Jaipur Lit Fest 2016: Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James rants about India airport experience

On the night before the opening of the annual Jaipur Literature Festival, Marlon James took to Facebook to share his "first impression" of India. The 2015 Man Booker Prize winner posted a frustrated message about the confusion he faced when he landed at an Indian airport.

Writing to his 6,000 fans on Facebook, the writer penned a long post about the situation he was faced with when he tried to catch his connecting flight in India. Presumably catching a flight to Jaipur, where James was due to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival, his post sarcastically said that he had been awake for 27 hours and that he was "not even the slightest bit pissed about that".

James continued: "But wouldn't you know it, domestic flights have a totally different weight standard than local and my hand luggage is suddenly too heavy by 8kg. But hey, he'll only charge me for the overweight. Hold on, what's that, officer? You need to see ID? Sure thing, take it and go whisper something to the guy checking me in. Oh wait? The bags aren't going to the plane?"

Filled with swearing, the writer made clear his frustration over the situation he had faced. He finally ended his post with "Nice first impression, India", prompting a number of people to share their similar experiences, but urging him to be patient as "it gets better".

So I jump in this jeep because domestic flights are at a different airport than international. No prob, lets get in the...
Posted by Marlon James on Wednesday, 20 January 2016

The Jamaican-born writer then posted again: "But now that I'm out of that airport... it's INDIA, people." The post was geo-tagged as being posted from Jaipur, ensuring his followers that he had finally arrived safely at his destination.

On the morning of his panel discussion, James posted yet again on Facebook, this time appearing to be referring to the British Rule in India. While it remains unclear what motivated his Facebook post, the message read: "Look dude, I don't have a problem with your constant use of British 'Empire'. But I prefer the term, Occupation."

James was due to speak on a panel discussion on the opening day of the festival alongside British novelist Sunjeev Sahota and Indian novelist and journalist Anuradha Roy. The panel was entitled 'A Booker Bookshelf' and was chaired by Indian novelist Anjum Hasan.