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.

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.

Born in the beautiful town of Sri Ganga Nagar in Rajasthan at the boundary of India and Pakistan to a middle-class family, Nayab Midha is a compassionate and dedicated youngster who now embraces slam poetry, performing before a huge audience in different locations across India. From missing a train to finding her passion, Nayab Midha has a unique story to tell. The renowned slam poet who embraced words to influence people across the globe- Nayab Midha opens up to The Talented Indian.

The past that dreamt of this present.

Nayab’s grandparents had settled at the Sri Ganga Nagar during the partition of India. She was born while her parents were struggling to set up their careers and stabilize themselves. Her parents are postgraduates. She was moulded to believe in education and its abominable scope of progress as a human being. Thus she started reading extensively at 10 years of age. She feels that is where she belongs and wants to move forward with it.

Nayab loved Mathematics but her father wanted her to be a doctor. Then she landed on being a Software engineer by profession. Back in her college life, she had thought becoming a poet can only be done by being an author. She is used to writing poems from the early days. But only when she went to Delhi for graduation, that she participated in slam poetry competitions in the College. But when she came across people performing slam poetry on stages in malls, she found this new door to execute her ever dreamt desire.

Later, she chose to leave her 2 years of Infoscion life to pursue what her passion demanded- to be an influencing poet. College life gave her opportunities to contest in various competitions to perform her poem. She took the 2 years at Infosys to stabilize her independent life and used weekends to embrace slam poetry at stages in various places like Delhi.

Nayab started taking reading and writing seriously when she was reading the fresh arrival of  Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat while she missed a train and was waiting at the railway station. Nayab says she is so grateful that she missed her train which literally made her take another in her career. She continued exploring books written by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens. But she is more fascinated by Indian authors, especially Hindi writers like Amrita Pritam.

Passion overrides pressures

Nayab believes that whenever she shifted from a particular position it took much courage for her to do so. The first and most risky thing was to leave her job at Infosys. But she strongly believes in and loves storytelling and wants to pursue it as much as she can. To the question regarding societal pressures and pre-established parameters that hinder such unconventional careers, Nayab says she did not randomly take the bag and left the place. She worked for 2 years at the MNC and ensured that she paid her bills and simultaneously chased her slam poetry interests. She made her parents believe in her. Nayab affirms that it is only to the parents and the loved ones that we need to justify our actions and not anyone else. Because one can’t always convince the cent percent people. Nayab proudly says her parents are now absolutely happy with her decision to take the current path. For her, the constant motivation has always been her mother. Also, the catchy themes of any project can make her curious to work ecstatically on it. She playfully adds that paying her bills and feeding her stomach is yet another motivation.

A poem to cherish

Nayab feels that every part of the journey has been special for her. But something to be so genuinely touching was an incident, she recollected. This happened while she was at Chandigarh and was struggling to establish her name. She worked at Infosys in Chandigarh on weekdays and organized events in the city related to poetry and music during weekends. This helped her grab the train from Chandigarh to Delhi to perform once a weekend every month. Then she would go to her favorite place and eat her favourite food as she was so in love with Delhi food. Then she goes to Chandigarh late at night on the same days. During one of the dull days where she couldn’t write well due to lack of time and had to give a mediocre kind of performance. Later a program was around the corner, she asked for a slot and they reminded her not to be like the last time. Relying on the promise. Nayab was given a slot and thus the poem Khubsoorat was born. The organizers decided to release it and informed her. While she went out to have some Dosa at Sharavana Bhavan, she dreamt of getting 100 K views since her previous ones got less than that. Her phone got switched off in the midst of the travel. By the evening when she switched on the phone, the views were 300k and by 9 pm, it got 1 million views. Later it went to like 15 million.

Social media is for all people

Social media has given an egalitarian platform for people from all walks of life to showcase their talents in any art form. The economic, social, or geographic inequalities are overridden by merit and creativity. Equal opportunities are established and auditions don’t matter now if one has the ability to take up chances and uses it effectively. Every person is talented in a unique manner. But there are often cases where works are plagiarised and copied, which degrades the quality of the art.

Risks, Failures, and Success

She reminds us that if you stay there in the pit of not taking risks and following what you want, you will remain there all your life. So it’s better to jump from the pit and get the best out there. Nayab exhorts to climb up the pit even if you fall off. Have the courage to jump, that’s it! Believe that you can grow and mould yourself. Nayab acknowledges failures but never wanted to pursue success without deserving it. She wants to achieve victories when she is prepared and fully ready to receive them. Learning and accepting others’ work is also significant for her. Nayab admires poets like by Rohit Sharma whose amazing poem Mein Ravan Hoon is trending on YouTube. She is so much enchanted with the poems of Pallavi  Mahajan, Nithi Narwal especially Andhera.

Nayab Midha is an inspiration to many. She sets the flame to the cult of upcoming artists or any dreamer to dream big, start small, and finally get their careers built.