In our dreams: What if India could host the greatest literature festival of all times?

The literature festival season that starts in India in November goes on well into March. It’s a busy time for writers and readers. The former have to convince the latter why their books are among the best at the moment. Meanwhile, the latter are so overwhelmed with choices that they don’t know which festival to attend and which ones to let go of. Even at the festival, one is torn between which sessions to attend, as several fascinating sessions are scheduled simultaneously. Everyone is terminally ill with the worst case of FOMO.

Writers – perennially anxious and under-confident – make pacts in the speakers’ lounge to attend one another’s sessions. If only to ensure that at least someone is in the audience. Outside of a blank page, a sea of empty seats has become the author’s worst nightmare. More often than not, the writers-in-solemn-pacts discover that they have been scheduled to speak at the same time, albeit at different venues. No longer able to show solidarity, they say quiet prayers to the all-powerful audience.

As someone who has borne the anxiety of being both a reader and writer at a literature festival, I have found myself wondering what a dream literature festival would look like. The demands of…

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