It’s a well-known axiom that the hills are conducive to creative endeavours and this is something that the trustees of the Ooty Literary Festival also confirm.
Ask about the impetus behind starting the festival, Managing Trustee TGB Pinto says that, while the first idea came from Yash Muthanna, the managing committee discovered that the Nilgiris did have quite a few writers who had settled down there like Yash herself who had lived in the area for more than 55 years.
The other factor that pushed them to go ahead with their plans was the number of schools in the Nilgiris.
“The trustees felt that the children would benefit from a literary festival right at their doorstep,” says Pinto. With the Nilgiri Library authorities agreeing to allow the festival to be held on the premises, a venue was also available. And so the first festival was launched in September 2016.
The third edition next weekend — the festival is held on the second Friday and Saturday of September every year, says Pinto — has a line up of stellar names like Shanta Gokhale, Patrick French, Ranjit Hoskote, Mustansir Dalvi, Vishwajyoti Ghosh and Christopher Penn, apart from authors closer home like Srividya Sivakumar, Dr V Srinivas, Peeyush Maniyambath and B Balasubramanian. Pinto offers an interesting insight into the selection of speakers. “The committee decides only on the speakers from the Nilgiris.” For the rest, well-known author, poet and translator Jerry Pinto “takes a call” as the festival advisor.
Over the last two editions, the local factor has been very visible and prominent. And that's a conscious decision, says Pinto.
“The idea was to have the people of the Nilgiris feel a sense of ownership towards the festival.” To this end, they have members of the Toda community welcome the audience and Badaga and Kota musicians perform and ensure that the number of local writers is balanced against those from outside.
Pinto also says that the organisers don’t want the festival to grow out of its intimate and cosy moorings.
“We have received extremely positive feedback from authors and publishers. They get to interact with each other and the audience freely this way. So there is a conscious effort from day one not to make the festival bigger.”
OLF at schools
Since one of the basic premises was to have youngsters benefit from the festival, the organisers invite children’s authors and have them visit one Tamil medium and one English medium school on the two days. “We ensure that the schools are not repeated until all the schools benefit from the association,” he says. In addition, they also hold a writing competition across 30 schools two months earlier and present the awards during the festival.
When and where
The festival will be held on September 14 & 15, 2018, from 10.00 am to 5.15 pm
The venue is the Nilgiri Library, Hospital Road, Upper Bazaar, Ooty
Open to all. No entry fee. People will have to register at the venue
For details, contact 9443058866 or email ootylitfest@gmail.com
What’s on offer
Some of the sessions at the festival are drawn from what’s happening in the world around us
Social media and its impact on our lives features in a discussion on Manufacturing consent in the age of Facebook between well-known journalist N Ram and publisher Meru Gokhale
With the Nilgiris at the forefront of a conservation movement that includes a ban on plastics and a recent move by the administration to seal resorts in ecologically sensitive areas, the festival has a session on Writing Green featuring authors Pankaj Sekhsaria and Prerna Singh Bindra in conversation with Meenakshi Venkataraman
How fare our women? will be topic of conversation between Sameera Khan, veteran theatreperson Shanta Gokhale and author Paro Anand