Jaipur Diary – 1947, A Love Story Travel by The Delhi Walla - January 25, 2011January 25, 20110 The great historical romance. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was pulp romance meeting the Partition. History was sexed up at the session in Mughal Tent, in which TV host Karan Thapar chatted with Alex von Tunzelmann, the author of Indian Summer. The book was a page-turner that tells three stories: of a marriage (Edwina Mountbatten and her husband ‘Dickie’), of a relationship (Edwina and Jawaharlal Nehru) and the story of events just before and after the Indian partition. Punctuated with laughs and claps – the audience included historian William Dalrymple and Delhi socialite Bina Ramani sitting on the floor – the session graduated from the titillating to the cerebral. Mr Thapar’s first question: “Were Edwina and Nehru in love?” Ms
Jaipiur Diary – The Battle of 1857 Travel by The Delhi Walla - January 25, 2011January 25, 20111 The surprise package. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The surprise winner of the Jaipur marathon was a plump woman. At 10 am, Mughal tent in Diggi Palace hotel was slotted for authors William Dalrymple and Mahmood Farooqui. The duo was supposed to discuss their books, both of which dealt with the native accounts of the 1857 uprising. But Mr Farooqui was stuck in the traffic jam caused by the marathon - being held the same morning - and the orgnaisers quickly called author Mrinal Pandey to speak instead. It turned out that Ms Pandey’s latest book – just off from the press – was titled 1857. Originally a Marathi-language travelogue of two Brahmans who crossed to the north of Vindhayas on