Published on 4th September 2026
Nayakanti Prashant
3rd Gen Banker & Citizen Lobbyist – Bengaluru
https://in.linkedin.com/in/prashantnayakanti
The Intro
Few hours from now i.e 8 September 2026, PM Shri Narendra
Modiji will be in Vadodara for a public programme at the Maharaja Sayajirao
University Pavilion Ground.
I am sitting here in Bengaluru, looking at what has already
happened digitally.
Registrations filled.
Registrations closed.
And then came something interesting:
A waiting list.
Thousands are waiting for a chance to attend.
Tomorrow, the doors open.
And a simple question comes to mind:
If registered guests don't arrive, can the waiting list get a
chance?
Trigger
The official BookMyShow
listing shows the event as a registered-entry programme, while reports on
September 7 said the available capacity was filled rapidly and 42,000+ people
were on the waiting list.
That makes this different from another recent Bengaluru
experience.
For the Bengaluru Independence Habba, once capacity was
reached, the digital journey simply said:
REGISTRATIONS CLOSED
Here, the journey appears to continue.
There is a waiting list.
And that makes me curious about what happens when the event
clock starts ticking.
Because a registered guest may not arrive.
And someone on the waiting list may be ready to come.
But how much time would that person have?
Five minutes?
Thirty minutes?
An hour?
I don't know.
And perhaps that is exactly the question worth observing.
Prospective Audience
For the person who registered and may or may not make it.
For the person sitting on the waiting list, hoping for a
chance.
For the event organiser managing a fixed physical capacity.
And for anyone wondering whether a digital registration system
can eventually do more than say:
You are registered.
Could it also help answer:
Who gets the next available opportunity?
Tomorrow, Vadodara may give us the first glimpse.
Act I — The Place That Was Taken
Tonight, a place exists.
Someone registered.
A confirmation was received.
A digital entry awaits.
For another person, that opportunity is already gone.
The registrations filled.
The portal closed.
But then something different happened.
A waiting list remained.
Thousands of people are now somewhere behind that digital
line, hoping that a place may open up.
And that creates the first question:
What happens when a place is registered — but the person
doesn't arrive?
Act II — The Person Who Is Waiting
Today, some registered guests will arrive.
Some may arrive late.
Some may not arrive at all.
That is simply how people behave.
But somewhere on that waiting list, another person may be
ready.
Perhaps they are already in Vadodara.
Perhaps they are just a short distance away.
Perhaps they can reach the venue quickly.
Or perhaps they cannot.
So the interesting part isn't only how many people are
waiting.
It is:
When does a waiting person get to know that a place may have
opened?
Because an opportunity is useful only when there is still
enough time to act on it.
Act III — When the Waiting List
Meets the City
The waiting list is digital.
The opportunity is physical.
Someone could be waiting somewhere in Vadodara — at home, at
work, on the road, perhaps already somewhere near the venue.
And somewhere inside the registered list, a place may become
available.
Then comes the interesting moment.
Can the person waiting be told in time?
Because being on a waiting list is one thing.
Being given a genuine opportunity to attend is another.
A digital message may travel instantly.
The person cannot.
That small gap between the two is where the waiting list
becomes fascinating.
Perhaps this is something future public-event registration
systems could think about.
Not merely:
Who registered?
But also:
Who is waiting?
And when an opportunity opens:
Can that waiting person still use it?
The technology may be digital.
The last mile will always be human.
Whiteboard:
IF REGISTERED GUESTS DON'T ARRIVE, HOW WILL THE WAITING LIST
GUESTS GET A CHANCE?
Nothing More.
Nothing Less.
Closing Thought
A registration tells us who has a place.
A waiting list tells us who still wants one.
Between the two is something neither system can completely
control:
people.
People change plans.
People don't arrive.
People decide at the last moment.
Perhaps the next evolution of digital public-event
registration is not just about filling capacity.
Perhaps it is about making every available opportunity count.
A waiting list is not just a list.
It is a possibility.
For future high-demand government programmes, could the
digital registration journey consider a simple additional possibility:
If a registered guest is no longer coming, can they let the
system know?
No prescription on how it should work.
No guarantee that the place must be reallocated.
Just one additional signal.
Because if someone is waiting, an unused place may still be an
opportunity.
April 11 — Digital Transactions Day
Digital Transactions Day reminds us to look beyond the
transaction itself.
A digital registration is also a transaction of sorts:
I want to participate.
I have registered.
I am waiting.
Perhaps the next question is:
Can the digital journey remain useful even when circumstances
change?
From digital payments to digital public participation, the
principle could remain the same:
Observe the transaction.
Understand the journey.
Disclaimer
This Citizen Observation is a personal reflection based on
publicly available information about the PM Shri Narendra Modiji programme in
Vadodara on 8 September 2026, including the official event listing and media
reports concerning registration and the waiting list.
The observation does not prescribe a particular technology,
cancellation process, waiting-list policy, admission rule, cut-off time or
implementation mechanism.
It simply raises a citizen-facing question about whether, in
future high-demand public events, unused capacity could potentially create an
opportunity for people on a waiting list.
Citizen suggestion only. Implementation, if considered, rests
with the relevant institutions and event organisers.
Kudos to the Organisers for charting a new path.
The Joy of Digital Transactions
Nayakanti Prashant
3rd Gen Banker & Citizen Lobbyist – Bengaluru
Advocating Digital Transactions Day (April 11)
Author’s Blogs
https://prashantrandomthoughts.blogspot.com
https://prashantnepayments.blogspot.com
https://innovationinbanking.blogspot.com
