Recently, there was a controversy
on the Literature festivals. A Minister had remarked that the participants of
these Festivals are more interested in hard drinks. Obviously the literary figures
vehemently opposed the remark.
My suggestion is that the Venue
of these Literature Festivals should be the University in the selected city and
the various Departments of Languages and Literature should be the host. In an
academic environment, as usual, there are no hard drinks served in any public
function. If some participants consume the preferred beverages they can do so
privately, without disturbing the decorum and the peace of the Festival. The
relationships of literary figures with Professors of the hosting university
will strengthen and students will get to interact with famous personalities who
will act as role models and inspire them.
The venue should also be rotated from year to
year. Say for Example, if in one year, Jaipur is the venue, next year it may be
Udaipur, then Chandigarh, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai.