PASSION OF CRIME HITS CAPITAL: CRIME WRITERS FESTIVAL’2015

And then there were none.

But there were, and there were many gathered in the amphitheatre of India Habitat Centre waiting eagerly to delve into the world of crime fiction. On the 17th and 18th of January, the national capital witnessed the first edition of the Crime Writers Festival which brought together leading crime fiction novelists and their ardent fans in the pursuit of celebrating crime fiction. This was an initiative by the Crime Writers Forum of South Asia in association with the India Habitat Centre and Siyahi, a leading literary agency, powered by Investigation Discovery – A Hindi investigation channel.

Festival Director Lady Kishwar Desai addressing the audience

On a cold, foggy morning as you approached the amphitheatre of Habitat, you could see the space abuzz with fans cheering their favorite crime writers. There was a crime scene set on the grounds with barricade tapes surrounding a floor on which was chalk marked the position of a dead body and a board with clues written on it for you to solve the murder mystery. There were stalls put up by the Oxford bookstores with an assortment of the bestselling crime novels and another stall by Terribly Tiny Tales selling their branded merchandise. The Festival was inaugurated by festival Directors Namita Gokhale and Lady Kishwar Desai, Festival Advisors Ashwin Sanghi and Priti Paul and Creative Director Alka Pande and His Excellency Ambassador Eivind S Homme. The festival began with the waves of thrill and excitement running through the crowds as Lady Kishwar Desai remarked how a cold foggy morning was the perfect way to launch the festival as one could imagine Sherlock Holmes emerging from the fog and joining the crowd.

The first session called the “Winter Murderland”, which began with the Norwegian author Nils Nordberg, where he began by explaining the phenomenon that was Nordic Noir. He explained how Nordic countries exist between bright lights and grim darkness and how readers need to go beyond the stereotypical understanding of crime as just being a representation of gore and mutilation but as also being an attempt to highlight the underbelly of the society and to bring about a change. Following this was a treat for all the Sherlock Holmes fans as David Stuart Davies, Sherlock expert and Doyle-phile, in a session powered by the British Council, entertained the audience by reading excerpts from Doyle’s autobiography and from Sherlock novels by speaking in different accents.

Nils Norberg during the session ‘Winter Murderland’

Anita Raghavan, a financial journalist took over the next session relating her research on the rise and fall of Rajat Gupta, a disgraced corporate honcho. Her insights into what makes a criminal held rapt attention of the audience as she discussed the dark world of insider trading with Suhel Seth, who was anchoring the session.

Focusing on the lighter side of crime, Zac O’Yeah, Tarquin Hall and Patrick Bryson talked about the importance and lack of humor in crime fiction. A scintillating session called “The Other Side of Midnight” focused on the sexualization of violence in crime fiction. The panel on the session consisted of Dipankar Gupta, French crime fiction expert Julien Vedrenne, Norwegian journalist and author Trude Teige and Lady Kishwar Desai. The session focused on burning questions like does violence titillate?

(L to R) Lady Kishwar Desai, Trude, Julien, Dipankar during the session ‘The Other Side of Midnight

The later part of the day witnessed authors like Caryl Ferey, a French author who related exotic tales from his travels that have contributed to his art of writing crime fiction. The day concluded with a discussion on the popular detective Byomkesh Bakshi by actors Rajit Kapur and Dhritiman Chaterji and director Dibakar Banerjee who spoke of their associations with the character. Simultaneously in the experimental gallery of IHC were ongoing readings. Jerry Pinto read from his latest book Murder in Mahim and Other Stories and Patrick Bryson wrapped up the readings for the day, providing hilarity with the expat guide to toilet humor. Parallel to the event at IHC, writing workshops were being held at Oxford Bookstore in Connaught Place.

The Day 2 of the CWF explored the world of crime further and held panels on cyber crime, anti-heroes and political scams. All the sessions were aimed at answering the question – what is it that constitutes crime?

Barricaded Crime Scene to solve at the event

It began with Swedish author Hakan Nesser talking to Jerry Pinto where they discussed the intrigue of watching a good guy commit a crime as opposed to a mainstream villain. The legitimacy to kill was another topic they explored in depth. Moving on to a recent field of crime, Amrita Chowdhary and Shibani Nayak discussed cyber crime and how it is steeped in our realities. The next session opened up to a exploration of political and financial scams by Lord Meghnad Desai and Sandeep Unnithan in conversation with Mukul Deva. They mused over the dearth of political thrillers in a country where the newspapers are filled with scams.

Discussing the status of crime fiction in India Zac O’ Yeah, Mukul Deva and Aroon Raman discussed detective fiction in India where they discussed how India provides a perfect setting for crime novels to be based given the chaos and crowd that marks every part of the country. An interesting session was conducted by Piyush Jha and Rupleena Bose on anti-heroes. What makes these flawed protagonists? The session grappled with this question and many more.

(L to R) Jerry Pinto and Hakan Nesser during the session ‘The Good Cop’

Are two heads better than one? Ashwin Sanghi responded in the affirmative when he gushed about his novel “Private India” one of the leading bestseller which was a collaboration of him and novelist James Patterson. As he discussed the making of the novel he spoke of how Patterson’s wealth of experience and his storytelling made the novel a success.

The last formal session was one between journalists Hussain Zaidi and Sandeep Uniithan where they discussed the lure of Mumbai that catches hold of crime writers. The discussion revolved around gangsters and terror and how the city houses them.

David Stuart Davies during the session ‘221B Baker Stree’

On the second day too readings were going on in the Experimental Gallery at IHC on “Mughals after Akbar’s death” followed by Sharmila Kantha reading from her book “Just The Facts, Madamji”. A surprise visit was made by the filmmaker Neeraj Pandey where he talked about his upcoming film “Baby” starring Akshay Kumar, an espionage thriller that promises to enthrall the audience. An interesting addition to the event was the organization of a quiz competition “Qrious Qrimes” by QuizCraft Global which paired together readers and writers to solve questions on crime fiction.

The festival concluded with a splendid musical ode called “The Science of Deduction” curated by NH7.in where amidst Angad Bagga’s music, Givind Moradia and Dhruv Sehgal read from David Stuart Davies book “The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Promise”. Oxford bookstore in CP simultaneously held workshop by Dibakar Bannerjee on scriptwriting.

All in all, the Hindustan Times Crime Writers Festival was a treat for all the Delhiites, both readers and aspiring writers. As Delhi University student Shweta Nanda said, “Delhi is missing out on literature events. We have to wait for the Jaipur Lit Fest every year to attend a literature event. But this has been an excellent endeavor at introducing crime writing. I attended both the days with my friends and it has been an absolute pleasure.”