caferati

Great-Grandson of Godawful Poetry Fortnight

2011-08-15T20:56:00.001+05:30

We launched the first Godawful Poetry Fortnight in 2008, and followed up in in 2009 and 2010. All our posts are here, and there's a brief article in the TOI about the Fortnight here.

Now, time to gear up for 2011. You have been warned!

The essentials:

• Godawful Poetry Fortnight runs from the 19th to the 31st August.

• Our Patron Saint is William Wordsworth.

And he gets this signal honour for saying that poetry "is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings." Way too many aspiring poets have rallied behind that banner, too few going so far as recollecting those emotions in tranquillity, let alone reading the rest of the preface to Lyrical Ballads (which can be found on Bartleby, for those interested).

• To join in, all you have to do is post on your blog*, Facebook or Google+ a godawful poem you have written, with—all totally optional—a brief note about GPF, a bit about what godawful poetry means to you, and a link to this post.

• Post godawful poems as often as you like during the Fortnight. (The True Believers Challenge: post thirteen godawful poems, one on each day of the Fortnight.) Squeeze your muse like a boil. Get it all out. Pester your friends to post too. Once GPF is done, you will write good poetry for the rest of the year, yes?

• Technorati is pretty much dead now. So just use a Godawful Poetry Fortnight tag or label on your post, and maybe a #GodawfulPoetryFortnight Twitter hashtag as well.

• To those who feel the need to point out this Fortnight lasts only thirteen days, we draw our cape around us, and say, in a marked manner, "Poetic license."

* I'd be happy to link to you if you tell me where your poem is.
If you don't have a blog, you're welcome to use the comment space here or, if you know me and have my address, email me your poems and I'll post them as guest posts.

cross-posted

CaPoWriMo 2.30

2011-04-30T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a free poem (about anything you want, no rules). If you have started to enjoy the rule-bound creative push, then write a poem about freedom.

CaPoWriMo 2.29

2011-04-29T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a poem intended as a birthday gift to someone you love.

CaPoWriMo 2.28

2011-04-28T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a poem about a place you have visited as a tourist.

CaPoWriMo 2.27

2011-04-27T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a 20-line poem

CaPoWriMo 2.26

2011-04-26T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a 6-line poem.

CaPoWriMo 2.25

2011-04-25T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a poem as an apology letter to your 18-year-old self.

CaPoWriMo 2.24

2011-04-24T00:00:00.000+05:30

Shut your eyes and count till ten. Allow a face to drift into your mind. Write a poem about that face.

CaPoWriMo 2.23

2011-04-23T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a poem about a mythical figure. You are free to draw upon ancient Indian, Greek, Tibetan or any other mythologies you have access to.

CaPoWriMo 2.22

2011-04-22T00:00:00.001+05:30

Write a poem inspired by a a sign / billboard / public-message-on-pamphletm.

CaPoWriMo 2.21

2011-04-21T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write an ode to a celebrity, like an actor, a singer or dancer, whom you have a massive crush on (you know you do).

CaPoWriMo 2.20

2011-04-20T00:00:00.001+05:30

Write a code into a poem, such as you might in an acrostic.

CaPoWriMo 2.19

2011-04-19T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a commute poem or a poem about transport.

CaPoWriMo 2.18

2011-04-18T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a handicap poem. It can be about a handicapped person you know, or about your own handicaps, like poor eyesight, or failing hearts, or small challenges like not being able to digest some food item.

CaPoWriMo 2.17

2011-04-17T00:00:00.002+05:30

Write an element poem: this can be about any natural element or force of nature, like the weather, or rain, or heat or a quake.

CaPoWriMo 2.16

2011-04-16T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a poem about an overused word - one of those that is used so frequently and with such little discrimination that it has little meaning. Example - spectacular, or fabulous.

CaPoWriMo 2.15

2011-04-15T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write about a scar or a person with a scar.

CaPoWriMo 2.14

2011-04-14T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a poem about a relative whom you do not know much about but are intrigued by.

CaPoWriMo 2.13

2011-04-13T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a perfume or smell poem; write about the smell or essence of a person, an animal, of food or waste.

CaPoWriMo 2.12

2011-04-12T00:00:00.001+05:30

Write a poem about a language you do not speak, write or understand, but with which you have had a fleeting encounter somewhere.

CaPoWriMo 2.11

2011-04-11T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a gadget poem; something about a camera or music player or laptop or tablet.

CaPoWriMo 2.10

2011-04-10T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write an andhadi.

CaPoWriMo 2.09

2011-04-09T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a ghazal. Rhyme and refrain are both a must.

CaPoWriMo 2.08

2011-04-08T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a sonnet with perfect rhyme and meter.

CaPoWriMo 2.07

2011-04-07T00:00:00.001+05:30

Write a weight poem - something about weight issues.

Those who can honestly claim not to have any weight issues may write about hair issues instead.

If you have neither, I don't want to hear from you.

CaPoWriMo 2.06

2011-04-06T00:00:00.002+05:30

Write a sports poem. You can either describe a match or dedicate it to a sporting idol or player.

CaPoWriMo 2.05

2011-04-05T00:00:00.001+05:30

Write a haiku or senryu. 17 syllables exactly.

CaPoWriMo 2.04

2011-04-04T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a photo poem, based on any poem that you see often; it might be something on your screensaver, on your desk or on the wall at home.

CaPoWriMo 2.03

2011-04-03T00:00:00.001+05:30

Write a poem about one item that you wear often, or a favourite trinket.

CaPoWriMo 2.02

2011-04-02T00:00:00.000+05:30

Write a villanelle.

CaPoWriMo 2.01

2011-04-01T00:00:00.001+05:30

Pick any three words that you find intriguing and use them in a poem.

They have to be slightly unusual, not the ones you use everyday. You cannot say 'call' or 'office', for instance. But you can use 'haul' or 'tomb'.

CaPoWriMo 2

2011-03-30T03:59:00.005+05:30

It's April!

Time to do our second CaPoWriMo. (See last year's post for more history.)

We'd like you to commit to writing 30 poems this April. Post them wherever you like. Link back here if you want to, or to NaoPoWriMo if you prefer. You could post and then tweet (hashtag #CaPoWriMo) or just do it the old fashioned way and scribble lines down in a note book.

Just write.

If that's enough for you, go ahead, post, and happy writing!

But if, like many of us, you need a prompt or an exercise to give you direction and momentum, read on.

We — or rather, Annie — have mini 30 exercises for you.

We'll be posting them here, one each day.

You can come back, read the prompt for the day, then go away and write a poem or three. (And if you like, come post a link (or the whole poem if you choose) in the comments of the post that prompted it.

Or if you want more choice in your hands, you could go to our Facebook group, where we'll be posting all the prompts all at once in the Discussion area, and choose the ones you like, when you like. Again, you can, if you like, post the poems, or links to them, in reply to the discussion threads that prompted them.

All clear?

Go!

Caferati @ Habitat Open Mic starts March 25th!

2011-03-24T13:55:00.002+05:30

Delhi folks, the Caferati @ Habitat Open Mic series kicks off 25 March, and from then on, every last Friday of the month, for as long as you continue to support it and Habitat continues to host!

Amphitheatre
India Habitat Centre
Lodhi Road
New Delhi,
India
25th March, 19:00 - 22:00
Facebook event page & Tweetable shortened link for the event: http://on.fb.me/fjD9u5

* Entry Free *

The rules:
- You must perform only your own writing.
- You can perform one piece for a maximum of two minutes. Your time starts the moment you come to the microphone; any introduction or preamble is part of your time slot.
- Only solo or duo performances; no groups please. Duos can only perform collaborative works authored by both performers.
- Works performed can be in any of the languages used in the National Capital Region
- You can recite, declaim, shout, even sing (if you can hold a tune); you can sit, stand or lie down; you can dance, turn a cartwheel, play a musical instrument, or scratch your back while standing on your head, as long as you perform your words.
- When the moderator tells you your time is up, please leave the microphone immediately.
- Genres: No restriction. Poetry, scripts, stories, songs, it’s all good.
- Prohibited: Foul language, explicit sexual imagery, slander, anything that flouts the laws of India.
- No nudity. Yes, you can use costumes and make-up if you like.
- There will be up to 25 slots of up to 2 minutes each.
- To get a slot, simply sign up with the moderator before the start; first come, first served .
- Please show the text of what you plan to perform to the moderator, and/or describe your performance. This is not about censorship; it is to guard against infringement of the rules.

Boring but necessary legalities:
- There are no prizes, no performance fees, no reimbursement of expenses.
- You retain ownership of your work, but you give Habitat and Caferati permission to photograph or recording your performance for display on their websites, with attribution to you. (Should you wish to be excluded from being photographed or recorded, please inform any photographers / camerapersons / recordists present.)
You can also subscribe to http://groups.google.com/group/caferati-habitat to get notifications of future Caferati @ Habitat Open Mike evenings.

Facebook Group
Google Group

The Essential Indian Books survey / the Readership survey

2011-02-07T01:04:00.003+05:30

Would much appreciate it if you could post links to these on your blog. I'm trying to get at least a few thousand responses, and a link from you would help big time.

If you prefer to Tweet, you can use http://bit.ly/EssentialIndianBooks and http://bit.ly/readershipsurvey

Click here to go to the surveys.

Essential Indian Books

Informal Readership Survey

Or you can take them on this page, below.

Do please pass the URLs on to friends as well. The more people we get to fill this out the better the results will be.

Many thanks!

Loading...
If you're seeing this message for more than a few seconds, you may be viewing this post on a feedreader, or a place like Facebook, where embedded objects aren't displayed. Please click through to the original post to take the survey.

The Poetry Slam at The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival

2011-02-07T00:01:00.003+05:30

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (formerly Prince of Wales) museum garden
Sunday, 13th February, 2011
7.00 pm.

Caferati's Annual Poetry Slam made its debut at Kala Ghoda in 2007 (the first in India, actually) and has returned every year since then, to much enjoyment from its faithful audience and participants. This is its fifth edition.

Themes

There are no required themes. (Since it's the eve of St Valentine's Day, we suggest you bring at least one love poem.)

We’re proponents of free speech, but please understand (1) that we must abide by the laws of the land, and (2) that there may be children present in the audience. Please don’t bring poems that could get the Festival in trouble with the law.

Deadlines

For initial submission via email:
11.49 p.m., 11th February, 2011. (We may extend this deadline, but don’t count on it.)
To respond to the invitation to the Slam:
10 a.m., 13 February, 2011.
On the day of the Slam, 13th February 2011:
Report to the sound console at the venue by 6.00 p.m, and ask to speak to one of the Literature volunteers. Please show all five of your poems to the volunteers.

How our Poetry Slam works
Even if you know how a conventional Slam works, please read this section. There are more than a few tweaks.

Before the Slam:

Each poet must have ready at least five poems.

To be invited to compete in the Slam, you must submit one poem via email. (See address at the bottom of this post.)

The organisers/judges will short-list poets from the entries. Selection criteria will be the quality of the writing and how well, in the judges’ opinion, those poems lend themselves to performance.

The selected poets will be informed of their selection only via email. Their participation will be confirmed only once they reply to that email and confirm that that will be able to perform at the Slam and that they will come prepared to perform five of their poems.

At the event:

Participants in each round will perform in random order.

After each round, the judges will vote, and the competitors with the lowest points in that round will be eliminated, until we have a winner. The exact number that will be eliminated in each round will be decided depending on the number of participants selected to compete in the Slam, and will be announced before the performances start.

Scoring will be cumulative. Those who survive each round will carry their points with them. Elimination in each round will be based on total scores up to that point. In case of a tie, the totals from that specific round will be used as a tie-breaker.

Rules and Conditions

Submit only one poem via email.

The contest is open to anyone over the age of 16, except families of the organisers and the judges. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been published or not, whether you’ve performed before or not.

Since the main event is live on stage, selected participants must be prepared to travel to the venue (at their own expense), from wherever they are, to perform their work.

Entries must be your own, original work.

Entries can be in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and English

Each poem must take no longer than two minutes to perform. Time on stage will be kept strictly, and you will be cut off if you exceed the limit.

Participants selected for the Slam can, on stage, read from a written version, recite from memory, declaim, shout, or sing their words. They can stand still, gesture, pace, jump and up and down, stand on their heads, whatever. They will be judged on both the quality of the words they perform and the performance itself.

No costumes, musical accompaniment, or audio visual aids allowed. It's just you and your voice

There is no entry fee.

Submissions remain the intellectual property of the entrants, but by submitting an entry, you give the the Kala Ghoda Association, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival and its Sponsors, and Caferati permission to use your entry, with acknowledgement, but with no payment to you, in their websites, as part of Press Releases (where they may be reproduced by media organisations), and in a possible special booklet or CD featuring the best of the Festival.

