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Friday 19 October 2018

Au Rythme des Relations: An Evening of Interactive Poetry Reading



“Poetry is the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash” 
                                  Leonard Cohen  
                                           Poets (from Right): Mona, Rebecca, Paresh, Srividya, Jhilam

 To brighten up the remains of the day, poetry lovers of 
Hyderabad gathered at Alliance Française, on the 28 th of 
September, 6.30 pm, to attend Au Rythme des Relations: An 
Evening of Interactive Poetry Reading.
The event was organized jointly, by the institute and Ms Jhilam Chattaraj, poet, author, Assistant Professor, RBVRR Women’s College. 
The Key-note
The aim of the evening was to diffuse the usual distance between the audience and poets and comprehend the various rhythms of human relationships through poetry.  

Aude Emeline Loriot N, Director, Alliance Française inaugurated the program and felicitated the poets.
Poet, Srividya, being felicitated by the Director
Mini Nayani, Cultural co-coordinator, introduced the artists. 
Jhilam announced the objectives of the event and moderated the session. The new and experimental format created a space for instant and live feedback to every poem that was read out.  

Extreme left: Ms Mini Nayani, Cultural Co-ordinator along with audience 

Poets were requested to read their poems even twice and 

explain their craft to the audience. The participant poets


were, Elizabeth Kurian Mona who read ghazals in English


and Urdu, Rebecca Vedavathy, read the French translations 

of Mona’s poems and also a few of her own, Srividya 

Sivakumar read poems from her book, The Heart is an Attic

Paresh Tiwari read from his book Raindrops Chasing 

Raindrops  and Jhilam Chattaraj read from her newly 

launched book, When Lovers Leave and Poetry Stays.  

The session is on!


In the first round, the poets read verses on love, longing and loss;it set the pace of the event. The second round was led by the audience. 

Our Lovely Audience 

They selected a poet of their choice and a theme and relevant poems were read out.  The high-octane tempo of the evening reached its peak when a la mushaira atmosphere was created by the English ghazals of poet, Mona:  the audience wah-wahed along with her couplets, displaying an inspiring mélange of eastern and western cultures; something that late, Indian-American-Kashmiri poet and popular English ghazal writer, Agha Shahid Ali had once envisioned.

Students, HR Executives, painters, influencers, academicians among the audience shared the auditory, psychological and aesthetic effects of the poems on them. 

Eminent guests: Mr Vijay Marur and Mr Sanjay Gadhalay 

They explained how poetry reading sessions like the present one enabled the poem to be free of the torturous interpretations they were taught to infer due to the influence of complicated pedagogical methods often used in schools.

Poets among Audience 
The novel approach to the Reading was the first of its kind in the city. It demystified the processes of writing and offered the audience a peek into the craft of poetry. The event set a new benchmark for poetry readings in the city- audience is no more the passive listener but an active participant. The audience was also treated with elegant book marks with quotations from each poet’s work. 


Poets guided the audience cross the bridge of poetry and meet them and thus marking the beginning of a beautiful and lasting friendship.

Monday 15 October 2018

Friendships & Reflections: Two Poems by Priyanka and Ritu

                                                                             
On Friendship   

Friendship is a roller coaster of highs and lows  
    Some friends can't stay apart nor wish to be torn.
    
Some struggle to rescue their drowned liaisons
    And some cheer on their comrades from afar:
They come in gangs of geeks and clique of jocks
    They are partners in crime and peas of a pod
    They stand firm and brave against the harsh wind
    Trusting and leaning on each other to hold tight
    They think they're invincible against all charges
    Yet, they wobble and sway against the test of time.

    Opportunities knock at their doors and hearts change
    Priorities re-arrange and promises long forgotten  
    
Friendships are crazy pacts and silly ties 
    So easily tossed away in the hurdles of life
    Yet some few and true friendships never fade 
    Still standing side by side against the harsh winds
     
                                                                   -  Priyanka Dubey,
                                                                             MZC 2nd year.



                       Unmasked



      Always wandering around in the dark,
       I've practiced to put on a deceiving mask.
       
Maybe it is too late to reach for the light
       And yet, till the end all I'm doing is fight.
     
  Every effort I put in seems to be less
       And every cry of help I scream, useless.
      
 Yet I stand up again and brace my soul
       For the voice in my head is too loud to ignore.
             

                                                                            - Ritu Sarda, 
                                                                               MZC 2nd year.                                                      

Changing Paths: A Moving Confession by Bhakti Matur


 Walk On !

Sometimes, we all make wrong decisions. We suffer as a result, and we regret them. We become unhappy and curse ourselves, because we think we cannot change them. 

Everyone in their lives must have come across such experiences. For me, my decision to join an engineering college, was the one I regretted. I had studied an electronic course for only two semesters and yet, the failures I experienced and the humiliation I faced, for not being a good student, pained me greatly. 

I realized, after a while, that my heart wasn't in this and that this was not the path I wanted to take, but I didn't give up. I tried again, I wanted to endure and get through because everyone around me somehow were capable of doing that. My last attempt at redeeming myself didn't quite work and I failed miserably than all the times before. At that point, my parents had made their frustration towards me clear and my friends taunted me. I had enough and I decided to change my course and do what I desired, which was literature. 

It was hard going against the norm, especially when everyone around you believes that your dreams are childish and will get you nowhere in life. Taking up B.A and doing what I wanted to do was perhaps the most scariest moment in my life but now, I can say that it's the best decision I've ever made. I'm really happy with what I'm learning now and I enjoy it immensely. 

Maybe it's true that you have to do what you love because the best of you shines through. My self-confidence is at an all-time high and I'm slowly coming out of my shell, trying to communicate. I'm exactly where my past self wanted to be and I couldn't be happier. But  life doesn't always go smoothly. I still have to explain to others why I supposedly made such a rash decision or why I supposedly took a path that has no future.

 My parents, although supportive of my decision, ask me the same questions sometimes because they feel like they have a reputation to uphold in society. However, I don't let such things affect me anymore. 

At the end of the day, my happiness is important. Despite what people say, your happiness is more important than your parent's or your friend's or your neighbor's. Sure, being an engineer or doctor is great but why settle for them when your options are endless?


                                                                                                            Bhakti Matur,

                                                                                                                  B.A Second Year.