Poetry evokes emotions many. It is a different language, an easier one perhaps since it brings solace to many. Shubham Shyam is a magician when it comes to words and verses. Two of his much loved poetries, ‘Gir Jaana Mera Ant Nahi’ and ‘Woh Aaj Nahi Toh Kal Hoga’, have been like a ray of hope, promise, and strength to many people.

In an interview conversation with Shubham Shyam, we learnt about his struggles, his dilemmas, and how poetry has been his companion at all times. Whoever he is today didn’t come easily. Here’s a deeper dive into how Shubham knits words and brings an enigma, and a lyrical, thought-provoking masterpiece on the table.

Early Life: How Did Poetry Happen To Him?

Shubham was born in a small village of Bihar, known as Dumaigarh, in Chhapra district. He did most of his schooling from there until his father sent him to Patna city for better educational opportunities. He studied in a CBSE affiliated school, which meant that he was supposed to pick one language from Hindi and Sanskrit to continue in his 9th grade. Since Sanskrit was a scoring subject, and most of his friends opted for Sanskrit too, Shubham too decided to continue with Sanskrit. However, his father wasn’t happy with this decision, and asked Shubham to re-opt for Hindi.

It was natural that Shubham ended up disliking Hindi, because, first, Hindi wouldn’t get him the marks that Sanskrit would have, and second, it also meant that he wouldn’t be in the same class as his friends now. His Hindi teacher sensed this rift between him and the subject. She, therefore, gave him poetry books to read and asked him to pick one line from these poems and write another poem out of it. Thus, Shubham started writing poetries in 9th grade.

After his schooling, he went to Kota to prepare for engineering and further completed his mechanical engineering from Tamil Nadu.

Decisions To Make: Poetry Or Engineering?

Shubham was obviously not born with a silver platter. When he went to Patna and later to Tamil Nadu to complete engineering, he also took along with him the expectations of his parents. It was years of hard work, loans, and pressure, and finally he completed engineering. However, when he returned to his parents, he declared that he’s dropping engineering, and instead is going to pursue poetry, his passion. It was the path he wanted to walk on. Meanwhile, his father was doubtful of a life of a poet. In the end, he wanted his son to live a financially comfortable life. Nevertheless, his father gave up and eventually let him leave.

Shubham stepped foot into the city of dreams—Mumbai. While poetry didn’t guarantee to fuel his income, it for sure was feeding his soul. Till date, Shubham does other jobs to sustain himself, while poetry remains his all-time passion. Currently, he is a teacher. He teaches mathematics to grade 11th and 12th, and on the side, performs poetry shows.

Life of a poet isn’t easy. When Shubham first came to Mumbai, despite the unhappiness of his parents, he ran into a director. This director asked him to write a screenplay. Shubham narrated that while the topic was vague, he still of course wrote it and submitted. It was also the first time he wrote a screenplay. The director disliked it, teared it apart, and told Shubham to go back to his engineering job, experience the world for a few years and then return. As someone who had put everything on line for pursuing poetry, these words completely broke him, but of course, not enough to make him give up. Fast forward to a few years later, when Shubham got featured on Kapil Sharma’s show, the same director texted him the words, “good work.” For Shubham, it has been a different satisfaction to prove people wrong.

Shubham Shyam Shares Tips For Aspiring Poets

Shubham talked about how he writes poetries. There is certainly not any hard and fast rule, because poetry comes naturally to him. He explained that most times, his surroundings impact him. Be it political, social or just natural annoyance which might tug at him for reasons many. Shubham then dumps these feelings on a piece of paper, and these come out poetically, in verses. It becomes a cycle for him, since poetry writing then makes him feel better and also produces beautiful, thought provoking written pieces.

For aspiring poets, he shared many insights and tips. Firstly, that poetry comes from within, and to hone that mastery over words, one must read a lot. Reading opens up perspectives, brings multiple experiences to the table, and sharpens the vocabulary. Ramdhari Singh Dinkar has been an inspiring poet figure for Shubham. His poetry has proved to be this new avenue of writing and perspectives for him. Second, practice narrating it and expressing your written piece, its emotions as accurately and honestly as possible. Make your poetry heard by performing and through social media.

