Will Gopi be coming tomorrow? The kids will go berserk,” remarked an author at the adjacent table during an informal dinner the night before the 12th edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) was to kick off. The discussion sparked off a conversation about the pet dog of a certain popular author – the host city’s most famous writer by miles. This was going to be fun. Imagine my first major ‘overhead’ after landing for my whirlwind visit to the Garden City’s biggest literary spectacle was centred on a pet dog and his famous owner even before they took stage the following day. I was intrigued and curious about the reader community here, especially after being privy to a lot of dedicated column space and social media chatter that hailed the exceptional bandwidth – be it their many charming bookstores or book club initiatives.

As the day dawned, the view of the incoming, ‘enthu cutlet’ [as a friend had dubbed them] crowds queuing up even an hour before the first session from my breakfast table made the crunch of the medu vada even more crackling; it offered some indication of what was to unravel. As the day panned out, I witnessed citizens pack into the ten venues that included the main section for grown-ups as well as the section for children’s events. Barring a couple of indoor stages, a majority of sessions were held outdoors doing full justice to the pleasant weather.