The decisions of the jury are final and binding, and no correspondence will be entertained regarding the jury’s decisions.

Judges

Caferati’s editors will evaluate initial submissions.

On the event day, there will be a panel of 6 judges.

The expert panel:

(to be announced)

The Audience Panel:

Three randomly chosen members of the audience will join the experts to help judge each round.

Prizes

Prizes worth approximately Rs 3000 (first place), Rs 2000 (second place, and Rs 1000 (third place).

Winners will be announced at the end of the contest.

How to enter

Email editors AT caferati DOT com with the subject line Kala Ghoda Poetry Slam 2011.

Please include:
Your name
Your age
Your telephone number (preferably a cellphone you carry at all times)

PEN Statement on Rohinton Mistry Ban

2010-10-20T02:28:00.002+05:30

THE PEN ALL-INDIA CENTRE
Theosophy Hall
40 New Marine Lines
Mumbai 400 020

20 October 2010

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The PEN All-India Centre strongly condemns the removal of Rohinton Mistry’s novel, Such A Long Journey, from the SYBA syllabus of the University of Mumbai’s Literature course. We also express our great disappointment at the manner in which politicians belonging to the supposedly centrist and liberal parties, including the Indian National Congress, have consented to this ban, demanded by the scion of a right-wing political party, the Shiv Sena.

India has lapsed into the worst kind of competitive populism, with political forces seeking to outdo one another in destroying and banning works of literature, art, theatre and cinema, in the name of an aggrieved religious, ethnic or regional sensibility. Not only does this constitute a betrayal of the liberal Enlightenment ideology that ushered India into postcolonial freedom, but it also makes nonsense of our claim to being a 21st-century society, marked by openness, tolerance of diversity, and respect for the creative imagination.

There is only one name for a society that bans and burns books, tears down paintings, attacks cinema halls, and disrupts theatre performances under the sign of an aggressive chauvinism. ‘Fascist’ is too gentle a description. The exact name is ‘Nazi’. It is a matter of extreme sorrow that Mumbai in 2010 is exactly what Munich and Berlin were in 1935. It is for civil society in our city to decide whether we want to plunge deeper into the abyss of Nazi-style obscurantism, dictatorial oppression and a savage destructiveness towards every impulse that is open, receptive, creative and compassionate -- or whether we shall resist it.

Ranjit Hoskote
Naresh Fernandes
Jerry Pinto
For The Executive Committee
THE PEN ALL-INDIA CENTRE

Does this look like a publishing scam to you?

2010-10-18T03:54:00.004+05:30

This refers to this listing, and this one, both on Caferati Listings (free sign-up needed to view).

Via our friend, the novelist Venita Coelho, we learn that things are not quite what they seem at Cedar Books. I'm pasting in a letter Venita forwarded to me, with the name of the writer to whom it was sent removed.

From: publicrelation@pustakmahal.com
To: _____
Subject: Re: submission
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:17:57 -0700
Dear _____,

We are glad to inform you that we are ready to publish your novel provided you agree with our certain terms and conditions.

Following are some of the terms which you will be required to agree before we take things forward. A detailed contract will be send to you once you agree with these terms.

1. Considering the word count, we will keep the price of your book at Rs 175.

2. You have to buy back 300 copies of the book at a discount of 25%.

3. You have to make one time payment either through DD or Cheque along with the signed copy of the agreement which we will send, after you agree with these conditions.

4. An additional Rs 5000 will be charged if we design the cover for you and if you chose to design your own cover then for the final designing part we will be charging Rs 2000.

5. As we promote our books through various digital mediums we charge Rs 3000 for that.

6. And lastly you will get a 4.8 % royalty on the cover price for each book.

Hope you find these terms suitable.

Do acknowledge the receipt of this mail along with your response. Please feel free to mail your queries, if any.

Regards

Divya

www.pustakmahal.com

pustakmahaldelhi.blogspot.com

What this means is that to publish this author, Pustak Mahal would charge her/him Rs 39,375 (75% of the cost of 300 copies s/he would be forced to buy) + Rs 2,000 as a design fee even if s/he designed her own cover (Rs 5,000 of she wanted PM to design a cover) + Rs 3,000 for promotions. That's Rs 44,375 (Rs 47,375 if PM did the cover).

I'm not sure of current prices, but it looks like the author would be paying Pustak Mahal / Cedar Books enough to totally cover the cost of printing, with a handsome profit left over. Note that Pustak Mahal / Cedar Books has no obligation to actually print any more than the 300 copies that the author must buy. Even if they did, the author would get a piddly 4.8% royalty on any sales, despite financing the entire operation.

Sounds like rather more than the 'benign scam' of the poetry.com type of website. There, at least, you can choose to buy only one copy of the book, even if at a high price.

If you know of similar publishers elsewhere, do please tell us about it in the comments.

A Life of Crime

2010-04-17T01:08:00.005+05:30

Update:

This workshop has been cancelled. Mr Nesser has not been able to make the trip to India thanks to the volcanic ash situation. Here's the official note from the Swedish Embassy:

Owing to the volcanic ash and its repercussions on all things important - like flights in and out of Europe - our visiting author Håkan Nesser is unable to leave Stockholm and has had to cancel his visit to India.

We are really sorry about the inconvenience it would have caused you - but as you do understand, this situation is way beyond any of our control.

You have been very enthusiastic and supporting of the event. A big thanks for that.

The Embassy does look forward to collaborating with you again in the near future… and appeasing the gods of all things that fly – like volcanic ashes and flights.

With Nesser and Lakhe

A workshop presented by the Swedish Embassy in India in association with Caferati.

The workshop will feature an interactive lecture on writing techniques, and focus on honing the skills of the participants in the art of crime fiction writing. The workshop will be led by Håkan Nesser, with Manisha Lakhe.

Håkan Nesser is a Swedish author and teacher who has written a number of successful novels, mostly crime fiction. He has won Best Swedish Crime Novel Award three times, and his novel Carambole won the Glass Key award in 2000. His books have been translated from Swedish into 9 languages. He was born and grew up in Kumla, and has lived most of his adult life in Uppsala. He is a secondary level teacher. His first novel was published in 1988, but he worked as a teacher until 1998 when he became a full-time author, after having become extremely successful as a heavyweight crime writer with his Van Veeteren series. Nesser has published 20 books in Swedish. Four of them have so far been translated to English. They are Borkmann’s Point (2006), The Return (2007), The Mind’s Eye (2008), and Woman with Birthmark (2009). All of these are books in the series about Van Veeteren.
More at his site and his publisher's site.

Manisha Lakhe is a journalist, film critic, poet and writer, and one of Caferati’s founders and moderators. Her first novel The Betelnut Killers, was just release by Random House India. She lives and works in Mumbai.
More at her site and her publisher's site.

The basics
Date: 24th April
Time: 10.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. (with a one-hour break for lunch)
Venue: Conference Room, Pinstorm Technologies, Ground floor, Swati, North Avenue, Santacruz West, Mumbai 400054
The workshop is free, but limited seats available. Registration is compulsory.
To register, send (1) a short - 100 words or so - introductory paragraph about yourself and (2) a short crime fiction story (or an extract from a longer work) to caferati AT gmail DOT com with the subject line “A Life of Crime With Nesser and Lakhe” by 6.00pm IST, 22nd April 2010.

***

Mr Nesser will be conducting similar workshops in Delhi and Bangalore, we're told. Caferati isn't involved in organising those, but we will certainly support them by passing the word around and encouraging our members to join in.

CaPoWriMo

2010-03-31T03:39:00.003+05:30

So, a good woman in another corner of the world started National Poetry Writing Month and we think that everybody at Caferati could do with a bit of prodding and stretching of the literary muscles. Which is why we are joining this little adventure as a writers' group. But whether or not poetry actually gets celebrated around here depends on you.

All you have to do is to promise to write one poem everyday for the month of April. You can dig up your notebook and mess around with the phrases, couplets and other bit-parts that you once thought were going to be a poem - revisit, make connections, and basically just get going until you have 30 poems to show for having survived the cruellest month.

For those who think they might not meet self-imposed deadlines, here's a pattern for you to follow:

Days 1-7.
Stick with Form. Make yourself write one poem in form for the first eight days. This will ensure a certain discipline not just of daily writing but also of writing within a disciplined format.

Haiku - 17 syllables.
Sonnet: 14 lines.
Ballad 1: In couplets of rhyming verse. Or abab, or abba, if you prefer. Narrative.
Villanelle
Cinquian: 22 syllables. Samples here.
Clerihew: 4 line whimsy, autobiographical. We've done this before.
Limerick: 5 lines. Rhymes - aabba.
Sestina: It is bloody hard. But do it. Details here

Day 8-18
Eleven exercises we are bumming from here.

Day 19
Do an acrostic

Day 20
Do an Ode. To anything.

Day 21
Do a poem within 100 words.

Day 22
Do an SMS poem. 160 characters.

Day 23
Do a poem that pays tribute to another poet, or takes off from a poem by someone else.

Day 24
Do a circular poem. It has to end with the same line it started with, but in less than 12 lines.

Day 25
Write a death poem. Something about death.

Day 26
Write a fairy tale poem. Pick a character from a fairy tale and do a poem about what happens to them, or how they feel.

Day 27
Do a poem based on something you've read in the newspaper that morning.

Day 28
Do a poem about any object that is always within hand's reach for you.

Day 29
Do a list poem. Example, example.

Day 30.
Yes! Last day. Do a poem about poetry. About what draws you to it, why and when you write it etc. And no cheating. The rest of the days, you are not to write poems about poetry.

====

Do spread the word. You can help publicise this by also posting your works on your own blog. Make sure to link to NaPoWriMo and to this post on the Caferati blog.

====

And we - Annie, who thought up this series of exercises, Manisha who threatens to do 30 death poems, and Peter who is cringing at the thought of writing 30 more poems in this month than he did in the last few - will pick our favourites from your contributions and highlight them here, on the blog.

Mountain Echoes – A Literary Festival

2010-02-18T04:08:00.002+05:30

From Mita Kapur of Siyahi

Mountain Echoes – A Literary Festival

Siyahi presents Mountain Echoes – a literature festival focusing on the magic and mystique of writings off and from the Himalayan regions. The three-day literary festival will be held between 15th and 20th May 2010 in Thimphu, Bhutan, under the aegis of the India Bhutan Foundation who will be hosting the entire festival.

Bhutan, a little kingdom in the shadows of the Himalayas provides a perfect setting for the festival which will communicate tales of our shared landscape in the Himalayan region, both as places of ecological and inspirational value as well as the region’s cultural leitmotif always underscored by a spirit of adventure. The air and atmosphere of Bhutan helps creating a mood of liveliness, joie de vivre and a cherishing of moments where stories are told, poems and song are sung.

The programme will be spread over three days and will focus on unique stories from the mountains with writers from different tracts of the Trans-Himalayan belt, sharing their ideas and literary traditions. Mountain Echoes will provide a platform for authors from India and Bhutan to get together and engage in a cultural dialogue and understand the Indian and Bhutanese literature in all its myriad forms and dimensions. The event will also bring some international authors, poets and performers together at the colourful and vibrant land of the lamas. It will be a major step taken to create an interface between the cultural relationship shared by India and Bhutan. Creative interpretations of the diverse richness found in mountain stories will be at the heart of the festival, to promote an understanding and appreciation of these very special spaces of ecological and cultural distinctiveness. Namita Gokhale is the Programme Consultant and advisor for the festival. The festival was conceptualised by Pavan K. Varma who is currently the Indian Ambassador to Bhutan.

Her Majesty, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, Karma Singye Dorji, Karma Ura, Kinley Dorji, Kunzang Choden, Khyentse Norbu and Sonam Kinga from Bhutan will gather for sessions like Hills are Alive, Beyond the Frame, Of Women, By Women, Travellers and Magicians, Winds of Change, and Languages of Belonging to share the stories, tales and folk narratives of Bhutan. The speakers’ list also includes Patrick French, Chetan Bhagat, Namita Gokahle, Pavan K. Varma, Mamang Dai, Kynpham Sing, Kirin Narayan, Leila Seth, Temsula Ao, Ravi Singh, Urvashi Butalia, Bulbul Sharma, Kirin Narayan, Omair Ahmad and Sampurna Chattarji. They will participate in sessions like Bhutan through the Ages, Grandmother's Tales, History & Biographies, Language and Identity, Poetry and Archery, Shared Dreams and Shared Metaphors, Young Readers, Young Writers, Writing about Mountains, Architecture and Heritage, Music, Love, Poetry, These Hills called Home, and The Himalayas to name a few.