Shubham Shyam has reached a vast audience through the power of the internet. Many of his poems, written years back, have now gone viral. Famous personalities like Anupam Kher, Aakash Chopra and Aditya Thakre have even recited his poems. With social media sites like YouTube, live-streaming is also now possible, which brings all community artists and art lovers on the same level to experience, listen and create. Therefore, getting your work heard is equally important. Shubham also believes that talent will remain stagnant without hard work. You must make your own path to success, because there is honestly no shortcut. Progress can only come when you decide to jump and not be scared. Along with this, discipline and dedication will promise you the wings to fly further. In the midst of this, however, always remember to keep your feet planted to the ground as well.

The most meaningful and beautiful things in life are sometimes the most simple ones; after all, what life is? A loved one, the smell of the hometown, the memories, the childhood, family, the fallen yellow leaves, water, the cosmos? So simple yet so simply profound. This is what the poetry of Hiren Bhattacharya is like, using local words and the local dialect to describe the simple life, the simple fields, the simple patriotism, the simple agony, and above all, the simple love,  and create an effect that hits right at the depths of the reader’s expansive heart.

Known as the poet of Aromatic Butterflies in the Assamese literary world, the poems of Hiren Bhattacharya are shorter, economical and reflect a strong attachment to rural life. Some of his poems also mirror the political reflection around him, but it is his poems on art, paintings, love, agony, and fear that resonate with the mass of Assam the most. His poems are still used by lovers, and his two nursery poems, “Lora Dhemali” and “Akou Dhemali”, are famous among the Assamese households.

Famously known as Hiruda, Hiren Bhattacharya was born in Jorhat, eastern Assam, in 1932. Majorly a poet, he scarcely wrote in other genres. His first poem was released in 1957, and his first anthology  Mur Desh Mur Premor Kobita, was published in 1972. His published anthologies of poetry include Roudro Kamona (1972), Kobitar Rod (1976), Tomar Bahi, Xugondhi Pokhilaa (1981), Mor Desh Aru Mor Premor Kobita 1972, Bibhinno Dinor Kobita, Shoichor Pothar Manuh, Mur Prio Bornomala, Bhalpuwar Buka Mati, Bhalpuwar Dikchou Batere.

Hiren’s exceptional contribution to Assamese poetry earned him many awards, such as the Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award, Bishnu Rabha Award, Rajaji Puroskar, Soviet Desh Neheru Award, Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for his anthology of poems ‘Saichor Pathar Manuh’, Assam Valley Literary Award, (Asom Upotyoka Sahitya Bota) 2000. 

Hiren Bhattacharya, the poet who engraved the name of the Assamese language even deeper and darker on the Indian landscape of languages, left us on July 4, 2012. However, he will always be alive in the letters of the lovers, in the speeches of the politicians, in the humming of the bees, and in the voice of the lullaby-singing mother.

Family is a lovable poetry within which the art of gathering relationships and blending the right rhythm holds into a beautiful song. Parents and children are the verses to it. The bond needs space to grow and strength to support. Without both, love becomes just a word and the poem becomes already boring. The freedom and affection bind the characters together within the family. Here are some beautiful poetries that reiterate the relationships within a family.

Mujhe Ghar Jaana Hai by Mallika Dua

Fumbling and looking for her specs, Mallika found it tucked in her kurta close to her. Mallika ushers the crowd in to give a glimpse of the soul-wrenching and beautiful process of inching close to her parents by remembering moments brick by brick to create a path ultimately allowing her to grieve and proceed in life with her parents’ aura still with her as she calls them her home. 

‘Mujhe Ghar Jana He’, a sentence, Dua claims to use often also serves as a title in a poetry session on UnErase Poetry, where she recollects and cherishes her memories with her ‘Papa Ji’(Vinod Dua) and ‘Mummy Aunty’(Padmavati Dua). Dua lost her parents last year in June and her father in December within a consecutive short span of time leaving her hopeless and with a sense of no safe haven. 

