The Evolving Landscape of the Kavi Sammelan
The Kavi Sammelan is emerging in a new avatar, distinct from its traditional form. Prior to the advent of social media, the appearance and structure of a Kavi Sammelan looked entirely different. Thirty years ago, one could not even imagine a Kavi Sammelan featuring merely two or three poets. Back then, a typical lineup consisted of at least ten to twelve poets. These gatherings would often last for six or seven hours; starting at 9:00 PM, a Kavi Sammelan would continue until 3:00 or 4:00 AM. Such was the level of public adoration for poets and poetry that the audience would listen to a single poet perform as many as three times.
Then came social media, and the entire landscape of the Kavi Sammelan began to undergo a transformation. There are several reasons for this shift. For one, poets have become quite expensive these days. Any poet who possesses the ability to articulate their thoughts effectively on stage—or who enjoys public popularity—commands a very high fee. Today, the remuneration demanded by poets runs into the lakhs. It is simply beyond the means of an average individual or organization to host a Kavi Sammelan requiring a budget in the lakhs. Consequently, gatherings featuring ten to twelve poets are no longer in vogue. Even at the largest or most grandiose Kavi Sammelans, the number of participating poets rarely exceeds six or seven. A second contributing factor is the scarcity of time among the public. People today simply do not have the luxury of sitting through the night to listen to a Kavi Sammelan, as they are required to report to work the very next day.
The hectic pace of modern life has, in a sense, deprived people of their right to traditional forms of entertainment. Yet another factor has impacted the Kavi Sammelan: the growing prevalence of vulgarity and double standard within the performances. For this very reason, audiences are now reluctant to attend a Kavi Sammelan accompanied by their entire families. If an individual does choose to attend, they generally prefer to enjoy the experience alone. Furthermore, social media has effectively confined the entire realm of entertainment within the palm of one’s hand—the mobile phone. Today, virtually everyone carries a mobile phone, offering access to Reels, short clips, and long-form videos. Every conceivable subject and every genre of entertainment is now available at one’s fingertips. There are indeed many such factors that, over the past thirty years, have certainly popularized the Kavi Sammelan (poets’ gathering)—yet, they have fundamentally altered its nature. They have defined the boundaries of the Kavi Sammelan—or, to put it another way, they have confined it within the very constraints of its own conventions.
