Poetry
The Funnyman Of The Indian Web Series: Gopal Datt
Gopal Datt, the man with perfect comic timing and commendable performances, presents his poetry “Kaisa Hota Hoga Ishwar”.
There is no such thing as an overnight success. It takes years of effort, persistence and hard work to get recognition for your work. If you stick around long enough and endure through all the hurdles, you will get seen for your work eventually. Gopal Datt personifies this spirit gracefully.
A National School of Drama trained actor, he is hugely famous among the netizens, for his performances in the various web series online. He fondly remembers NSD as the most important part of his journey as it changed his vision and ambitions. After completing his education, he moved to Mumbai and got his first break in Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai in 2001. Thereafter, he went on to star in the blockbuster Tere Naam, Samrat & Co. and the National Award-winning Filmistaan.
With numerous remarkable performances under his belt, he is a popular name in the world of web series. Be it in AIB: Honest Engineering Campus Placements or Official CEOgiri or Netflix’s Delhi Crime or comical web-series Pitchers, Gopal manages to craft every character to perfection. His perfect comic timing on one hand while his ability to portray serious roles superbly on the other shows his versatility as an actor.
He is a true theatre artist at heart. Despite the modern concept of acting he still lays huge emphasis on “good literature”, which according to him, plays a crucial part in the development of an actor, guiding him in “making and designing his character.”
As a writer, he shares his feelings about the metaphysical world through his poetry “Kaise hota hoga ishwar”.
Poetry
Poetry Unveiled: A Compilation of Diverse Poetic Voices
Poetry is worth it if it amuses the reader and ignites a fire within. Here are the choicest of poets who recite their hearts through poems.
Poetry isn’t just a handful of words; it’s like a warm sea of passion. It has the power to immerse you in a pool of emotions and enthusiasm, providing a sense of freedom from everyday desires and norms. Poetry is the art of expressing unspoken and unheard feelings that reside deep within, struggling to be articulated through a rhythmic arrangement of words. Let me introduce you to some poets whose work can make you truly fall in love with poetry.
‘Ram’ by Abhi Munde
“Bharat ki neenv hain kavitayein aur satya hamari baaton mein, tabhi kalam hamari teekhi aur sahitya hamare hathon mein.” Poetry has always been an inseparable part of Indian culture and Abhi Munde in his latest poetry ‘Ram’ has reiterated this beautifully. A Marathi poet who writes and recites in Hindi, Abhi is a phenomenal poet whose pen has rendered some of the most poignant pieces of poetry in today’s scenario. In this Kalyug, everyone is chasing spirituality and God, people believe that God resides within them; yet they stoop low in the most basic things of life.
Abhi Munde has perfectly described this irony of today’s world through his poem ‘Ram’. He sends out a prominent message of realising the actual virtues and vices of human life. His choice of words and pitch variation while reciting is just apt to let the listener transport himself to another world. The poem is a masterpiece; and with the beats paired with it by Nitin Ugalmugale, you are sure to get goosebumps while you feel the essence of every word.
‘Not All Men’ by Jidnya Sujata
#NotAllMen – a hashtag trending on Instagram came out of the usual feminist (or maybe not so feminist) reels with Jidnya Sujata providing a newer dimension to the perspective. The poet’s use of words, pauses, pitch and expressions in her poetry was just apt to bring out a strong idea in a rhythmic pattern. She gave way to both the dimensions of the idea; of not all men being harmful and at the same time of not all men being harmless.
In today’s world, one can find both – men who commit wrong and certain other men who are framed. And here comes the need for #NotAllMen; but Jidnya smoothly aces the idea of not all men being victims. “The land of my dreams stood strong on the shoulders of men and women, men who knew respect, who knew empathy, who knew kindness. And then I woke up to reality, a place where not all men are the same. Wouldn’t the world be a nicer place if they were?” says Jidnya! Isn’t it, wouldn’t the world be a nicer place if they were?
‘Sapiosexual Texting’ by Sid Warrier
All of us have once in a while had someone whose message popping on the phone has given us butterflies. Earlier there were long handwritten letters or barely worded postcards that did the thing. But now, it’s the ‘hey’ and ‘hi’ that ignite the sparks. Sid Warrier, in his Valentine’s Day Special poetry beautifully worded the journey of begging from a mere ‘hi’ to landing up in sleepless nights by choice. With the soulful music by Abhin Joshi, this work is even more pleasing to listen to. For all those who are in the midst of sparking conversations, this poem is worth listening to. “This is a universal truth that ‘hey’ is better than ‘hi’.” – with Sid’s wonderful words the smiles shine brighter on seeing a ‘hey’ instead of a ‘hi’.
