Today's poetry workshop was one of a kind. It emerged out of a chance call just a few days back as I was negotiating the potholes on the bumpy road towards Reis Magos, North Goa. It was the last day of our brief vacation. What better way to start AY 21-22 than with poetry?
A common friend had recommended my name to the organizers of the Sunshine World School's Arts and Literature Festival (#SALF2021) going live this weekend. Details were scanty, but all I knew was that I had been invited to hold a poetry workshop for an hour. For school level, that is.
The morning buzzed with excitement on a perfect day. (It's pouring now.) This was the first time I was using Microsoft Teams. On request, the SWS team arranged a demo session the previous day. I would be invited as a guest speaker on their platform.
The workshop propelled me to upload several poems from my early phase of writing on my blog. This was so the poems could be screen shared for the workshop. I urged students to start their own blog to archive their poems and share them globally. Many themes have resonance worldwide.
The game changer was that I asked the participants to send in their poems before hand. That way I could get a sense of what page they were on. It would help the pitch. The poems were fascinating. I shortlisted about seven poems - it would take the pressure off me.
One poem I discarded as the lines were very reminiscent of Rosetti's 'Who has seen the Wind.' I urged the students to move away from the poetic style of England - which was nevertheless enshrined in most school syllabi in India - and to create their own idiom/style of poetry. Don't fret over making it rhyme. Poetry need not rhyme. It just needs to be honest. It should not be too long and should use words sparely.
Next I tried to 'mirror' the poems of the students with a few of my own. I tried to keep to the same themes. I did it alternately - one poem of the students and one of mine. I chose my shorter poems for the teenagers. As I went along, I gave them tips from my experience of writing poems.
Nature is a powerful inspiration to writing poems. One must be sensitive to it. With so many trees being cut down to make way for 'development,' how do poets respond?
Poems can begin from a simple line. It is what you do with that line that will shape that poem. Requiem to a Sal, for example, began with the simple line 'They came.' The title sets the mood of the poem. It should catch the reader's attention. In this poem I use the word 'Requiem' from western classical music. The word roughly means 'lament for the dead.' It is important to use different 'registers' (words specific to a branch of knowledge) to colour your poetic palette. The more of life you experience, the richer your poetry will be. 'How many of you can identify a sal tree?' - I asked. Poetry takes research and accurate knowledge to make an impact.
Many of the poems shared by the students spoke of the turmoil they were going through. I shared my poem Praxis in sympathy with their struggle. This particular poem takes its title from ancient Greek philosophy where 'praxis' stands for the process of becoming, of constituting the self. This poem has words like 'shibboleths' (old-fashioned ideas). It is important to widen one's vocabulary to articulate accurately what you want to express.
Freedom Song was written when no one believed in my poetry and felt I was just wasting my time. If you don't believe in your poetry, no one will.
The world can be changed by poetry. Barefoot Child was inspired by street children in Delhi who had no footwear under the unforgiving sun. To write poetry you must notice minute details. This gives you the imagery of the poem. This time I asked a student to read my poem. She did, but mechanically. I requested her to read it again, feeling every line. She was wonderful! It is important to have the confidence to present your poems in public. Every poem you write needs to have your name on it.
I ended with Ebb Tide on the Zuari. The poem is about the rhythm of the river. You must take the ups and downs of life in your stride. It is important to publish your poems in print and digital media.
As the students warmed to the workshop, some got into the act and asked if they could read their poems. Kajal Jha read a powerful poem on body shaming in Hindi.
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| Kajal Jha 'Rupa' (Hindi) |
Sukanti Chitari read her poem in Marathi about online classes and how they were missing the old days of school.
Ananditha dramatized a real-life situation in her poem 'Remnants of a Lover, Ashen.'
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| Sukanti Chitari, 'Vargatlya Aattavni' (Marathi) |
Ananditha dramatized a real-life situation in her poem 'Remnants of a Lover, Ashen.'
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| Ananditha Anand, 'Remnants of a lover, Ashen' |
Avantika Desai shook us with 'The Faded Me.' I hastened to reassure her that faded or not, the world loves her.
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Avantika Desai, 'The Faded Me' |
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| Avantika Desai, 'The Faded Me' (2) |
Reyna Peters shared her anguish about living in the dark in her poem, 'Living in the Dark.'
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| Reyna Peters, 'Living in the Dark' |
Siddhi Agarwal was at her trenchant best with her scathing poem 'Yourself.' She held that we are often our own worst enemies and exhorted the reader to 'Save yourself from yourself.'
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| Siddhi Agarwal 'Yourself' |
Yukta Bode wrote about 'How Useful is the Wind' and cautioned us about global warming.
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| Yukta Bode, 'How Useful is the Wind' |
Daniel Thomas in his poem 'The Wind' grants the wind the power to bring about a change of heart.
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| Daniel Thomas, 'The Wind' |
Megan de Almeida summed it up with her poem 'The Perfect Time to Write' written on a rainy day during lockdown.
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Megan de Almeida, 'The Perfect Time to Write' |
The poem was also a good example of how repetition is used for emphasis like in Hymn to Ravi.
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A huge shout out for the SWS Team helmed by Sandeep Doifode, with Megan de Almeida, Sean Dias and others. Thank you Merle. Poster created by SWS Team. Photo taken by Dwayne Mendonca. Updated 4 September 2021.
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