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.