‘For those Looking for a Sign’ by Ankita Shah
Life is a constant hustle these days and the complex species of Homo Sapiens always waits for good signs with expectant eyes. When one looks closely, every little thing in one’s life is a sign of something good happening constantly. This is the message that the latest poetry of Ankita Shah sends out. The soothing music by Abhin Joshi paired with the sweet and calm recitation by the poet is a treat to watch. She wisely uses words and conveys how gratitude is an essential part of one’s life.
So, for those looking for a sign, Ankita’s poetry is a reminder of the things of beauty this life offers and how one should keep cherishing it till the end. “To catch yourself breathing is a sign.” – these words of Ankita Shah will reverberate in your ears till eternity once you listen to them and encourage you to add life to your days and not days to your life.
‘Apna Andar Kaise Jhaakun’ by Chintan Rachchh
Self-discovery is the art of discovering yourself, your likes, and your dislikes and knowing your heart, body and mind thoroughly. It’s easier to observe others and learn about their habits, but when it comes to yourself, most of the time we find ourselves wondering what exactly we want. The simple question of ‘Who am I?’ seems to be a mountain trek and we stay stuck on ‘I am ___’ with nothing to fill in the blank. Chintan Rachchh, a splendid poet presents this idea of the journey of discovering oneself in his poem. The genuine questions and usual answers hit the right spot and leave the listener wondering how to look within oneself. “Kisiko malum ho to mujhe zarur ilm karna ki main kaise andar jhakun?” – and that is a mystery bigger than the mysteries of the black hole.
Poetry
Remembering the Love of Amrita-Imroz This Valentine’s Day
Amrita-Imroz are the two names that are never separated from each other. This Valentine’s Day, let’s remember the love of these two artists.
Love is integral to society. We come across its stories now and then. We hold them with us for a lifetime and cherish them. One of the favourite authors of India lived a life full of love that brings comfort just the same way. This Valentine’s Day, let’s recall the famous love shared between the author /poet Amrita Pritam and poet /artist Inderjeet Imroz.
Early Lives of Amrita Pritam and Inderjeet Imroz
Amrita Pritam, the renowned Punjabi poet and author, gained success and much fame in her life. However, her romantic life was conventionally not successful. She married young in 1935 to Pritam Singh but soon parted ways with him. After her first marriage, she met Sahir and fell in love. While Amrita loved Sahir, Sahir was already in love with someone else.
During this time, Amrita wrote a lot, and many of her works are dedicated to Sahir. When she was 40 years old, she met Imroz for the first time at her workplace, All India Radio, Delhi, where they soon became friends. Eventually, Imroz bought a scooter just to drive Amrita to work every day and share the littlest moments of his life with her. What could have been the greatest love of Amrita’s life is more often reduced to being called incomplete. Amrita called herself loyal to Sahir and distanced herself from more in the same life.
Imroz, who was a budding artist at that time and still looking for success, moved in with Amrita in Hauz Khas, Delhi. This sparked a lot of conversations in the town regarding their relationship, but what they shared was unconventional and unconditional. Their time shared together is commonly referred to as spiritual love. A kind of love that was not defined by social conventions and did not demand anything in return.
Amrita Imroz: A Love Story
The love of Amrita-Imroz was revived by Uma Trilok’s book, Amrita-Imroz: A Love Story, a collection of letters exchanged between Amrita and Imroz. Amrita’s poetry expresses the sadness that she faced in her love life. However, at the same time, her poetry and letters also convey that their love would’ve been more successful if Imroz had come earlier in her life. Amrita had already named this life after Sahir.
Their time together lasted more than 40 years until she died at 86 in the companionship of Imroz. Amrita’s famous poem, “Mai tenu phir milangi”, a beautiful masterpiece to read on Valentine’s Day, portrays her deep desire to be with Imroz. To share irrevocable and unconditional love with him in her next life. After Amrita’s death, Imroz said in his interviews that his art, whose muse is Amrita, is meditation for him. He remembered her in the present tense as a companion who was always with him.
The love of Amrita-Imroz was not simply profound and shared between two famous personalities. Their poetry, art, letters and passionate love define the culture that humans share inherently. This culture goes beyond social expectations, impositions, demands and conventions. They are to be remembered for generations to come in the hope of another life for Amrita-Imroz. This Valentine’s Day let us remember the unparalleled story of the poet and artist, Amirta-Imroz.