Caferati Listings - A Resurrection and a Change in Format

2010-02-18T03:38:00.002+05:30

As you may have noticed, busy lives notwithstanding, I haven't been able to send out a Listing edition for quite a while now. More than six months, to be imprecise.

A day job is one reason (I work for a magazine), but not the only one. Putting things into the format, fact-checking, getting enough together to put a decent edition together, writing the little introductions (yes, even that); all these things take time. And with me being one of the world's finest exponents of the fine art of procrastination, it meant, well, that things didn't get done.

So, rather than kill Caferati Listings off, I'm going to experiment with changing the format. Rather than a digest of at least ten writing opportunities, I'm going to send out a mail every time I spot a decent lead.

There will never be more than one email a day; more likely it's going to be about one a week.

Other things remain the same: we decide what we want to post; we are happy to take recommendations, tip-offs and submissions (see this page for details on how to recommend and submit, please); Caferati’s editors are the only ones who will have access to the email address you use to subscribe to Caferati Listings (and we will never sell, rent or lend this list to any other person or organisation); and we won't charge you for Listings.
Cheers then, and you'll hear from us in the new format very soon.

Caferati Listings is a free newsletter from Caferati that goes out simultaneously to subscribers via Google Groups and Yahoo!Groups. Caferati Listing sends out information of use to writers, including writing opportunities, contests, jobs and calls for submission.
More information about Caferati Listings, including how to send in tips, suggestions and your own listings on this page.
Listings come from submissions, reader suggestions (always attributed), tips from friends (likewise), newsletters we subscribe to, posts on our forum and what we fondly call "research." We present them in good faith. This cannot be construed as an endorsement. Your are advised to satisfy yourself on bona fides before you submit anything to anyone included on this list. And that includes us.
To read archives, or invite others to join the list: log in to the Caferati Listing Google Groups or Yahoo! Groups pages.

Caferati’s 2009 Celebrating Shakti Bhatt Workshops

2009-11-12T23:17:00.004+05:30

Caferati’s 2009 Celebrating Shakti Bhatt Workshops will be a part of the Celebrate Bandra Festival this year. The workshops are (links are to Facebook event pages):Tomorrow’s Authors, Scripted and PENtathlon (Note: the Facebook pages are to help spread the word. To register, you must pay up in advance at The Hub office.)

Please join the Celebrate Bandra Festival - Literature on Facebook to get updates on other events as well.

++++

Caferati’s 2009 Celebrating Shakti Bhatt Workshops

++++

About Shakti Bhatt:
Shakti Bhatt was a writer, a publisher, and a friend to Caferati. She was a constant support through many of our endeavours and gave generously of her time, her presence and her advice for the little time we knew her. Sadly, she died in March 2007.
In her memory, Caferati runs an annual workshop to help writers hone their craft, to grow, and to test fresh literary waters.

++++

Here are the details.

Workshop costs: Rs 300 per participant per workshop (Rs 150 per participant for the kids' workshop)

The workshop are over two days, 11am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Participants will be served a light lunch.

For queries,
Email: bombay.hub@unltdindia.org, editors@caferati.com
Phone number: 022 3222 0475 (The Hub)

To register, you must pay up in advance, at The Hub office.
The Hub
UnLtd India, 4th Floor, Candelar Building, 26 St John Baptist Road, Near Mount Mary Steps, Bandra (W), Mumbai 400 050, India.

Participants must bring their own writing materials.

++++

Tomorrow’s Authors

A writing workshop for kids (10 - 16 years - maximum 20 participants) led by Anshumani Ruddra.

Saturday, 14 November 2009 11:00 - 16:00
Sunday, 15 November 2009 11:00 - 16:00

This workshop will look into the act of writing: structuring, editing, plotting and characterisation. Though the focus will be on short fiction the lessons learnt will be applicable towards other forms of writing - long fiction, poetry and narrative non-fiction.

Each individual will work on one piece during the two day period of the workshop and the group as a whole will be responsible for critiquing each other's work. The workshop's aim is to develop young writers who can look objectively at their own work as well as the work of others.
Traditional and modern forms and structures of a story will be discussed and then promptly forgotten to enable discovery of new ones. This will lead to a set of exercises that introduces writing as an improvisational and group activity. The group as a whole will be responsible for generating ideas, working and reworking them and finally committing them to paper - always evolving the story as they go along.

+++

About Anshumani Ruddra
Anshumani Ruddra is an author and screenwriter based in Mumbai. He predominantly writes in the speculative fiction genre. His short stories have appeared in various anthologies and he is currently putting finishing touches to his first novel for adults. He also conducts workshops for children and college students in the areas of writing, speculative fiction, scriptwriting and comic books. Visit http://ruddra.net

for more details. The Enemy of My Enemy is the first in a series of interactive gamebooks for children written by him. It has been published by Scholastic. Banana Republic, its sequel, is expected to come out in January 2010. His short stories have appeared in the following collections by Scholastic: Seven Science Fiction Stories, The Moustache Maharishi and Other Unlikely Stories, Superhero, Spooky Stories

++++

PENtathlon

Five Exercises for Fiction Writers (beginners, 17 years +, maximum 20 participants) by Annie Zaidi and Manisha LakheAn intense workshop targeted at kick-starting the writing process for those who want to try their hand at fiction, or those who have tried already but want to find a way around that object of ill repute: writer’s block.

Saturday, 21 November 2009 11:00 - 16:00
Sunday, 22 November 2009 11:00 - 16:00

There will be a set of five exercises, in an ideate-and-discuss format, which will take you through the whole process of putting together a short story or even a novella, if you work really, really hard. One the first say, the workshop leaders will tell you how to build characters, find appropriate settings, how to make the narrative move from one point to another. Participants will be well into their story by the end of the first day and will be expected to come up with more ideas or a fleshier story when they return the next morning.
Workshop leaders will help you find resolutions, in case you have not found them already, and share some basic techniques for cracking the walls you come up against.

+++

About Annie Zaidi and Manisha Lakhe
Annie Zaidi writes poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama, blog posts, reports, reviews and (in a dark, distant past) recipes she never actually tried.
If gun laws weren't so strict, Manisha Lakhe would be out there shooting at every dangling participle and lynching incorrect users of grammar. Alas, she is reduced to venting poetry on unsuspecting audience and writing reviews of movies, books and other kinds of fiction.

++++

Scripted

A workshop for beginners on writing for stage and screen (beginners, 17 years +, maximum 20 participants) by Anuvab Pal

Saturday, 28 November 2009 11:00 - 16:00
Sunday, 29 November 2009 11:00 - 16:00

They say writing for the stage or writing drama is the oldest profession in the world, beating even prostitution.
Have you ever wanted to write a play? Have you ever written a play and abandoned it? If you've ever wondered what it would be like to make a live audience react to things you've got to say, you probably want to join politics or write for the stage. This workshop is for the latter.
Writing for the stage in Bandra is the same as writing for the stage anywhere else, so we'll go through the basics of plot, structure, characters, conflict, intentions and ideas.
And then together, we'll try to tell some stories that for reasons you'll discover and tell us about, is best told on a stage.

+++

About Anuvab Pal:
Anuvab Pal is a playwright and screenwriter. His plays include The President Is Coming, Chaos Theory and 1-888-Dial-India. His movies include Loins of Punjab Presents (co-written) and The President Is Coming.

++++

Bandra Slam - a poetry performance contest

2009-11-10T11:49:00.003+05:30

Caferati is organsing some of the literature events at the Celebrate Bandra fesstival this year. There are workshops and contests, amongst them, our own spin on a slam.

Contest description:

Hosted by Mocha Mojo. Organised by Caferati. Prizes courtesy Mocha Mojo.

* Theme for performers:

2 poems on Bandra, 2 on the environment, the theme of this year's festival. Performers can interpret these themes in any way they choose. The poems must be written by the performers. Each poem must take not more than two minutes to perform. Poems can be in English, Hindi or Marathi. Or Bambaiya.

* To sign up:

You must send in one poem, on either theme, to *editors at caferati dot com* with the subject line "Celebrate Bandra Poetry Slam."
Deadline: ~~18th~~ 20th November, midnight.

If there are more than 15 contestants, Caferati's editors will use the submitted poem as a criteria for selecting the top 15.

The top 15 poets will be invited to the slam by email. They must respond to the invitation latest by 20th November, midnight.

* On the contest day.

- Poets must come prepared with four original poems, two on each of the themes.
- You must register with the organisers by 19.30
- There will be four rounds, by theme of poem. In each round, poets will be called up in random order, and will perform one poem each. They will have a time limit: not more than two minutes each. A buzzer or bell will sound at the end of two minutes. There will be NO time extensions allowed.
- As each performer ends, they will be rated by a jury. This jury will be three invited city poets (the experts), and three randomly selected members of the audience (whose role it will be to vote on behalf of the audience) who will change with each round.
- Poets will be judged on both the quality of the poetry and the performance.
- At the end of the round, we will take a break to tally scores. Performers and audience can get themselves refreshments.
- Scoring will be cumulative. (Those who survive each round will carry their points with them. Elimination in each round will be based on total scores up to that point.)
- The lowest scoring poets --- six in the first round, three each in subsequent rounds --- will be eliminated, and the next round will start.
- The top three at the end of four rounds will win prizes.

* Prizes (Vouchers from Mocha Mojo)

1st Prize Rs 3000
2nd Prize Rs 2000
3rd Prize Rs 1000

* Conditions

- The poems must be your own work. By entering the Slam, you are guaranteeing that this is true.
- Participants selected for the Slam can, on stage, read from a sheet of paper or electronic device or recite from memor.
- No costumes (and no nudity), no musical instruments, no visual aids
- Your poems and your performance remain your intellectual property. However, you give Celebrate Bandra, Fountainhead and Caferati permission to record your performance on audio or video or photographs and share them on their websites with correctly attributed copyright information.

Celebrate Bandra Souvenir - shortlisted submisisons

2009-10-06T04:35:00.002+05:30

The submissions that made the short-list for the Celebrate Bandra Souvenir are:

Frenchita – A window into Bandra's Past (Short Story)
Jane Bhandari – A Candle for a Stranger (Short Story)
Jane Bhandari – Bandra on a Sunday (Poem)
K K Puri – Romancing My Girl In Old Bandra (Short Story)
Kankana Basu – NRI (Poem)
Krishnakumar Sankaran –To the Pearl Mother (Poem)
Mira Desai – 115 Carter Road (Short Story)
Rupa Gulab – A Simple Desultory Memoir (Essay)
Natasha Ramarathnam – The 8:57 local (Short Story)
Sulagana Biswas – Bandra Queen (Poem)
Sumana Roy – Untitled (Essay)
Udayan Chakrabarti – Untitled (Essay)
Vasundhara Prakash – Carter Road (Photo)
Vidyavati Chandan – Moods Of Mount Mary (Photo)

Poetry Masterclass

2009-09-19T18:30:00.002+05:30

POETRY WORKSHOP MASTER CLASS
Friday, October 9 - Wednesday, October 14, '09, 2.30pm to 6.30pm,
at Open Space

Open Space invites participation in a 6-day workshop which will help participants deepen their understanding of the techniques and art of poetry writing and reading.The workshop will be conducted by poet and novelist Priya Sarukkai Chabria. Her publications include the novels Generation 14 (Penguin-Zubaan, 2008) and The Other Garden (Rupa&Co, 1995), poetry collections Not Springtime Yet (HarperCollins, 2008) and Dialogue and Other Poems (Indian Academy of Literature, 2005, reprint 2006). The anthologies All Poetry is Protest (2006) and 50 Poets 50Poems (2007) are edited by her. She is currently translating the hymns of 8th century Tamil poet, Aandaal. A seminar-cum-utsav The Image of the Writer in Literature was curated by her in 2007 for the Indian Academy of Literature and more recently, she curated for them the literary salon, The Self and Its Translations. Priya Sarukkai Chabria has collaborated with artists from classical dance, film and painting. Her work is published in various journals and websites in Europe, the US and India. She was invited to participate in the writers' salon, Worlds 2009: The Creative Writer by the New Writing Partnership, UEA, UK. Aim:

This is conceived as a demanding and challenging workshop for both teacher and student. Rather than settle for a how-to-write-a-good-poem workshop that offers notes on types of poems and operates largely on students passively receiving inputs from the teacher, this is primarily meant to be a conduit to the student’s creativity, encouraging him/her to take creative leaps across restricting boundaries.
The aim is to facilitate students to know how their minds work on creative problems, how to tackle the exploration of their subject, arrive at ideas and work towards a form.
The workshop will cover five days during which:
Participants will be introduced to the poetry of different cultures and poets to examine the techniques and methods of idea exploration and elaboration.
Rather than how-to reading, participants will be encouraged to read actively and ask creative questions that should feed into their own writing.
The workshop will be a space in which participants experiment and innovate, debate and discuss, free of market pressures so that their innate creativity can be encouraged to flow freely.
Students will be encouraged to interact with each other as well as spend time by themselves, taking writing exercises that will later be discussed in class.
Students will, over the days of the workshop, be encouraged to work on their own poem that will periodically be reviewed.
Each participant will be given some individual time by the teacher where their work is discussed.

