William Dalrymple at Marlborough LitFest

I have a number of cross-over points with William Dalrymple. A while ago we were both contributors to Intrepid Arabia, a book about the troubled region of the Middle East. More recently, he wrote the preface to my last published book, Forgotten Englishman, Modesty forbids me from telling you what he wrote. What’s that? Well, alright then, since it’s you. ‘The story of a fascinating life’, he wrote, ‘brilliantly illuminated by dogged research..’ To tell you the truth though, I was a bit apprehensive about it. The book was centred around the Jesuit mission to the great Moghul Emperor, Akbar. William Dalrymple had written a series of superb studies of the historic encounters of Europeans with India. The area covered by my book was an obvious choice for his next work. I need not have worried. He was widening his canvas. The Golden Road is a study of the ways in which the Indian cultural heritage has affected the world. Of course we know about Chicken Ticka Masala and all those words like bungalow, guru, juggernaut, jungle, loot, thug and pyjamas, but Dalrymple’s aim is bigger. It’s nothing less than to convert us to a new world-view.

That this won’t be an easy task was revealed when he asked the packed audience how many had heard of certain eminent Indian thinkers whose contribution to world thought was fundamental and only a handful of hands were raised. At the end of the talk I asked a friend whose opinion I valued what he thought of it. ‘Well. I would want to answer questions in it’, he replied. That the talk didn’t leave the audience behind was due to Dalrymple’s irrepressible erudition and wit and the feeling he purveyed that here was something that we’d be all the worse for not knowing.

It’s difficult to express any criticism. William is a splendid person (I would say that, wouldn’t I? See above) and he possesses a vast and erudite knowledge of any subject he addresses. I would just say that his discussion of Buddhism was more an exposition of its history rather than its contribution to wider thought. It’s probably all in the book. Also, in rightly pointing out the vast trade that India possessed with the wider world, he omitted its darker aspects like the slave trade with East Africa which paralleled the North Atlantic trade with the west coast, but I have to say that, having thought for most of my life that our numbers came from the Arabic, learning that they came originally from India has changed my world-view, so he more than proved his point.

It was good to see the Mem Hall packed out. It reminded me of the days when we had people like Jools Holland at the jazz festival. In its 15^th year, the Lit Fest is not only thriving, it’s a national institution. It really all goes back to 1986, when we began a Marlborough Festival that included all sorts of events. At a certain point it became clear that the bums on the seats were going in the jazz direction so we concentrated on that. It seemed a shame, though, that we’d lost a dimension, so, in my second term as Mayor, we began the literature festival with a brilliant group of people including best-selling author, Craig Brown, novelist, Mark Ellis, founder of the Merchant’s House Trust, Michael Gray and, a little later, novelist Mavis Cheek, plus, of course, lots of those hard-working people essential to the success of any event. In those heady days we can never have imagined the stellar success it has become, a huge credit to the present team for what they’ve created. Can’t wait for the next one.