Oprah Winfrey charms chaotic India at book event
Considered one of the worlds most influential women, Winfrey (picture) lived up to her billing as the headline draw at an event boasting literary giants such as Tom Stoppard, Michael Ondaatje and Richard Dawkins, charming the crowds yesterday morning.
I came here with an open mind, and it has been expanded... Its the greatest life experience I have ever had, Winfrey said at the annual Jaipur Literature Festival in Indias north-western state of Rajasthan.
You feel like youre in the centre of something bigger and greater than yourself.
Hundreds of eager visitors jostled against barricades at the back of the main stage area as Winfrey began speaking. Security guards struggled to shut the main entrance gates as angry admirers tried to push their way inside.
Its like being in a video game. I dont know which way to look, Winfrey told crowds on her arrival in Mumbai. Its a bit chaotic, but theres an underlying calm, a flow, that you all seem to understand. India is a paradox.
The 57-year-old has caused a media storm in India, with news channels and front pages filled with stories of her touring the city of Mumbai with the Bachchans, Bollywoods first family. Yesterday she drew huge cheers as she appeared on stage in a traditional Indian churidar kameez smock.
I will take with me a sense of calmness, and a genuine respect... people dont talk religion here, they live it, Winfrey said.
Her appearance yesterday was seen as a welcome distraction from the Salman Rushdie furore that has overshadowed the five-day festival, after the author cancelled his planned visit due to reported as! sassinat ion threats against him.
The talk-show host and interviewers Book Club turned little-known authors into global stars, with 59 of the clubs 70 selected books making the USA TODAY Top 10 best-sellers list.
Winfrey told the festival that in 2008, after witnessing the completion of her mission to get then-Senator Barack Obama to the White House, she stuck a picture of a woman riding a camel on her pinboard, that said Come to India.
It was important for me to go to slums but not show the worst of the worst, but show that people can live in poverty and still have hope and meaning in their lives, said Winfrey, who also called for Indians to work to eradicate discrimination against widows in society. Reuters