Flying on Wings of Verse from Chandigarh to Delhi

Poetry it is said is thoughts that breathe and words that dance. Recalling a recent lyrical encounter in the week gone by

- Nirupama Dutt

It feels good to be in the warm embrace of poetry and more poetry, during the past week, for its capacity to connect one to the other.

Poetry pre-dates the written and is said to have emerged in hymns and chants as frail humans made an effort to reach out to the invisible in different cultures and languages. Interestingly, the African hunting songs are considered the first examples of verse. In India, the Rigveda is the oldest Sanskrit text with 1,000 verses dedicated to divinity and written with finesse.

Now, before my friends wonder at this ongoing obsession with words and verse, let me tell you that the past week passed with inspiring poetry from Chandigarh to Delhi and back.

The catalyst for this poetic was a visiting poet from the US, Franklin Abbot, who is a close friend of my writer sister Kamla as both live in the same neighbourhood. Then my sister made a sweet suggestion that could I arrange some poetry reading for him in Chandigarh? In Hindustani they say, "Neki aur pooch-pooch," meaning that if you are asking me to do something I love, then why the question mark? So I quickly offered that I will do it in Delhi too, the city of my dreams. Abbot suggested to call other poets too for he would like to listen to Indian poets. This was yet another classic case of "Neki aur pooch pooch"!

The existential experience