Structure:
Rather than a fixed structure that will operate as per a timetable, it is advantageous for participants to follow a more fluid model. Therefore, the workshop is conceived as an interactive mode of dialogue, discussion, critiquing and writing exercises which should lead to the near completion of a poem by every participant as well as enabling each one to think about poetic ideas and constructions.Sessions will be in a creative mode. However, on each day there should be a period allocated to:
mandatory reading of a select poem
a teaching session
a group discussion on critiquing poems
working on writing exercises (this will be a substantial part of each day)
working by oneself on his/her poem
articulation and presentation

The theme of the poetry workshop is Relationships: Social, environmental, interpersonal, with one’s self, with language et al.

Application Criteria:
Those who have faith that something will emerge from the play of language and sound and are prepared to experiment with words and are passionate about writing are invited to apply.
Participants should be emerging poets who will be selected on the basis of the poems they send in prior to the workshop. All applications (CVs) must be accompanied by four original poems by the applicant and mailed to Priya Sarukkai Chabria at surpriya34@gmail.com and cced to events@openspaceindia.org with the subject: Poetry workshop master class. All applications should be mailed before Wednesday, September 30th, 09.
Participants short-listed for the workshop are required to pay a fee of Rs 2000/- at Open Space by October 4th, ’09 anytime between 11am and 5.30pm. The workshop fee includes a membership for the applicant to the Open Space library for a period of one year from the date of registration. The library offers over 2,000 books, 400 documentaries and 200 world cinema classics (an additional deposit amount of Rs 500 is payable for library membership but this is refundable at any time).

For further information on any of these programs call Openspace at 25457371
Open Space encourages debate and action on rights, justice and sustainable development.Open Space is an initiative of the Centre for Communication & Development Studies (CCDS) aimed at strengthening civil society and mobilising citizen’s action.

Celebrate Bandra Festival Souvenir - Call for Submissions

2009-09-08T03:31:00.007+05:30

The Celebrate Bandra Festival happens once every two years in Bandra. This year, the festival will be in November. I'm helping curate the literature section. More about past festivals at celebratebandra.net (the site won't be updated with this year's schedule for a little while yet).

Here's the brief.

"You're My Home": you live in Bandra, so what makes it home? (If you don't live in Bandra, imagine it). The trees, the birds, the air, your nosy neighbours, your generous and helpful neighbours, their culture and yours, the sea, the waves, the aromas, the convenience, the excitement. It's home, so like every home, it has ups, it has downs. But what is it about the environment of Bandra, seen as broadly as you can, that makes it home for you?

You can submit anything that can appear in print (without spending enormous amounts of money): essays, short fiction, poetry, play scripts, illustrations, photographs.

Please email your submissions to celebrate.bandra.festival@gmail.com

Last date for submissions: ~~September 30th, 11:59p.m.~~ October 4th, 11:59p.m.

You can make more than one stand-alone submission, but please do so in separate emails, to help the selection process.

For text submissions
• Your submission must be close to, but not over, the 1000 word mark.
• Please paste your text into the body of the email. No attachments, please.
• Please use one of these subject lines: Souvenir Submission - short story, Souvenir Submission - poem, Souvenir Submission - essay, or Souvenir Submission - script.

For photographs, scanned illustrations or computer-generated art
• Please submit only one piece. (A picture being worth a thousand words and all that.)
• You can include a short (not more than 100 words) descriptor or caption in the body of your email.
• If your image is a very large file, please upload it online somewhere* and mail in a link.
• If you think you must submit more than one image as part of the same entry, then please mail in only one, but add a description of what the rest of the series will be like, or upload the additional material elsewhere and send in a link. If we want to see the rest, we'll mail you.
• Please use one of these subject lines: Souvenir Submission - photograph, Souvenir Submission - illustration, or Souvenir Submission - digital art

In one paragraph at the end of your email, please include your name, postal address, email address and a phone number, land or cellular, where you can be reached during the day and in the evenings.

By submitting, you declare that the work is your own, or that you have collaborated in its creation and are authorised to submit on behalf of the collective. Please remember India's laws on libel and obscenity. And for visual art submissions that depict people, especially photographs, please make sure you have your subject's permission. For any form of 'found art,' text or visual, please ensure that you are not infringing India's copyright laws.

Entries will be short-listed by Rahul Goswami. Rahul is an intermittent Bandra resident, and otherwise a researcher working on the links between economic growth, livelihoods and agriculture.

The short-list will then be judged by Dilip D'Souza, writer and journalist, who is the editor of the souvenir, and Joe Campana, and the selected submissions will appear in print. Updates on the lists will be posted to this blog, and, if it's ready by then, the updated Celebrate Bandra website.

Rewards: the joy of seeing your work in print, and contributing towards the Celebrate Bandra effort. ~~We are trying to get some small prizes for the best entries, but this is very unlikely, so don't count on it.~~ Update: The top five entries, across categories, will be marked as such in the souvenir, and, yes, will get small prizes.

Do please pass this on to friends and well-wishers, from Bandra or elsewhere. Feel free to copy this text to your website or blog, and to online forums where you know it will be welcome.

* Possible sites where you can upload your work: Flickr, Photobucket, OurMedia, Picassa.

Son of Godawful Poetry Fortnight - 19th - 31st August

2009-08-16T21:44:00.004+05:30

We launched the first Godawful Poetry Fortnight here last year. (You can read all our contributions here, and this was a brief article in the TOI about the Fortnight.)

Cut to the chase: it's that time of the year again!

The essentials:

• Godawful Poetry Fortnight runs from the 19th to the 31st August.

• Our Patron Saint is William Wordsworth.

And he gets this signal honour for saying that poetry "is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings." Way too many aspiring poets have rallied behind that banner, too few going so far as recollecting those emotions in tranquillity, let alone reading the rest of the preface to Lyrical Ballads (which can be found on Bartleby, for those interested).

• To join in, all you have to do is post on your blog* a godawful poem you have written, with—all totally optional—a brief note about GPF, a bit about what godawful poetry means to you, and a link to this post.

• Post godawful poems as often as you like during the Fortnight. (The True Believers Challenge: post thirteen godawful poems, one on each day of the Fortnight.) Squeeze your muse like a boil. Get it all out. Pester your friends to post too. Once GPF is done, you will write good poetry for the rest of the year, yes?

• Please use this Technorati tag on your post: Godawful Poetry Fortnight. Here's the HTML for the tag: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Godawful+Poetry+Fortnight" rel="tag">Godawful Poetry Fortnight</a>

• To those who feel the need to point out this Fortnight lasts only thirteen days, we draw our cape around us, and say, in a marked manner, "Poetic license."

* If you don't have a blog, you're welcome to either use the comment space here or the Godawful Poetry Fortnight thread over at Caferati.

Cross-posted

Man Asian Literary Prize 2009 - short list

2009-07-25T02:43:00.003+05:30

(Note that these are unpublished books)

Gopilal Acharya , With a Stone in My Heart
Omair Ahmad , Jimmy the Terrorist
Siddharth Chowdhury, Day Scholar
Kishwar Desai , Witness the Night
Samuel Ferrer , The Last Gods of Indochine
Eric Gamalinda , The Descar tes Highlands
Ram Govardhan, Rough with the Smooth
Kanishka Gupta, History of Hate
Kameroon Rasheed Ismeer , Memoirs of a Terrorist
Ratika Kapur , Overwinter
Mariam Karim, The Bereavement of Agnes Desmoulins
Sriram Karri , The Autobiography of a Mad Nation
Nitasha Kaul , Residue
R . Zamora Linmark , Leche
Mario I. Miclat, Secrets of the Eighteen Mansions
Clarissa V. Militante, Different Countries
Varuna Mohite, Omigod
Dipika Mukherjee, Thunder Demons
Hena Pillai , Blackland
Roan Ching-Yueh, Lin Xiu-Tzi and her Family
Edgar Calabia Samar, Eight Muses of the Fall
K. Srilata, Table for Four
Su Tong, The Redemption Boat
Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, Shadow of the Red Star

For pictures of the authors, see this post on the Man Asian Literary Prize siie

Crossword Book Awards 2008 Winners

2009-07-25T02:36:00.002+05:30

English Fiction
Tied between:
Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh(Penguin Books India )
&
Past Continuous, by Neel Mukherjee (Picador India)

English Non-Fiction
Curfewed Night, by Basharat Peer (Random House India)

Indian Language Fiction in English Translation
T'Ta Professor, by Manohar Shyam Joshi, translated by Ira Pande(Penguin Books India)

Popular Award
Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China, by Pallavi Aiyar(HarperCollins India)

(See the shortlisted books here)

Global Voices Book Challenge - Read Your Way Around the World!

2009-03-27T04:41:00.003+05:30

To mark UNESCO World Book Day (23rd April), Global Voices has a fun challenge up.

1) Read a book during the next month from a country whose literature you have never read anything of before.
2) Write a blog post about it during the week of April 23.

Full details here.

Caferati @ Prithvi Open Mic - March 09

2009-03-18T00:40:00.003+05:30

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Prithvi Theatre Cafe
20 Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Juhu
Bombay, India

Entry Free

The rules:
- Works performed can be in English, Hindi or Marathi.
- You must perform only your own writing.
- You can perform one piece for a maximum of two minutes.
- Only solo or duo performances; no groups please. Duos can only perform collaborative works authored by both performers.
- Your name will be called once. If you don’t get to the microphone in 10 seconds, you lose your slot.
- Your time starts the moment you come to the microphone
- You can recite, declaim, shout, even sing (if you can hold a tune); you can sit, stand or lie down; you can dance, turn a cartwheel, play a musical instrument, or scratch your back while standing on your head, as long as you perform your words.
- You get the use of a microphone, and two minutes. No other arrangements will be made for your performance. If you want to carry a prop, or a musical instrument, please do so. Note that any set-up time counts towards your two-minute limit.
- A gong will be struck—loud!—at the end of the two-minute period and you must leave the microphone immediately.
- Genres: No restriction. Poetry, scripts, stories, songs, it’s all good.
- Prohibited: Foul language, explicit sexual imagery, slander, anything that flouts the laws of India.
- Dress code: No nudity. Yes, you can use costumes and make-up if you like.

If you want a slot:
- There will be up to 25 slots of up to 2 minutes each.
- You must be physically present at the venue at least 30 minutes before start time to register.
- Slots will be provided immediately, on a first-come first-served basis, and cannot be carried over to the next Open Mic.
- You must show the text of what you plan to perform to the organisers present, and describe your performance. This is not about censorship; it is to guard against infringement of the rules.

Conditions:
There are no prizes, except the opportunity to perform to an audience, and earn its acclaim.
You will not be reimbursed expenses, and will not be paid any fee or honorarium.
You retain ownership of your work, but by submitting it, you give the Prithvi Theatre and Caferati the right to display your work, or photographs or recordings of your performance, at the Prithvi Theatre Cafe, and on their websites, should they so choose, with attribution to you, but with no payment. Should you wish to be excluded from being photographed or recorded, please inform the photographer / cameraperson before the performance. Any photographs or recordings will not be commercial in nature.

Please subscribe to http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Prithvi to get notifications of future Caferati @ Prithvi Open Mic evenings.

More about..
Prithvi Theatre: http://www.prithvitheatre.org/
Caferati: http://www.caferati.com/

Email:
prithvitheatre AT prithvitheatre DOT org
editors AT caferati DOT com

On Facebook:
Prithvi Theatre
Caferati

Caferati @ Prithvi Open Mic [February]

2009-02-22T21:32:00.003+05:30

Part of Prithvi's Celebrating Poetry festival

Tuesday, February 24, 2009
7:00pm - 8:00pm
Prithvi Theatre Cafe
20 Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Juhu, Bombay, India

The rules:
- Works performed can be in English, Hindi or Marathi.
- You must perform only your own writing.
- You can perform one piece for a maximum of two minutes.
- Only solo or duo performances; no groups please. Duos can only perform collaborative works authored by both performers.
- Your name will be called once. If you don’t get to the microphone in 10 seconds, you lose your slot.
- Your time starts the moment you come to the microphone
- You can recite, declaim, shout, even sing (if you can hold a tune); you can sit, stand or lie down; you can dance, turn a cartwheel, play a musical instrument, or scratch your back while standing on your head, as long as you perform your words.
- You get the use of a microphone, and two minutes. No other arrangements will be made for your performance. If you want to carry a prop, or a musical instrument, please do so. Note that any set-up time counts towards your two-minute limit.
- A gong will be struck—loud!—at the end of the two-minute period and you must leave the microphone immediately.
- Genres: No restriction. Poetry, scripts, stories, songs, it’s all good.
- Prohibited: Foul language, explicit sexual imagery, slander, anything that flouts the laws of India.
- Dress code: No nudity. Yes, you can use costumes and make-up if you like.

