look where it has got us. I haven’t met very many Pakistanis lately who would want a return to dictatorship.

Both countries have traversed parallel journeys – how do you view these?
I think lots of problems are common and one day there will have to be a common solution. But both countries differ in a fundamental way. India has stuck to a democratic path, however flawed it might be. Whereas Pakistan hasn’t but I am hoping that we have learnt from our past mistakes.

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