In the early days of the pandemic, when public gatherings were strictly disallowed, the organisers of various events in the city — particularly, those of the Lahore Literary Festival and Think Fest — were compelled to explore fresh avenues in order to continue with their activities. The trend seems to have caught on. And why not? Live-streams have afforded the audiences an easier reach.

What gives the digital sessions an edge is their availability on the go. Whether you are at home or at your office, indoors or outdoors, you can access these sessions live. You can also participate by just signing up at a stated time. And if you missed a ‘live’ session, you can always catch its ‘saved’ (read recorded) version at a later time.

Since the lockdown in March, hundreds of sessions have been webcast on subjects ranging from political, historical, and economic to literary. Notably, those on literature and history have attracted larger audiences. Sessions organised by LUMS, for instance, covered topics such as the modernity of Ghalib, which got an estimated 0.1 million views.

Literature and Identity was another session hosted by LUMS that dwelt on the role of literature and nationalist narratives in Pakistan, stirring a hot new debate on the canonization of Urdu literature.

A session on history, titled The Anarchy, with author Dalrymple, was recently hosted by Think Fest on Facebook and had thousands of live viewers.

Since the lockdown in March, hundreds of sessions have been webcast on subjects ranging from political, historical, and economic to literary. Notably, those on literature and history have attracted larger audiences.

Another session on Emperor Jahangir with eminent American historian Lisa Balabanlilar streamed at the Lahore Literary Festival’s Facebook account on August 7, presented a poignant review of Jahangirnama, an autobiographical work of Emperor Jahangir. In yet another LLF session on August 9, Prof Dale, an American historian, talked about Baburnama.

These local yet global sessions have been possible only thanks to this new culture of digital live-streams that connect the speakers and audiences who may be thousands of miles apart physically but are virtually together at a given time. This fact alone gives the participant a great feeling.

I remember the day the LLF hosted Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk at the Alhamra Arts Centre in its 2020 edition, prior to lockdown. The hall was packed to capacity within minutes of the previous session’s ending. Many people could not even find a seat. The urgency to listen to the literary genius ‘live’ was too overwhelming for everyone present at the venue.

Thankfully, a sense of this overwhelm is retained in a virtual live session too. Senior journalist Najam Sethi anchored a grand session with Noam Chomsky, hosted by Think Fest on their live webcast, much to the joy of scores of listeners. It was a rare occasion for common people to interact with a literary giant like Chomsky.

Broadly speaking, this revolutionary and productive digital ‘culture’, so to say, has brought the world’s finest thinkers on our computer/mobile screens and kept us engaged in productive ideas, besides of course playing a vital role in keeping us mentally healthy and sane in rather depressing times like these.

Last but not the least, live book clubs have famously popped up. Lahore’s popular bookstore Readings, for instance, recently invited on Instagram prominent local English authors and put them virtually face to face with some of the authors from around the world. It made for an exclusive, not to mention, enriching experience.

Sang-e-Meel publishers earlier pioneered e-sessions with their authors on social media, also during lockdown.

The writer has a BS in English    literature from University of the Punjab