Zooming into poetry

Lakshmi Chandra and Brian Mendonca, Secunderabad, 2006

When Prof. Lakshmi Chandra asked if I would do a poetry reading online for the Poetry Society Hyderabad, I could not have been happier. Lakshmi was my Ph.D. supervisor. Over the years our relationship has only grown deeper. The most beautiful thing was when Lakshmi came to spend time with us at home in Goa for my birthday in 2019. 

Doing a dry run just now for the Saturday poetry reading, with Nikhil of the PSH and Lakshmi was a tremendous learning experience. Resplendent in red, earphones around his ears, Nikhil set up the meet with consummate ease and reassured me all would be well. He took me through how we could maximize the time by using Zoom's features. He certainly made me very comfortable. I was glad to see Lakshmi's reassuring, smiling face. 

It was Lakshmi and her mother Mrs. Ruttonsha who organized a reading for me at the Secunderabad club of my just published volume Last Bus to Vasco: Poems from Goa in July 2006. Lakshmi is like that. She helps people and opens windows of opportunity for them. 

My assessment of 30 poems for for 60 minutes was way off the mark, as I learnt. 'Will you be sharing your screen?' Nikhil asked. I said that we could do that for some of my poems which are on this blog.  Since I get all thumbs while talking and sharing my screen, we hit upon an ingenious idea where Nikhil could do the sharing. I would send him the blog links before the event. There were a few poems I could say by heart. Nikhil suggested he would spotlight me for those poems. Finally we were looking at 5 poems for 30 minutes. 

Lakshmi and myself took some time agonizing over the title of my poetry reading. We finally settled on the rather expansive, 'Poems across India.' Neruda's epigraph - 'Between lips and lips are cities' - drew on the seductiveness of cities, and how they compel us. 

This reading has gives me the opportunity to review my corpus of poems. I am happy that several have made their way to collections, anthologies, and digital media. I also took a stab at a YouTube recording of my poem 'May Queen'.

Last night, as a tribute to all who have helped me on my poetic journey, I sent out an email to several who had written in my comments book which I took around ever since I began doing readings across India (and Kathmandu) from 2004-2010. It became a way to say 'thank you' to them. We are still alive. And we are doing poetry. 

The poetry reading by the Poetry Society Hyderabad is one more affirmation of life in these uncertain times. It shows how poetry and tech can unite people looking for creative ways to use words. 
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Updated 28 August 2021