On Republic Day, the idea of Indian Republic and nation and democracy dominated different sessions at the Hyderabad Literary Festival on a penultimate day on Saturday. And even a sudden downpour could not prove a dampener for the festival.

“The way the word liberal is being used is a perversion of language. While liberalism is about equality, it is being used to mean something else. Ironically, the tools of the state are being used to stifle dissent and perpetuate a new form of violence,” said Malvika Maheshwari, who has written Art Attacks that talks about the climate of insecurity in the world of art.

Engaging the audience with her was author Salil Tripathi, who spoke about how every religious community in India has been offended and has invoked Constitutional provisions to browbeat authors and writers.

Earlier, Pranay Lal, who has explored the geology of India with his Indica, spoke about how the scientific community has suddenly fallen silent when fake scientific theories are being bandied about.

“India has a great potential in ethanol economy which can make our vehicles run on cleaner fuel and it will also help our farmers, who are in distress. But somehow our policy-makers are not interested in it,” said Mr. Lal, as he narrated stories about India’s geology and how events that happened millions of years ago impact us.

At another tented space, Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor of Nalsar, held forth the vision of the Constitution-makers.

“The first word in the Constitution is ‘We’. It is a plural word that includes all of us. The Constitution-makers didn’t choose one language or one religion as our country has great diversity. It was a difficult choice in the aftermath of partition. But they chose the form of governance best suited for this diverse nation,” said Mr. Mustafa, and added that federalism and secularism were cornerstones of our democracy. The audience expected author Shashi Deshpande to share the writerly life with T. Vijay Kumar, the festival director. But the conversation showed the author as an ordinary woman fighting a lonely battle to find space and create her own world-view. A mission to create her own identity without the trappings or association of a family.

A mellow mood set in the festival when the documentary Mrinalini Sarabhai - The Artist and Her Art was screened. The movie showcases Mrinalini’s reasons for bringing social issues into the limelight through Bharatanatyam and Kathakali dance.