Through the session, she navigates to find a home (ghar) that she can return back to going back. Beginning from the roots that build the foundation of home. She finds the courage to rebuild the shattered broken remains by engaging herself in the same childhood home her parents built with delicacy.

Amidst her dad’s bookshelf, collection of poetry and mom’s healing hands that engaged all around the house working, she musters the strength to heal and grieve. Going back to her mom’s intricate detailed posts and dad’s poetry book of poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz is where she finds her answers to helplessness, phrase- Khoon mein gham bhi beh jayega , hum bhi na rehenge , gham bhi na rahega’. A line of survival as she interprets it for herself ‘Not to take myself and human life seriously and that I will see him again’ 

The performance beautifully captivates and shelters the purpose. It is a motivational driving force within that encourages and generates the strength to move forward as one encounters challenges in their life to move forward because the ultimate goal has to be fulfilled and the sky is the limit. 

The Good Kid by Helly Shah

Societal expectation to adhere to certain rules and images often provide layers to an individual or strip off their individuality. Amidst the sense of finding yourself, this piece encourages to gather the courage to emerge as a person who still believes and hopes to defy the boundaries that hold them back and live life to the fullest while making mistakes but with no regrets. 

The Good Kid, a sentence often appears as an example that a child has to mold themselves into. This serves as the title of a poem performed and written by Helly Shah poem featuring Samuel where she sheds light on a child growing up with set goals to be fulfilled and tames urges to contain themselves to behave some way. Instead, she asserts to latch on to ‘the sheet of hope’ and live life with accountability and learning and discovering in the process to accept and be proud of the person you become. 

Helly starts the poem by revealing a secret between a twenty-one-year-old and the mother, who acknowledges the person ‘you were a good kid.’ The lines tumble back in time to age 7 ‘aging backward’ reminiscing the memory of past, a child who puts maximum effort and accepts fate without a question. Proceeding to age 12, a veil of assurance to conceal harsh realities is drawn to provide comfort, ‘you make facade into fantasies.’ Episodes of negligence and ignorance is projected where the person makes a promise to be better at what they do’ 

A sense of alienation is brought in this coming of age poem, where teaches asserts ‘your mind is the spaceship, lost in the void of galaxies. You search for constellation between words and call it poetry.’ Helly sheds light on certain failures, mistakes and disappointments made while moving forward to fulfill expectations.

Helly’s delivery and poetry performance leave a remarkable long-lasting impact. A sense of assurance as well as questioning the life you’ve lived and the potential to alter it. Her words hold the gravity to provoke and generate a new set of ideas and beliefs about life.

Literature played a pivotal role in India’s freedom struggle; it inspired the movement and directed people. Many freedom fighters wrote poems, essays, and stories in regional languages to drive the feeling of patriotism and swarajya among Indians. Be it songs like “Vandemantaram” by Bankim Chandra or Jana Gana Mana by Rabindranath Tagore created a sense of unity among Indian people from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds. They filled their hearts with patriotism while preparing them to jump on the battlefield of swarajya and sacrifice everything they have for the motherland. 

Another such dedicated freedom fighter and nationalist poet remembered for his freedom songs is Garimella Satyanarayana. He lived to realise the dream of the independence of India. His song ‘Maakoddi Tella Doratnam” (we don’t want this white man to rule) was cyclostyled a thousand times, and it was sung equally by everyone. The song, as praised by Mahatma Gandhi, was an inspiration for other poets of the time.

Born on 14 July 1893 in Gonepadu village in Narasannapeta taluq of Srikakulam district, Andra Pradesh, Garimella wrote songs in folk tunes since his school days. Still, his songs took a new dimension when he met with freedom fighters in Rajahmudry (1920). His music Maakodi Tella Doratnam fully blossomed this year and got published the following year. The song resonated with the rural and urban mass suffering under the British raj and thoroughly demonstrated the national movement theme. It perfectly depicted the country’s social, economic and political scenario at the time. Whenever Garimella encountered a new social or political problem, he would add a stanza to the song. Slowly, the song grew to be 162 lines long. 

