Jaipur lit fest opens on a spirited note

Clad in their traditional finery, the literati from twenty three countries made their way to Diggi Palace to kick off the much awaited Jaipur Literature Festival.

The ceremony began with traditional Rajasthani folk musicians serenading the audience with their music.

Willaim Dalrymple, director, DSC, Jaipur literature festival said, "We try and create a kind of nuclear fusion here, we bring the world's greatest literary minds from twenty three countries in India; watch the explosion happen."

Not interested in making this an intellectual conference, Dalrymple stressed that the festival is all about fun.

"We're not too serious, JLF is about fun. In the evening the writers have to shut up and musicians have to take over," he said.

Karan Singh, an eminent intellectual surprised the international audience by opening his speech in shudh hindi "Humein yaha aakar bahut prasannata ho rahi hai" (I'm really happy to be here).

Book lovers were seen gushing over their favourite authors as they spotted them.

The festival can be best described as a microcosm of literature lovers as people from all over the world mingled with each other.