'What took so long?' asks Lou 'Dylan' Majaw about Bob Dylan's Nobel win

Lou Majaw can't believe Bob Dylan just received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Not that he isn't happy. Since 1972, the man's been organising an annual concert to commemorate Dylan's birthday in Shillong, for starters. Small wonder then that he's developed a proper reputation for being a hardcore Dylan fan.

"I was just pretty shocked... what took them so long? But I'm glad it happened finally. This can hopefully fire the imagination of young writers who will feel motivated when it comes to writing," says Majaw.

Now that Dylan's got the recognition Majaw thinks he's deserved all this while, how does he plan to celebrate? "We have a small gathering planned for the weekend, nothing big. I've just called some musicians and poets I know," Majaw says, "Lou Majaw is not a rich dog. I've asked some people around like Rahul Guha Roy (Cassini's Division) from Kolkata to come. Though I wish I could also get someone like Gary Lawyer but sadly, not enough money for that!" he adds with a chuckle, saying that he would've "definitely sang the Tambourine man!" if Dylan was around, just as a way to congratulate him on winning the prize.

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But with Dylan's win, there's also been criticism about whether Dylan should've made the cut. He is, in the conventional scheme of things, not a novelist or a "writer." How does Majaw deal with such critiques of his music idol? Majaw puts it across pretty bluntly - "For people, there'll be something to bitch about, that's life. For example, now with winter setting in, Delhi people will complaint about how cold it is - right after complaining about summer. That's the kind of cribbing I'm talking about!"

Majaw counter questions, saying, "What's conventional anyway? Tell me someone who's had as much poetic depth in his lyrics so consistently as him in the recent past? Not even The Beatles!"

But what the Dylan win has done is that it's opened up a debate on how wide the ambit of what's literature should be. Ask Majaw if the scope of what's seen as literature should be widened, he says quickly, "It should be expanded as high as heaven man! Lyrics should be a part of the educational curriculum, in fact. Anyone who wants to express himself or herself, whether it's a songwriter or a novelist, should be encouraged. And, Blowin' in the Wind should be the first to make the cut in that case - the way it speaks to civil strife has a universal resonance across countries."