Where do ideas come from?
Elizabeth Gilbert at Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 | Photograph by Nikita Vhora
It’s in the least expected moments that life around presents you with answers. You may not have asked the question but you may have been in need of the answer, recognised only once it presents itself.
—
January 2020
Applause.
Howard Jacobson, the Man-Booker Prize winning British novelist enjoyed literally for his literary sense of humour had evoked yet another round of side splitting laughter amongst the audience at Jaipur Literature Festival’s Front Lawns to conclude the panel discussion. This was preceded by an insightful sharing of their writing life by Elizabeth Gilbert – an American author best known for her memoir ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, Avni Doshi – an emerging writer and Leila Slimani a Franco-Moroccan writer and journalist. The session was titled ‘Where Does Fiction Come From’.
As the session opened up to questions from the audience, hands shot up and microphones were passed around hundreds of people gathered to make sense of fiction. Amidst this exchange, a child doodling in a drawing book plopped on the ground besides her mother by the stage decided she had an important question. She raised her hand and grabbed the microphone as soon as it came to her and spurted, “Where do y’all get your ideas from?”
Her cute drawl and genuine curiosity was met by an unanimous ‘awww’ from the audience.
Howard Jacobson had a grandfatherly joke to make.
“From dreaming!” shared Avni Doshi.
“From walking in Paris!” added Leila Slimani. “I walk a lot. As writers, we can steal and tell lies from everything around us. That’s where my ideas come from.”
Elizabeth Gilbert stooped down, fixated her gaze on the child and whispered, “From listening to other people... ideas are in conversations.”
The child’s eyes shone.
—
A beam of light dancing on what you’ve always known is epiphany.
—
Elizabeth Gilbert answers the little girl’s question at Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 | Photograph by Nikita Vhora
Leila Slimani signs her book ‘Lullaby’ at Jaipur Literature Festival 2018 | Photograph by Nikita Vhora
—
Words:
Nikita Vhora