Poetry
Young Instagram Poets To Feed Your Daily Mundane
Our lives our incomplete without verses. Here are some Instagram poets you should check out if you love poetry.
Everyone needs little poetry in their lives and social media platforms like Instagram have made it easier for us. In our fast-paced lives, we get little to no time to connect back to the art that makes us human. Here is a short list of our favorite Instagram poets you should read.
Megha Rao
“And when she dies, she will gift her daughters the one thing that protects them: venom.
You should know,
your rage is not a curse.
That there will be nights you dream of floating in an island, your feet bare
singing with other cannibal girls,
your mouth watering for shipwrecks.”
Credits: Instagram (_megharao)
Megha Rao is a 27-year-old poet from Kerala who started with poetry on Instagram a few years back. Eventually, she started her podcast, named Poems To Calm Down To, for which she gained immense popularity. Her poetry podcast was trending at #1 on Spotify India and stayed on top of the charts for two years. In 2021, she released her debut poetry book, Teething, published by HarperCollins India. She has been featured in Penguin Random House India, Harper’s Bazaar, Rolling Stone, Outlook, BBC Radio, and POETRY Magazine.
Her Instagram poems primarily focus on themes of trauma, love, chaos, and questions around the self – its positioning, stature, judgments, individuality, and the truth. Her poetry is heartbreaking, and gut-wrenching, it quite literally forms lumps in your throat, makes you squirm, question everything about you, and look beyond the words. It’s evocative and makes you sit back and think things through. With her debut novel, Our Bones in Your Throat on the way to publishing, today, Megha Rao is a renowned performance poet, who still writes on Instagram regularly.
Aaditya Pandey
“so I traffic in the web of
amorphous biochemical and electrical impulses
to understand why I was given
the name of a mythical hindu god
who cursed his son to turn queer
what has been attempted to emphasize here:
the curse, the cursed or the curser?”
Credits: Instagram (farazkighazal)
Aaditya Pandey is a young and growing poet who started posting his poems on Instagram in 2020. At an early age, he has received recognition by platforms like Live Wire and Poems India. His poetry is versatile and revolves around themes of everyday life and moments, society and social structures, and self and the being. My Mother Is Growing On Me is one of his popular poems.
Kamakshi Anand
“she said all the women she knew were once girls with soft palms whose fathers had taught them to hold on and hold together, whose mothers had paused infinity and never let them forget. these women whose girlhood was ragged breaths and broken bones, women who’d been smiling too long.”
Credits: Instagram (wingedwords02)
Kamakshi Anand is another young poet on Instagram who started posting her poetry under a pen name, Kia. In 2019, she gave her account a new outlook and took another step towards a successful journey with her real name. Since then, she has only grown upwards. Her poetry is about every little thing in life that we overlook. She scrutinizes them and presents them in profound and evocative verses. Her poems are often sad yet comforting, about society and its effects on us. In 2021, she published her very first poetry book, Say Your Vows.
Akif Kichloo
“and when we touch we die and when we die we are born
same old but purer each time
amen to that
you. you. tu.
to you i vanish to you i elevate to you i fall to you i transcend
i hum i close my eyes jump off the cliff
to you is enough.”
Instagram: Credits (akifkichloo)
Afik Kichloo is another popular Instagram poet. He started writing poetry at an early age, just after completing a bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery. Currently, he is a full-time poet, focusing on writing alone before he pursues higher education. With his publications at The Huffington Post and The Wire, he still writes for magazines and newspapers. His poetry revolves around the themes of love and loss.
Kichloo’s poems have been featured in esteemed international anthologies that include Poem a Day Anthology (2015), Umbilical Cords: An Anthology on Parents Remembered (2015), Different Truths Anthology (2017), Sheraza Literary Journal of J & K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. Furthermore, his verses have graced the pages of numerous literary magazines, including Glass, Palette Poetry, and Fly Paper Magazine, among others. He has also released three poetry books – The Feeling May Remain (2016), Poems That Lose (2017), and Falling Through Love: Poems (2019).
Confluentia of Talent
Rhymes of Romance: Poetic Odes to Love
Love, Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat – many words for a universal emotion, how better to explore this emotion through poetic odes to love?
Love is a universal language, although we have many names for it, we all feel it at some point in our life. The funny thing is that while we all are bound to feel this love at some point, we still struggle to explain and describe how it makes us feel. Through poetry, songs, books, Dohas and Shayari we resonate with and find ways to express how this universal emotion makes us feel. With that being said, let us dive into a compilation of poetry on love and its enchanting spell.
