Too many dharnas and literary fests can be exhausting for all

That there can be too much of a good thing is a truism that bolsters the law of diminishing marginal returns. There are such things as too many dharnas, too many protests and even too many literary festivals. When there is an excess of choice, target audiences can either be impressed or plain scared off.

When the latter begins to happen, the tendency is to shout ever louder to be heard above the cacophony or create (or simulate) a controversy to be set apart from the pack. Sadly, these devices do not always draw in the requisite numbers to achieve whatever the goals are for such participatory events.

Perhaps the organisers of all such events — social, literary, political and any other — should consider utilising technology to achieve their objectives instead.

Aleaf can be taken from the book of literary festivals that now use Skype to bring scattered luminaries to a single sundappled venue. They, thus, manage to save on airfares and hospitality costs but still keep fans happy — and, therefore, the hotels too. That principle can be inverted to bring audiences to speakers.

Then, dharnas and protests can gather crowds (albeit virtual) at multiple venues without disrupting traffic, violating prohibitory orders or littering. Literary fests can similarly boost attendance exponentially; however, hotels may not approve.