If you want a slot:
- There will be up to 25 slots of up to 2 minutes each.
- You must be physically present at the venue at least 30 minutes before start time to register.
- Slots will be provided immediately, on a first-come first-served basis, and cannot be carried over to the next Open Mic.
- You must show the text of what you plan to perform to the organisers present, and describe your performance. This is not about censorship; it is to guard against infringement of the rules.

Conditions:
There are no prizes, except the opportunity to perform to an audience, and earn its acclaim.
You will not be reimbursed expenses, and will not be paid any fee or honorarium.
You retain ownership of your work, but by submitting it, you give the Prithvi Theatre and Caferati the right to display your work, or photographs or recordings of your performance, at the Prithvi Theatre Cafe, and on their websites, should they so choose, with attribution to you, but with no payment. Should you wish to be excluded from being photographed or recorded, please inform the photographer / cameraperson before the performance. Any photographs or recordings will not be commercial in nature.

Please subscribe to http://groups.google.com/group/Caferati-Prithvi to get notifications of future Caferati @ Prithvi Open Mic evenings.

* More about..
Prithvi Theatre
Caferati

* On Facebook:
Prithvi Theatre
Caferati

This event on Facebook, here.

The Terror Attacks - have you written about it?

2009-01-31T18:19:00.001+05:30

This is for a friend in the Times of India. I quote: "Basically we'd like to do a story on people who have responded to 26/11 by writing poetry. About what they felt, whether writing helped, whether they discussed their poetry with others, what is it about calamities that prompts them to write poetry in particular and so on."

Please leave your answers, and poems (or links to them if you have posted them somewhere public on the web) in the comments.

Caferati @ Prithvi Open Mic

2009-01-10T05:28:00.006+05:30

Caferati organises a monthly open mic at the Prithvi Theatre cafe.

When
The first of the series is on the 27th January, 2009, at 7pm.
After that, we hope to continue on the fourth Tuesday of every month, same time, same place.

All are welcome. Participants are extra-welcome, but anyone can come to cheer or boo or encourage or diss the performers.

Entry is free. You will, though, have to pay for whatever you order from the Cafe. And you're encouraged to be a big spender; that's one way to keep the Open Mic going, because the Cafe is paying for it!

About the Caferati @ Prithvi Open Mic

Each Open Mic session will have 25 slots of up to 3 minutes each.
A bell will ring—or a buzzer will, well, buzz—at the end of the 3-minute period and the participant must leave the stage.
Each Open Mic will, hopefully, begin with one well-known city poet who will “bless the mike” with a short reading or performance. This special guest may choose to offer brief comments on the day’s performances at the end of the session. Occasionally, we will feature special guests in longer time slots.

The rules:
Participants must perform only their own writing.
Only solo or duo performances; no groups please.
You get the use of a microphone, and three minutes. No other arrangements will be made for your performance.
You can recite, declaim, shout, or sing; you can sit, stand or lie down; you can dance, turn cartwheels, play a musical instrument, or scratch your back while standing on your head, as long as you perform your words.
Genres: No restriction. Poetry, monologues, stories, songs, it’s all good.
Prohibited: Foul language, explicit sexual imagery, slander, anything that flouts the laws of India.
Dress code: No nudity. Yes, you can use costumes, make-up, wigs if you like.

If you want a slot:
You must be physically present at the venue 30 minutes before start time to register.
You must show the text of what you plan to perform to the organisers present, and describe your performance. This is not about censorship; it is to guard against infringement of the rules. Slots will be provided immediately, on a first-come first-served basis, and cannot be carried over to the next Open Mic.
If the time-slot bookings get out of control, we may decide to use a draw of lots to decide who goes on stage.

There are no prizes, except the opportunity to perform to an audience, and earn its acclaim.
You will not be reimbursed expenses, and will not be paid any fee or honorarium.
You retain ownership of your work, but by submitting it, you give the Prithvi Theatre and Caferati the right to display your work, or photographs or recordings of your performance, at the Prithvi Theatre Cafe, and on their websites, should they so choose, with attribution to you, but with no payment.

This is a one-way newsgroup that sends out information to potential performers, interested audience members and Spoken Word enthusiasts in general. Please feel free to invite friends to join in.

Poetry with Prakriti Poetry Contest

2008-11-13T17:22:00.003+05:30

This just in from the Prakriti Foundation, about their contest, part of their annual Poetry with Prakriti festival. We're only helping spread the word. For more info, please email Prakriti Foundation.

As part of the festival, Prakriti Foundation invites you to participate in the Poetry Contest. Rules of the contest are:

Age Group: Contest is open to resident citizens of India aged 16 years and above

Jury: Distinguished panel of three judges

Prizes: Three cash prizes of Rs.10000/-, Rs.7500/- and Rs.5000/- each

Closing date: 15th December 2008. Results will be declared on 30th December

No. of entries: One poem for each contestant

Entries will be accepted in both typed hard copy form, or soft copy sent by e-mail. All entries have to be accompanied by a declaration of originality and automatic disqualification will occur should a fraud be detected by the committee.

E-mail your entries to prakritifoundation@gmail.com

or send your entries to
Prakriti Foundation
Block C, 9th Floor
599 Anna Salai
Cathedral Garden Road
Chennai 600 006
Phone: 044 32990005

The Open Space – Harper Collins Poetry Contest 2008

2008-11-01T04:38:00.006+05:30

This just in from Open Space. We wrote to the organisers expressing our reservations about the depth of info that their entry form requires — gender? occupation? — and the minimum age requirements. Hopefully, they will reconsider both. If they do, we'll update this post. If you have queries, or would like to add your voice to ours, please write to the email address provided.

Update (3rd November 2008): Open Space's Rakesh Ganguli tells us that there are a few changes in the entry form, which we have updated below. "Gender" and "Occupation" are now optional fields, but the lower age limit remains 18 years.

With poetry blogs and literary forums of an assorted variety proliferating online, poetry has finally found a public space. The aim of this Online Poetry Contest is to encourage the reading and writing of poetry as a literary activity and to promote the art of poetry, especially among the young.

Prizes:
1st prize – Rs 20,000
2nd prize – Rs 10,000
3rd prize – Rs 5,000

Judges:
Keki Daruwala is a poet and a leading figure in Indian poetry in English. A recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award and Commonwealth Poetry Award, Keki N. Daruwalla has so far published about 12 books, consisting of mostly poems and a couple of fictional works. Some of his important works are Under Orion, The keeper of the dead, Landscapes, A summer of tigers and The minister for permanent unrest & other stories. He also edited Two decades of Indian poetry.
V.K.Karthika is the Chief Editor, HarperCollins Publishers India Ltd.
Priya Sarukkai Chabria is a poet and novelist, and Editor of the website Talking Poetry. Her second collection of poems Not Springtime Yet (HarperCollins) was recently released. She is at www.priyawriting.com
C.P.Surendran is a poet, journalist and columnist. He has written four volumes of poetry: Gemini II, Posthumous Poems, Canaries on the Moon and Portraits of the Space We Occupy. His debut novel is titled An Iron Harvest.

The decision of the judges will be final.

Copyright for the shortlisted and winning poems will be shared by the poets, Open Space and Harper Collins. The top ten poems will be published online on Talking Poetry and the HCP site. All winners will be notified by email. The contest ends November 30th 2008 and all winners will be announced in January 2009.

How to enter:

1. Write a poem on the theme of ‘borders’ (interpret the subject broadly, as borders between people, countries and cultures). The poem may be up to 50 lines long, written in any style.
2. The competition is open to anyone above the age of 18 residing in India and writing in English.
3. The poem must be original and unpublished in any print or online forum.
4. A contribution of Rs.100 (one hundred only) is to be paid to participate in the contest. This contribution is payable by bank demand draft only.
5. Only one entry per individual will be accepted.
6. Each poem must be printed on one side of an A4 sheet.
7. Each page must be numbered and must include the title of the poem.
8. Please send two copies of your poem.
9. The competition will be judged ‘blind’. Please make sure your name appears only on the entry form printed below.

Send your poem, entry form and contribution to:
Open Space Poetry Contest
Centre for Communication and Development Studies
301, Kanchanjunga bldg.
Kanchan Lane,
Near Krishna Dining Hall,
Off Law College Road
Pune - 411004

Bank Demand Drafts to be drawn in favour of: Centre for Communication and Development Studies

PLEASE NOTE:

* No copies of poems will be returned and no correspondence with judges can be entered into.
* Entries without the entry form and contribution will not be eligible for the contest.
* Email any queries about the contest to: rakesh@openspaceindia.org However, NO entries will be entertained online. They must be sent in hard copy.
* Prizes are nontransferable.
* Poems submitted must not have been published previously in books or magazines and must be original to the person submitting them.
* The closing date to enter the contest is November 30, 2008.
* Winners will be announced in January 2009.

***

ENTRY FORM

FOR THE OPEN SPACE – HARPER COLLINS POETRY CONTEST 2008
(On the theme of ‘Borders’)

Name:
Age Group: 18-25 ( ) 25-35 ( ) 35 & above ( )
Gender (optional):
Occupation (optional):
Postal Address:
Pin:
E-mail:
Mobile no.:
Landline no.:
Bank D.D No.:
Drawn from Bank/City:
Dated:

Title of your poem:

The Poem:

***

A chat with Zubaan

2008-10-26T23:41:00.002+05:30

Over on Jeff Vandermeer's Ecstatic Days, Vandana Singh, author of the Younguncle series and the short story collection, The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet and Other Stories, interviews our good friends Urvashi Butalia and Anita Roy of Zubaan. They talk of Kali For Women, the borth of Zubaan, feminist publishing and its continuing relevance, with special reference to India, some milestone books, and much else.

Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival 2008

2008-10-23T13:37:00.001+05:30

Via Mita Kapur of Siyahi.

Celebrating children's literature with Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival 2008, the first ever in India

Bookaroo, the first children's literature festival in India will take place in Delhi on Saturday 22nd November and Sunday 23rd November, 2008 from 10 am to 5 pm. The venue for the festival is Sanskriti Anand Gram on Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road.

The festival kicks off with an outreach programme on November 19 and 20th, 2008. There will be events with Hindi Books at 700 schools across Delhi in collaboration with Pratham, Delhi on these two days.

Slated to be an annual event, the festival has been organised by a consortium of publishers, booksellers, writers and book-lovers, including Manisha Chaudhry (Pratham Books), Eureka-Heek (bookstore and children's magazine), HarperCollins, Anushka Ravishankar (author), Siyahi, the literary consultancy, Subhadra Sengupta (author), Jo Williams (former organizer of the Red House Children's Book Award, UK), and. Zubaan,

The sessions will be conducted by over 40 men and women who have done extraordinary work in the field of children's literature and publishing , both in India and internationally. It will give children an opportunity to meet Indian and international authors too. Bookaroo's list of authors, poets, illustrators and speakers features Anita Roy, Anshumani Ruddra, Anushka Ravishankar, Bulbul Sharma, Bhajju Shyam, Jeff Smith, Jo Williams, Kalpana Swaminathan, Paro Anand, Ranjit Lal, Rukmini Banerji, Sampurna Chattarji, Sandhya Rao, Stephen Guy, Tabish Khair, Venita Coelho and Wendy Cooling among many others.

Publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Pratham Books, Scholastic, Tara, Tulika and Young Zubaan are participating and supporting the festival.

The aim of Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival is to expose children to the joys of reading. This is a one-of-its-kind event that focuses on the role of books in shaping children's lives. Each of the sessions will be highly-interactive with activities, workshops, plays, games, comics, storytelling and lessons in creativity.

Says Anita Roy, one of the organisers of the festival: "The Bookaroo festival is all about bringing together kids with the people who actually make the books that they love. They'll get to meet some of the best authors and illustrators, and not just hear and see stories performed but also learn about how a book is made. We're hoping that it will be a genuinely useful platform for authors, publishers, booksellers, parents and teachers to meet and exchange ideas. It's about celebrating the world of children's literature in all its marvellous variety. After all, in a country with the largest population of kids in the world, it's about time we had a literature festival just for them!"