“Teesri Mohabbat” by Nayab Midha
“Teesri Mohabbat” by Nayab Midha is a beautiful poem that goes on to talk about how if she finds words to describe her lover’s eyes, then their eyes won’t be beautiful anymore because words can’t do justice to their eyes if she finds words for their love, then she doesn’t love them anymore for words could never capture how deep their love is. Through the poem, she goes on to talk about the lessons our first love teaches us so that we can learn what we do not want from love. So that when someone comes along again we would be able to understand if they are what we want or not. She urges us to not give up on love because we were hurt but to let the person who hurt us go and pull back the love you gave them.
“Pyaar Aur Ishq Mein Fark Kya Hai?” by Priya Malik ft Abhin
“Pyaar Aur Ishq Mein Fark Kya Hai?” by Priya Malik ft Abhin is a poem that talks about the difference between Pyaar and Ishq. The poet goes on to talk about what Pyaar is, to which she further describes what Ishq is. In the poem we find that Ishq is a lifestyle we adopt for it does not mean just loving a person, it also means staying alone until you find someone who will love you right, it means letting someone you love go and be happy with someone else. She says that Ishq is a challenge which is why so many people are lost still trying to find it.
“A Burning Heart” by Sainee Raj ft Samuel
“A Burning Heart” by Sainee Raj ft Samuel is a poem that talks about love but in comparison with climate change. The poet goes on to talk about how she and her lover’s favourite spot in the forest has burned away due to climate change. They start seeing it as a sign that may be their love has burnt its course. They don’t let these thoughts stay long for they both decide that as they will help rebuild the forest that is now in ashes they will also build their love by nurturing and caring for both.
“Tabah Kar Deti Hai Mohabaat” by Goonj Chand
Tabah Kar Deti Hai Mohabbat” by Goonj Chand is a poem that talks about the destructive effects of love. Throughout the poem, she goes on to say how she would never express her love for someone even though she may love them a lot. She further explains that she does not want to indulge in love for it has caused chaos and wars in times gone by. She says that she always wears a kajal to prevent her from crying because that is what love does. The poem is painfully true and does strike a chord in you.
We hope you enjoyed this compilation.
Editor's Pick
“Stillness” By Feroze Varun Gandhi
Contemplating Life’s Profound Moments Through the Eloquent Verses of Feroze Varun Gandhi. Immerse Yourself in the Lyrical Symphony of Soothing Words.
After 14 years of his debut collection, Feroze Varun Gandhi’s second poetry installment “Stillness” came as a captivating study of elegance in the year 2015. The poems within “Stillness” possess an introspective spirit, with a lasting sense of calm long after the last verse is read.
Feroze Varun Gandhi, better known as Varun Gandhi, is an Indian politician and the third-term member of Parliament for Lok Sabha from the Pilibhit constituency. He belongs to the Nehru-Gandhi family, which has had a prominent place in Indian Politics since a time before Independence in 1947. Varun Gandhi is the son of the Late Sanjay Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi.
A Read Between The Verses
Feroze Varun Gandhi’s poetry is distinguished by his ability to curate a balance between poignancy and profoundness. Every poem is a window into his thoughts and a mirror of his ability to write the truth of human emotions. Gandhi weaves together a tapestry of emotions, calling the readers to embark with him on a quest for introspection and self-discovery. The tone of his poetry is reflective, honest, and raw.
In addition to its poetic beauty, “Stillness” also gives the readers a visual treat, wherein each poem is adorned with wonderful photography that enhances the reading experience. The combination of visual and written finesse makes this poetry collection a sublime experience for both new and seasoned poetry enthusiasts.
Feroze Varun Gandhi takes the readers on a journey across the realms of silence, solitude, and the deeper essence of existence. The poems held within “Stillness” give the readers a deep sense of calm and serenity.
Final Thoughts
Feroze Varun Gandhi’s “Stillness” is a collection of poetry that embraces silence and offers readers a refuge of calm among everyday life chaos. His poetic imagery is vivid and evocative, sending readers to surreal landscapes where time is forever frozen. The poems gently urge introspection in the readers.
“Stillness” by Feroze Varun Gandhi is a promise to take readers on an enchanting journey into the world of silence, elegance, and the power of stillness itself. Be ready to be awed by the depth and wonder of this beautiful collection.
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