Every stanza in the poems reflects a problem people faced under the British raj. The poem talks about starvation, hard labour, burden taxes, the serf system, untouchability, harassment by the police, the arrest of leaders, and a sinister divide and rule policy. The main aim of the poem was to inspire people to join the freedom struggle.

Gerimalla was jailed twice for his participation in the freedom struggle, but nothing could stop him from helping his country achieve poorna swarajya. On an individual level, he talked about freedom of a deeper kind, the space beyond any materialistic boundary.

Apart from the song Maakoddee Telladoratanamu, He wrote another famous English poem, “The heart of the nation”. His songs and poems are published in the books Swaraajya Geetamulu (1921), Harijana Paatalu (1923), Khandakaavyalu, Baalageetaalu (1923).

Unfortunately, once India gained independence, one of the greatest political poets of India was pushed to the blurred background and he died in poverty five years later. Today only a few remember his name. However, to keep his heritage alive, in 2020, the training college in Rajahmundry was named after him.

Do you remember the last time you talked about a Bagh(Tiger) or a Neel Gaye(blue bull) or Bhediya(wolf) or Sarso k Khet(mustard field) or jungle(forest) in a way that you talk about the latest cafe in your neighbourhood or the latest movie? As a city kid, probably the only time you must have discussed about a tiger is when you read the news in the newspaper concerning the man-animal conflict. The natural elements that we talked about so much during the 90s and before have become almost equal to a myth; they seem so distant from us. I mean, don’t we go on those long weekends or trips to be with nature as if it is something that can only be found on trips or blogs of our favourite travellers. When did we become so distant from nature? All we see is concrete; all we smell is the dust? Where is the wind that refreshed the mind? Where is the smell of the farmland? The scent of the farmer’s sweat that tills the land?

For a millennial kid raised in a city, reading writer and poet Kedarnath Singh is like breathing fresh air. He wrote poems on common man problems using natural elements surrounding us like animals, mud, rivers, water, farmland, forest, trees, clouds, afternoons, rain, honey bee, crane etc. He describes life using nature as if in every poem of his he is describing a still painting or a photograph hidden in an old novel. So simple, so static, yet so captivating, This is evident by the titles of his poems as well – Chote Sheher Ki Ek Dopahar, Bagh, Fasal, Basant, Nadi, Badal Oo, Akal me Saras, Sristi Par Pehra, etc. It feels so alive to read him.

Born on 7 July 1934, in a small village Chakia in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Kedarnath Singh was a Hindi scholar who taught for more than two decades at Jawahar Lal Nehru University. Initially, he started with writing songs and then, later on, moved to poems. His first collection of poems, Abhi Bilkul Abhi, was published in 1960. His writing is a scarce combination of modernisation set in the background of village life, bringing to light many thought-proving themes through simple poetry, moving minds and emotions at the same time.

Kedarnath Singh was also an essayist, and his writings have been published in books named Mere Samay Ke Shabd, Kalpana our chayavad and Hindi Kavitha ke bimb vidhan. Along with being a writer, he was also a translator, and his books have also been translated into many languages, a testament to his wide range of readers. 

He has been awarded the prestigious Jnanpith award (2013) and the Sahitya Academy award (1989) for his exemplary work. Among other awards, he has also been awarded the Maithili Sharan Gupta Puraskaar, Kumaran Asan Puraskaar, Jeevan Bharathy Puraskaar, Dinkar Puraskaar, Sahitya Akademi Puraskaar and Vyas Samman.

Sadly Kedarnath Singh left us in 2018, but he will always be remembered as a poet who wrote on simple yet pivotal themes, and be cherished as a significant contemporary Hindi poet, writer and essayist. Check out his poems now if you are in for a good poem hunting day. To give you a cue, – start with Bagh.