According to M Venkatesh, publisher, Heek, a magazine for children and partner, Eureka! Bookstore, "There has been a growing interest in reading thanks to proactive parents and focused school activities. We think the time has come to give children an exclusive platform like Bookaroo for their literary needs - away from screens of any kind and size. We hope that the annual Bookaroo festivals will sharpen that interest in books and take young readers to the next level of involvement with good literature."

Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival - November 22 and 23, 2008

Time: 10 AM to 5 PM (both days)

Venue: Sanskriti Anand Gram, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Delhi

Outreach programme across the city - November 19th and 20, 2008

Contact Details: -

For more information log on to: www.bookaroo.in or mail to info@bookaroo.in

Parents can register their children by mailing to registrations@bookaroo.in (see age-wise programme schedule on www.bookaroo.in). Alternatively, you could call 011-26021092 (Eureka! Bookstore) or 011-26521008 (Zubaan Books).

For further information, call Anita Roy on 9810799273

For media queries and setting up interviews:

Subhadra Sengupta : 9811892060
Mita Kapur : 91 98292 92244

Quick Tales

2008-08-16T07:11:00.003+05:30

We're delighted to be able to tell you about this contest we have just got up and running. We're presenting it in partnership with LiveJournal, one of the oldest, most respected names in the community blogging world.

It's a pretty simple challenge we have here, one that will particularly appeal to all the fiction writers among you, but not too intimidating for those of you who like other forms of writing to give it a bash.

Can you tell a quicker, snappier story than anyone else? Would you care to pit your story-telling abilities against those of your peers?

Quick Tales, the LiveJournal - Caferati Flash Fiction contest, asks you to tell us a story in 500 words or less. On offer: delicious cash prizes (top prize: Rs 19,999), global visibility and the chance to be part of a book.

You probably know what Flash Fiction is all about - we have run Flash Fic contests for the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival for the last three years, and FF tags and memes have been floating around the blogosphere for ages - but, just in case you do need a few starting tips, see this page.

The contest is open to residents of India who are members of LiveJournal's India Writing community. (If you're not an LJ member, joining is free. Click the "Create a LiveJournal Account" link at the top of any LJ page.) The theme is "Journal," and your deadline is 7th September.

Prizes? The top 5 winning entries take home cash prizes of Rs 19,999, Rs 16,000, Rs 12,000, Rs 8,000 and Rs 4,000, respectively. And the rest of the top ten get paid accounts on LJ for one year. Each of the top 100 entries will also be highlighted on LJ's India Writing community for the world to see. (Short-listed stories may also be included in a book that LiveJournal plans to publish at a later date.)

Go straight through to our Quick Tales microsite for all the details, and don't forget to join India Writing, which is the place where all the updates will be happening. Live Journal has more plans for writers in all languages in India, and that community will be HQ.

We'd also be very, very grateful if you chose to tell your friends about it, and, if you have a blog or personal site, or are a member of other writing communities, to link to the site as well.

Good luck, and we hope to see your entry soon!

Poetry audiences - a discussion [Part 7]

2008-03-06T12:25:00.005+05:30

Vivek Narayanan:

Dear Peter et al.,

A few things strike me in thinking about this discussion. The first is, what is the optimal audience for a poetry event, how many people would make us happy and, can we assume that more people is necessarily better? I'm not trying to be elitist; rather I am saying that this need for a mass audience that we have is a particularly modern and contemporary anxiety.

Poetry has always tended to have small audiences. Bob Holman, who was recently in town, was telling us about that about that now legendary reading where Allen Ginsberg first premiered Howl, and the fact that there were maybe twenty or thirty people in the room. Jack Spicer, an American poet who is less known because he shunned official publication and the "poetry career" path in general (he said, rather harshly, that being published in anthologies made him feel like a pimp) says, in an interview that very often there might be only two or three people who really read your work closely, understand and engage with it. Mandelstam had a small but highly devoted band of followers determined to keep his poetry alive. One thinks about how many people Wordsworth or Shelley or Keats had in their audience (I'm not sure if Keats gave readings) or indeed, one thinks about how many people in Ghalib's time didn't just dismiss him as "difficult" or "experimental" or an obscurantist and the only answer one has is: enough people were there to make it memorable.

The fact that other mediums-- fiction and that upstart film-- can now routinely have mass audiences makes poetry aspire to the same. However, because poetry has always been about community to an extent that other mediums are not, this has also meant an almost absurd increase in the number of poets, leading to the situation that Silliman has been talking about for a while now, where there are thousands of competent poets in the US. Priya speaks of the "C" list^[1] of incompetent poetasters not coming to readings. Yes, there are many of those in the Indian scene, some have even climb to positions of influence over the years, but we must also now get to asking the question, is "competency" enough, and what will happen when we also start having hundreds and then thousands of poets, all at least a minimum level of competency? That is quite a deadening situation in its own way. Where will we go from there?

I propose we take seriously the shift from "audience" to "community" and think about what it means. This does NOT mean saying that everything is fine and anything goes, for, alas, even if we agree to set all poets as equal, the fact remains that some poems will be better, even vastly better, than others. Some poems will be just good enough and that by itself is not really good enough! What I am saying rather is 1) we ask ourselves why we don't engage more closely and honestly and critically with each other's work and 2) why we don't take care to document events.

1) close engagement: Priya notes how Adil's commentary on Arvind made her day (I wish I was there, I wish I could watch it on Youtube). And yet, how often does this really happen? I've always had the sense that the Bombay Eng. poetry scene is a very social but ultimately fails because it generates no internal critique-- this was less so at different points, notably the early poetry soc. days of the 90s and, perhaps even more so, what I have heard about the Clearing House days of the late sixties and early seventies. What so often happens, however, is that people line up to read one after the other, then there's a general round of back-patting, then everyone goes off to gossip and carefully avoids the actual poetry. In Delhi we have been tackling this by deflecting the issue onto "performance", which I think is an interesting strategy, but eventually it will only take us so far. The fact that we don't get enough serious engagement (and this should include loving but vigorous and *informed* critique and argument, fights and discussions and tips about the poetry we are reading, assuming that all of us are reading a lot, issues where a lot is at stake, and not just weak little suggestions for each other's linebreaks) means that we turn our hopes outward, in a wish for love and affirmation from an imaginary audience that never shows up. Rather, why not turn it around: if we engage with enough intensity and vigour and critique among the people who do show up (even if it's just the readers themselves who show up) then rumours of that true intensity will spread, and others will want to be part of it. And if we really bring enough intensity (I think Sampurna's points are relevant here) to the event, regardless of how many people are there, then I believe the question of audience will become irrelevant.

I have no magic trick in mind for how we will be able to be completely honest about each other's work, and I'm reminded of that episode of Friends where Phoebe (disastrously) decides to "tell the truth" in her songs. But this, for me, is what has to happen *before* the question of a lay audience even comes into the picture.

2) documentation: Priya notes how Adil's commentary on Arvind made her day (I wish I was there, I wish I could watch it on Youtube). Well, why can't I? I sit and watch the Berkeley poetry reading series a couple of days after the event. I would even go check out Peter Griffin sitting down and reading to a few people in Bombay. I hang around Penn Sound, downloading new recordings. I watch movies of some Canadian or British poet reading to an audience of 12 in the 1970s, realising that even then they had more sense than us to make a proper recording of the event. I realise that in the art world every damn performance is documented, and it is not so relevant that only four people showed up for the actual event. And yet, at my PEN reading, where only six people showed up, I tried and failed to make a recording using my pocket recorder that was drowned out by the sound of the fan. A good clear recording, ready for youtube or radio podcast or the archive does need a little prior thought and arrangement by the organisers, perhaps also a little investment, but at the end of the day this is not very much, since someone or the other will own a video camera and a decent microphone. And hey presto! Someone else is watching it and getting inspired fifty years later. And yes, I think this should be the duty of the organisers. The answer lies, obviously, not in seeing the web and the live event as competing mediums but in continuing to think about how they might work in tandem.

Vivek

p.s. -- The Jack Spicer talk / reading that I quote from can be found here (scroll down to the talk at the beginning of Jack Spicer speaks and reads from Language (full work)).

[1] Note from Peter to Vivek:

..a clarification. When Priya speaks of the "C" group, she is referring to Caferati. (Whether she also intended it to be a comment on a "C" list as opposed to an "A" or "B" list is something you'll have to ask her.

Vivek's reply:

Ah! Didn't realise that. Well perhaps you can post my comment with a little annotation, as above, about my misreading.

[Priya Chabria's original mail, Annie Zaidi's reply, a short reply from Priya C, in which your correspondent drones on and on and on., Sampurna Chattarji's take, some more thoughts from Annie, Vivek Narayanan's view.]

Vivek has a piece that is "partly a reworking" of this comment in Open magazine's July 11th issue.

Poetry audiences - a discussion [Part 6]

2008-03-06T06:29:00.005+05:30

Annie Zaidi:

Hi

Most of my thoughts on the subject have been put down. Before I said anything more on the subject, I'd wanted to hear others' views too, but none seem to be forthcoming quickly. So will just respond to some of the things said so far.

"Each one of us, individually, must give not merely as good as we receive, but better. This commitment also comes into play. Irrespective of those who stand alongside."

Perhaps, we should give more than we get. I don't know if that idea will appeal to many, but it would be nice if writers at least start confronting themselves about what it is they want. And then agree to do what it takes to make it happen. If we want attendance and ears, we should agree to lend ears.

"Perhaps a later start time. And I would definitely say not a weekday. That said, this won't guarantee larger audiences, but it certainly makes it easier to attend. I don't work fullt-time now, but, thinking back, I would have find it very doable to get to a short event at around 7 p.m. or a little later."

I'd say even 7pm is a bit early. For Bombay, especially. I can think back to my schedules in the city and 7 would have been very difficult. (That was one reason I never seemed to have a cultural life there.) You could start at 7.30pm and end at 8.30 pm, which is not at all late by city standards. Don't know about locations, because there are probably all sorts of concerns there, and you've got to pick something that's cheap and quiet. It would help if it is at a cultural hub. Prithvi is an excellent space, that way. So is the NCPA area.

"Definitely more audience building. More awareness generation. More education. (I remember someone saying at a poetry event that the way our education system brings poetry to us is bad. But then, if we agree, what are we doing to help people rise beyond that?"

Suggestion: Those of us who know people in schools or colleges - can we initiate one class a month 'living poets' kind of series? Can PEN do it? Colleges are better. Each college has hundreds of English Lit students. (My college had 170-odd in my batch alone). If the principals or HoDs can be spoken to. They just need to schedule some time, a mic, and would be nice if they could pay the poet a teeny bit, taxi fare at least. I do know things are changing a wee bit. Spoke to a college teacher yesterday and she said that Manju Kapur had come to speak at the college. No reason why poets can't reach out and build connections too.

"How about, for a start, including notes on why you selected the poems that are on the site? Why not have the poets write about the genesis of the works featured?"

We can, though I am not convinced that that would help. We're talking here about building audience, and building a sense of community. And I personally don't remember being particularly interested in the genesis of a poem, unless the facts are integral to understanding it.

"Attention spans are dropping, and there is so much more competition for those diminishing slices of attention. Films, news, opinions, everything's getting shorter, more concise, in an attempt to fit in. (And, y'know, there is more opportunity there. Good poets manage to fit things into beautifully carved nutshells.)"

If that's a suggestion that poetry needs to be shorter, or that it needs to be tailored to the tastes of people, I'd beg to differ. Several times on the Caferati board, I have encouraged poets to expand their piece since it begins to say something interesting and stops abruptly.
Attention spans are something we need to worry about only if the craft isn't that great. Or if the way we present our craft isn't that great. The fact that news is getting shorter just makes it more unreadable/unwatchable. And Indians continue to watch 3-hour long films. In which nothing happens. And soaps. In which nothing happens again.

I'm just nudging this discussion into a slightly different track, but since both Sampurna and Peter have brought up the fact that our audience has a dozen other alternatives to entertainment and culture, we need to change track somewhat, I think.

I follow popular media with great (detached) interest. Many of the popular songs, for instance, do have something different about them - their sound, their words, their context. Something 'hat ke'. It is that which captures attention. (And I digress a little here, but does anyone remember this Hindi poet called Maya Govind? She wrote the song 'gutar gutar' which became a national (out)rage, about a decade ago. I mention her now because she was a poet, not a full-time Bollywood lyricist, and she wrote an overtly suggestive song about pigeons... since we are on the subject of capturing attention.) Mere beauty rarely captures the attention of wide swathes of people, or the imagination of a nation. I find a lot of modern poetry is predictable and I like being surprised, whether it is in theme or metaphor.

