A university professor, a lawyer, and an industrialist walk into a Zoom webinar hosted as part of an online literature festival. The three ...
A university professor, a lawyer, and an industrialist walk into a Zoom webinar hosted as part of an online literature festival. The three of them – all authors – are due to speak on the subject of queer rights in India. But while waiting for the moderator to log on, they discuss other things. Embracing everyone’s favourite topic of conversation, they bemoan the heightened technological demands imposed by physical distancing.
When the professor expresses her need to invest in wireless earphones, the lawyer shows off his pair, recommending them highly. The industrialist counters him, holding up his own, and says cheekily, “Mine are bigger than yours.” Laughter ensues and the conversation swerves from innuendo to the contents of their lunch. The 200-odd people listening in become acquainted with the diet plan of each speaker.
At this point, one of the 200 sends a private message to me, the organiser. “Haha, this is so refreshing and fun!” Seconds later, another, more disbelieving message arrives: “I guess they don’t know we can hear them.”
Flesh-and-bloodedness
During the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown, when the publishing industry stormed social media, many predicted that the transition from physical to online author events would spell the loss of intimacy generated between...
