During avisit to the world renowned book event, Humphrey Hawksley finds a refreshing antidote to growing global concerns about threats to freedom of speech and thought
For five days every January, hundreds of thousands converge on the elegant old Diggi Palace in Jaipur for the world’s biggest literary festival.
A half-hour flight from Delhi, Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan and its draw comes not from any reputation as a modern, cosmopolitan crossroads but from its regal history and the stylishness of its architecture: Maharaja Ram Singh prettified it in 1876 for the visit of Queen Victoria’s eldest son Prince Albert, who promptly proclaimed it to be ‘the Pink City’. The nickname has endured. […]