"The wisdom of crowds does work, and it the mob is powerful and fickle. Fifteen minutes, fifteen seconds even, of fame? That's not the future; it's already happening."

Democracy in poetry is welcome, and creation should not be the preserve of a few. Which is why open mics are catching on so well. It is great if everybody is indeed participating in poetry and giving back to it. That's not the problem. The opposite is.

On mobs... But the mob watches Ekta Kapoor's soaps! (And is reasonably loyal, actually, if you'd follow soap TRPs, you'd know). It has been centuries since poetry has been a mob's delight. Not unless you include songs. Is the market of songs open to poets? I don't know. Have heard a few rock bands in Bombay who do sing in English. The lyrics are awfully derivative... maybe we should explore that audience.

"Poets need to compete for attention the same as anyone else. They need to compete with films, books, news, reality TV, the latest web phenom."

Sure. And poets are doing so, using these very tools. People are making poetry films. HBO runs a performance poetry series (not in India, unfortunately). SAB TV had a program on Hindi poetry, especially funny poetry. And we are all using the web. We need to use more of it. If I can access the right computer and net connection, I do go poem-hunting on the web. I like watching videos too, and I go looking for poetry videos. Can't find any Indian ones.

"Why is it that a poetry-loving community--specifically, English poetry, because there are far larger turnouts for poetry events in other Indian languages--is difficult to find in the real world in this country?"

That's easy. A tiny percentage of our country speaks English. Most of them speak it or read it only to further their professional interests. If they did have poetic leanings, they're likely to read poems in any of many other languages. We ARE a very, very tiny community here, proportion-wise. It is no point trying to compete with Hindi or Urdu or Marathi audiences.

"Why are the better-known poets not able to grow audiences? Why aren't they embracing the technology that's available? Things like podcasts, posting poetry online, writing about poetry, about the appreciation and understanding of poetry, for instance."

It would help a lot if the better-known poets began to do cool stuff with technology. However putting poetry up on the web is a concern for many. Copyright issues. But one way out is to put up stuff on your own websites which doesn't allow the 'copy-paste' function. That alone would be a great step forward. (Would help if techno-savvy poet-people advise techno-unsavvy ones like myself on this)

There's also that can be done by just reaching out to poets in other languages and that way, build little networks of communities with some overlap.

"We, as people who believe that the work of certain poets is special, should do more to publicise it, sell it, make it easy to relate to, make sure the people that it speaks to hear about it, and convince people to attend, to read them."

True. And I can think of ways. It will take time and a little money to begin, but of course, there are ways. Which we will discuss elsewhere, maybe. This is getting too long for the moment.

[Priya Chabria's original mail, Annie Zaidi's reply, a short reply from Priya C, in which your correspondent drones on and on and on., Sampurna Chattarji's take, some more thoughts from Annie, Vivek Narayanan's view.]

Poetry audiences - a discussion [Part 5]

2008-03-06T06:27:00.003+05:30

Sampurna Chattarji:

Dear all,

I think Peter and Annie have covered most of the points that impinge on the presence/absence of audiences for poetry events in our respective cities, with practical, sound and sensitive suggestions on how to address some of them. I have just one thing to add, and I’d like to do that in my capacity as a poet and participant rather than as an organiser of such events.

I think the key question for me is – how does one define a ‘successful event’? I have had, in the past two-three years, the pleasure of reading my work at a variety of forums from the posh art gallery (with red wine!) to the noisy premises of a Prithvi café (with no mike!). The dynamics of every event has varied and so has my satisfaction as a poet and a performer (in some sense, even a reading becomes a performance). I find that the number of people in the audience has had a varying influence on the satisfaction I derive from an event. Some of the best events for me were those that were attended by not more than 12 to 15 people, and that allowed the kind of intimacy and intense engagement and interaction that a larger, more-well attended event could not. I have been equally thrilled and dismayed by how many or how few people turned up to listen to me, but always in the process of reading, and engaging with those who did come, I have felt a sense of pleasure and a sense of gratitude. An old-fashioned word, yes, but I think in a world where there is so much else that one could do – watch a movie, go for a play, a concert, stay in and read Proust, go out on the town with old friends, eat sushi, learn salsa – assuming of course, that one has the leisure to do all of this and is not bound by some hideous corporate deadline as most of my friends are, in such a world of teeming options, in cities that are rich enough to offer us all these options – I do feel grateful when someone opts for poetry. And it is not only poetry events that are (sometimes) sparsely attended, and neither is this a problem specific to India. The American playwright Alan Brody who was here in July (he teaches and lives in Boston) said readings are the hardest things to organise as one can never be sure how many people will finally come. (To slip back into organiser mode for a second, I also know how deeply disappointing it is when after doing everything possible to invite/entice a sizeable audience, one fails, and it is the same five or six or seven indefatigable amazingly supportive old regulars who come.)

Which brings me back to the question – how does one define a ‘successful event’? For me, as a poet, the answer is increasingly being defined in terms of the richness of response, the intensity of listening, a quality both unquantifiable and deeply enriching. Numbers, in this situation, are becoming an aside, a functional detail in an experience nuanced with something I can only think of as personal pleasure.

I’m not sure how this addresses some of the other conversations, but I do hope, in some way, it does.
With love,
Sampurna.

[Priya Chabria's original mail, Annie Zaidi's reply, a short reply from Priya C, in which your correspondent drones on and on and on., Sampurna Chattarji's take, some more thoughts from Annie, Vivek Narayanan's view.]

Poetry audiences - a discussion [Part 4]

2008-03-06T06:17:00.005+05:30

Peter Griffin:

Dear Priya

It was no hardship for me; it was a privilege to be asked to share the stage with so many talented folks, even more so for me since I wasn't one of the poets in the anthology. But yes, I was expecting more folks from the Caferati group, and was disappointed that only one of the folks who said they might come eventually did make it.

I thought there would be more folks from PEN's list present too. But the low numbers were not exactly unexpected. I haven't been to many PEN events, but at the ones I have attended, I was surprised to see so few folks. At the first PEN event I went to, at Ranjit's invitation, there were five readers, including myself, and five - or was it six? - listeners.

Part of this is, I think, to do with the combination of timing and location, something I have discussed with Ranjit. Events that start at 6.15 in the evening, mid-week, in South Bombay and that last, usually, under an hour ; that's very unrealistic and just does not take into consideration the realities of Bombay. Working folks are usually in their office until 6 p.m. Many work later as a matter of course. The city's business district is no longer Nairman Point and Fort. Increasingly larger sections of people work in the former mills district around Dadar, Parel, and Prabhadevi, in Bandra and the Bandra-Kurla complex and Ghatkopar and Andheri and suburbs further North and East, even in places like New Bombay and Malad. Getting to a reading by 6.15 would mean having to take off from work early, not always easy to do, and definitely not an option on a regular basis.

(Digression: With Caferati, one of my learnings was that once a month, on a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon or evening, is a fairly achievable goal. Not, perhaps, wholly relevant, since the scenarios are not the same, but it does take into consideration that folks have full, busy lives and expecting them to devote larger, more frequent chunks of time would be difficult. Also, Caferati is also an online organisation, and the read-meets are not, therefore, the sole gatherings of the group.)

Solutions?

Perhaps a later start time. And I would definitely say not a weekday. That said, this won't guarantee larger audiences, but it certainly makes it easier to attend. I don't work fullt-time now, but, thinking back, I would have find it very doable to get to a short event at around 7 p.m. or a little later.

Definitely more audience building. More awareness generation. More education. (I remember someone saying at a poetry event that the way our education system brings poetry to us is bad. But then, if we agree, what are we doing to help people rise beyond that?

PEN is working on it, especially with the new Poetry@PEN series. Open Space has made a wealth of work available on the Talking Poetry pages. (Why not more discussion? How about, for a start, including notes on why you selected the poems that are on the site? Why not have the poets write about the genesis of the works featured?) Caferati is trying to bring more writers into the fray. We need more efforts, and we need to work harder ourselves. Be the change, as the catchphrase goes.

Your specific questions

Is the online community of poets/ poetry lovers 'self-sufficient' in the sense that such readings/launches are no longer required by blog tribalism?

I'm going to have to be long-winded.

The online community of poets and poetry lovers is growing.

Part of this is because the nature of the online space permits participation and interaction that overcomes barriers of distance and time. Add to this the fact that the community is not exactly thick on the ground, and such folks as there are are scattered across the world, larger concentrations in arts-friendly cities and the like, but more usually, people are not aware of how to get in touch with, join, participate in real-life groups, or there are none in their vicinity. When such folks find an online community, this can be huge. I know this was the case for me, and others have told me much the same.

Does this mean that these communities are self-sufficient? If so, is that a good or a bad thing?

I think that yes, they can be self-sufficient. For many, it is enough to just write and have maybe a few dozen people read. It is enough for them to have an audience, period. Here, they're getting one that is potentially international; at any rate, more than the number they would physically be able to show their work to otherwise, something that was impossible when getting your poems published in a magazine or a book was the only way to rise beyond constraints of geography or time.

"Publishing" means something very different these days and that's the reality. Many don't aim to be published in the conventional sense, way too many don't work on their craft, or read enough or analyse enough or learn enough. Is that the fault of the medium? Perhaps. I don't think so, but perhaps. But then, perhaps, because the technology makes it easy, more people will write, will show their work around. I like that. And I think it's worth it. Perhaps, out of this much wider community, a few poets who may never have been heard if not for the technology will now rise to greater visibility. I like that too. And it's definitely worth it.

We should also consider these things.
- It is a fast-moving world, and information overload is very real.
- Attention spans are dropping, and there is so much more competition for those diminishing slices of attention. Films, news, opinions, everything's getting shorter, more concise, in an attempt to fit in. (And, y'know, there is more opportunity there. Good poets manage to fit things into beautifully carved nutshells.)
- Technology has helped democratise many things. Experts, mediators, the media, they become irrelevant for some people. The wisdom of crowds does work, and it the mob is powerful and fickle. Fifteen minutes, fifteen seconds even, of fame? That's not the future; it's already happening.
- Poets need to compete for attention the same as anyone else. They need to compete with films, books, news, reality TV, the latest web phenom.

And also some things to think about.
Why is it that a poetry-loving community--specifically, English poetry, because there are far larger turnouts for poetry events in other Indian languages--is difficult to find in the real world in this country? Why are the better-known poets not able to grow audiences? Why aren't they embracing the technology that's available? Things like podcasts, posting poetry online, writing about poetry, about the appreciation and understanding of poetry, for instance. If the media won't carry such writing, why not put it out there anyway, for the good of the craft, the calling?

I can understand none of the C group attending if they trash the work of all the poets reading. This is perfectly acceptable. But do they know the work of these poets well enough to trash it all? Or are the reasons darker and smaller? I'm speaking both of hiding in the paltry 'I-me-myself" syndrome of closure and safety by not attending, and the fear of nails being worn down by slog that's on display on such an occasion. I'm also speaking of perhaps not loving, passionately, intensely enough , the art that makes one be-- which is necessary to commit to in order to improve and seek. These are deep and troubling questions.

Possibility one: people did not attend because they didn't like the work of the people reading. Let us also assume that they do know the work well enough to reach that conclusions, and that, you accept, is good enough reason. Fair enough.

Possibility two, they do not know the work well, but do not think highly of the work they have come across, and therefore do not attend. I think that this perfectly acceptable too. If I don't like what I have seen or heard once or twice, why would I want to delve deeper? It's up to the poet to interest me, grab me, make me want to come back, or read more.

Possibility three, they have not heard of the work of these poets at all and therefore do not attend. Nothing wrong with that either. We, as people who believe that the work of certain poets is special, should do more to publicise it, sell it, make it easy to relate to, make sure the people that it speaks to hear about it, and convince people to attend, to read them.

Possibility Four, they have heard of and like the work of the poets featured but still do not attend. There could be a variety of reasons for this, like the day of the week and the time and the location and not having heard about it in time, or not having been told about it in a convincing way. It could mean that some people think poetry is best read off a page with the voice of one's mind rather than heard in voice of the poet (and let us also note that not all poets read well). It does not necessarily follow that the reasons are "darker and smaller." It does not necessarily follow that anyone is hiding, or scared of seeing slog on display or not loving the art well enough. Those are unkind assumptions. Because it is possible to work hard at poetry, care passionately about it, without attending a single reading. If it is possible to love Shakespeare who's been dead for centuries, why can't one experience, love, study a contemporary without ever seeing that contemporary read her/his own work?

I ask also because through discussions that occurred later I was enlightened to the fact that most of the recent readings in Bombay ( except those announced as events with, possibly, cocktails through in) are very poorly attended.

No one invites me to the cocktails, alas. So I can't comment.

If it is imperative that in order to attend, the platform must extend to permit one to read from one's work, no matter how recent a 'poet' one is,

Why do you assume this? Unfair, i think.

..then we must rethink the very idea of launches and readings. We must, indeed, rethink the very idea of listening and sharing and growing. We must, by extension, dismiss words like rigour, experiment, form and love from our vocabulary and substitute these perhaps with words like laziness and anything goes or ... We should stop believing that poetry is a sacred and necessary impulse that enables one to live.

Yes, we must re-examine the idea of launches and readings. We must make them more attractive to people. We must remember that we're competing for people's attention and that they have many alternatives to choose from. Even if we were to restrict ourselves to what else is available in poetry, if one had the choice between looking at a few videos which feature Billy Collins reading his work while the visual interprets those words with some great animation, or checking out some great spoken word performers on YouTube, would I come listen to Peter Griffin sit in a chair and read a poem? Rather than dismiss rigour, experiment, form and love, we should, in this re-examination, work harder, experiment more, love it more.

~p

[Priya Chabria's original mail, Annie Zaidi's reply, a short reply from Priya C, in which your correspondent drones on and on and on., Sampurna Chattarji's take, some more thoughts from Annie, Vivek Narayanan's view.]

Poetry audiences - a discussion [Part 3]

2008-03-06T06:14:00.004+05:30

Priya Sarukkai Chabria:

Hi Annie, Hi Peter,
Thank you for the eloquent and serious responses to issues I raised in an earlier mail. I feel heartened, especially as both of you lead a major blog site on poetry. I also consider the both of you hard working poets. (Yes, Annie, impassioned is a word often employed about my work and here's another response.)

I refrained from using the word 'community' as this I found lacking. But by all means, let's deploy it now if there is a crack of hope.

I validate the suggestions you made. Peter: yes, invite the poets you mentioned to dialogue. Also, and equally important, the three questions you, Annie, plan to initiate on the C blog. These are pertinent points to engage commitment.

I suggest: use the mails or extracts that have passed between us to contextualize the issues --thought I'm not familiar with your format. Because we are speaking of vast and deep concerns.

To further the debate:
True, a sense of community is necessary and significant to help us be what we are. It is imperative to stand by each other in our frail and encompassing endeavour. But beyond this there is the sense of self and gratitude to the art that makes us be. Each one of us, individually, must give not merely as good as we receive, but better. This commitment also comes into play. Irrespective of those who stand alongside.

My new argument may seem to convulse the idea of community that I found lacking and longed for, and to which you have responded thoughtfully. But this is a spiral on it. This aspect is the moola, the root and seed: beyond all else, unshakably, begin with self.

Yes, Annie, this is implied in the questions you wish to raise; also in the word 'reciprocate'.. But let's forefront this aspect of faith too, what say?

Priya

[Priya Chabria's original mail, Annie Zaidi's reply, a short reply from Priya C, in which your correspondent drones on and on and on., Sampurna Chattarji's take, some more thoughts from Annie, Vivek Narayanan's view.]

Poetry audiences - a discussion [Part 2]

2008-03-06T06:09:00.004+05:30

Annie Zaidi:

Hi Priya

I had been thinking hard about the things you said in your mail to Peter and while I saw it as the impassioned and immediate response it was, I did think that there is much to think about. Here is what I wrote back to Peter (slightly edited):

"I do agree with most of what she says in terms of attendance and poetry events and community building. See, I'm a professional journalist and a working poet (though unlike a certain [name deleted], I don't go about introducing myself as a 'working' poet, because it is understood that I am working on being one, if I am one.) And there are at least three times as many book launches and readings here in Delhi than there in Mumbai, I think - though this may not be true of poetry specifically, since Mumbai has more better-known poets writing in English. I don't make it to all but I do try and make it to at least the poetry events, especially if organised by someone I know or if a contemporary is participating.

This is what 'community' is about. A community stands up for you, supports you. You often trade within a community. Many of us have gone to some trouble to seek such a community of writers, and it is for this reason - because it lends us purpose and makes us feel that what we're doing is important. Perhaps our community is small, but to these 30 or 50 people, it matters that a new book of poems is out, or that a new poet-performer is in town. Otherwise, why have launches? Why perform? Why read? We might as well sit at home and read to the walls.

If I do not attend other people's events, why should anyone come to mine?

...

Even a genius will be die undiscovered and unsung, if he is not willing to get out there and be part of the community. Even Ghalib attended mushairas.

...

But this also seems to be increasingly true of writers and launches here. I see the most thickly-attended ones are the ones with free cocktails. Which is understandable sometimes - a high-profile event like the Vikram Chandra launch at the Taj. Or even a blah event at the British Council. You don't like the work that much, but there will be drinks and bonding with other writers, later.

But at Sampurna and Sridala's reading at the Sahitya Akademy here, there was only chai and since I got there later, I did not get even a cup of chai, and it did not matter. The toilets - like in all government offices - smell, but it did not matter. There were about forty people or fifty, some were friends and supporters, and some young emerging Delhi poets, and it felt good to see them there. We had no role to play barring that of listeners and buyers, and we played it. The evening was good.

Now, we cannot do this every day but we can do this every other week or even every weekend. As poets, as writers, as aspirants, this is part of the package.

And I think we have to start communicating this to the Caferati crowd. If you want to be a poet and want appreciation and want people to buy real books, learn to reciprocate. Learn that there will be jobs and family and distances but if you want to be part of the poetic community, in the real world, then get out and negotiate the rules of the real world.

....

Maybe we need to initiate a discussion about this on Caf. If you like, I will do it.

And I would like to begin with just these three questions - do you want your own book out some day? how many poetry/literary events have you shown up for? how many poetry books have you bought last year?

What say?

annie

[Priya Chabria's original mail, Annie Zaidi's reply, a short reply from Priya C, in which your correspondent drones on and on and on., Sampurna Chattarji's take, some more thoughts from Annie, Vivek Narayanan's view.]

Poetry audiences - a discussion [Part 1]

2008-03-06T05:43:00.005+05:30

This post, and the next few as well, are the texts of an email debate initiated by Priya Sarukkai Chabria.

Background: At the Bombay launch of 50 Poets 50 Poems, attendance was low; Priya says there were more press than audience members there, I counted a dozen people, aside from the eight people on stage, the young man who was helping sell the books, and the chai lad.

The principals in this discussion have agreed to put this up on the Caferati blog and invite a larger discussion. We're hoping that you folks could bring in your take on the topic; your opinions, your perspectives from different events in different cities. Feel free to comment, or to mail any or all of us.

~peter

Priya Sarukkai Chabria:

Dear Peter,
Thank you for participating in the PEN 50Poets50Poems launch. All the other Bombay poets too who were in the anthology who weren't abroad made it a point to participate. This was excellent. I appreciate your show of solidarity especially as you had to traverse great distances to be present. You had also said that some from the Caferati group would be present. However, none showed.You possibly were perturbed by this.

Why a single poet/ poetry aficionado/ wannabe didn't showed is a matter to ponder on because such an assembly of poets is exceptional.( Indeed, we had more press that poets!) But first I ask myself: do I attend enough of such literary events? My answer is yes. Also a launch of a poetry anthology in the hallowed PEN "prescient" is an event to celebrate. For any writer worth the name, PEN is significant.. The evening, to me, was a matter of keeping faith with one's art, with the art of poetry, the spaces that support it and with the reality of living.

As you are a leading moderator of the active and large Caferati group I direct the following enquiries to you:
Is the online community of poets/ poetry lovers 'self-sufficient' in the sense that such readings/launches are no longer required by blog tribalism? I do not use the word 'tribalism' in a disparaging manner, rather to imply close affinities that are sustaining though small. Also, as this group,comprising of young poets --and those who want to make the grade-- is active in its writing and critiquing of poetry, one would have thought that such an experience would be enriching to them. Since the evening kicked off with Adil J reading his poem and Arvind's, I shall employ just this case to make my point. Beside contextualizing his own poem, Adil's deep inquiry into Arvind's references and imagination, I found made my day. I'd have thought younger poets too could have gain from this. Also from the manner in which poems are read aloud/declaimed/ articulated. A range of this, too, occurred.
I can understand none of the C group attending if they trash the work of all the poets reading. This is perfectly acceptable. But do they know the work of these poets well enough to trash it all? Or are the reasons darker and smaller? I'm speaking both of hiding in the paltry 'I-me-myself" syndrome of closure and safety by not attending, and the fear of nails being worn down by slog that's on display on such an occasion. I'm also speaking of perhaps not loving, passionately, intensely enough , the art that makes one be-- which is necessary to commit to in order to improve and seek. These are deep and troubling questions.

I ask also because through discussions that occurred later I was enlightened to the fact that most of the recent readings in Bombay ( except those announced as events with, possibly, cocktails through in) are very poorly attended. If it is imperative that in order to attend, the platform must extend to permit one to read from one's work, no matter how recent a 'poet' one is, then we must rethink the very idea of launches and readings. We must, indeed, rethink the very idea of listening and sharing and growing. We must, by extension, dismiss words like rigour, experiment, form and love from our vocabulary and substitute these perhaps with words like laziness and anything goes or ... We should stop believing that poetry is a sacred and necessary impulse that enables one to live.

This I do not accept.

Poets are practical people; we are deeply embedded in reality, I know we seek clarity at all times. I agree:there must be other reasons too --such as weekday, traffic snarls , personal problems etc. that came into play. I too have missed a film, an art opening, even book launches because of such petty inconveniences. But did ever one's dog die on the evening of the antho launch when so many poets were reading at a PEN event?

Had I taken the evening to be personal, merely celebrating my achievementas an editor I would not be so concerned.

I look forward to your response.
Best wishes
Priya

[Priya Chabria's original mail, Annie Zaidi's reply, a short reply from Priya C, in which your correspondent drones on and on and on., Sampurna Chattarji's take, some more thoughts from Annie, Vivek Narayanan's view.]

R.I.P.

2007-12-31T11:59:00.000+05:30

Take a moment, please, to remember the voices we lost this year.

Revathy Gopal

Shakti Bhatt

Kersy Katrak

Tarapada Ray

J B D'Souza

Qurratulain Hyder

Poornachandra Tejaswi

Leela Majumdar

Bunny Reuben

[Thanks to Arka Mukhophadhyay, Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta, Anjan Ray, Falstaff, Kankana Basu, Arundhathi Subramaniam.]

Arambol (Goa)

2007-12-12T22:34:00.000+05:30

The smell of hashish in the air is a dancing
thing. The girl’s small, curved hands are

like two shells in sleep. The bartender
raises his foot and brings it down on a

crab, spilling its meat onto the sand, leaving
a pattern in entrails. I eat my tuna salad.

The boys on the beach turn over in their sleep
and the one-eyed man in the café cups

his own face with two hands thoughtfully.
Such violence on gentle shores is common,

he thinks. In the distance, a blue boat
is a little blemish I could rub away, a

transgression. The beach continues to
burn in its silent, unstoppable way.

© Anindita Sengupta.

This festive party (for Janet Fine)

2007-12-05T02:10:00.000+05:30

Too soon for trips! don't leave this festive party
the moon's eclipse would grieve this festive party

we met along a road toward a rare concert
the tablas' taps retrieve this festive party

you twirled in natyam as a whippersnapper
must Rudra's steps re-weave this festive party?

you caught the screenings festivals received you
lost stardust tints the eaves this festive party

Mumbai Cairo New York pearls for your piercing
low-budget trips don't peeve this festive party

in five-and-dimes you’d shop in several countries!
and fashion’s glitz achieve this festive party

you found a manuscript on pleasing women
God's microfische conceived this festive party

the dusk of palaces caught your affection
you threw Raj Pipla's eve this festive party

does Bollywood recall one who first named her?
the skinnydips are brief this festive party

you sliced my heart critiquing my first movie
don't seal your lips! nor leave this festive party

I still have tales to tell! who'll understand me?
don't doubt my quips believe this festive party

I won't be brief! I'll flourish my bandana
I've got tricks up my sleeve this festive party

the kiss of death they claim is liberating
reluctant lips receive this festive party

the smile of Tukaram lives in the painting
newspaper clips frame Jiv this festive party

Ellen sends love from yon out at East Hampton
and look! a glimpse of Steve this festive party

here’s Lucian! Betty’s also soon arriving
the commune let’s not cleave this festive party

too swiftly time's page flits! we were still reading!
the boat tips and upheaves this festive party

the ghazal's wit steeps love in lamentation
a dye that suits the sleeve this festive party

a million notes the soul jots on its journey
we've still chits to retrieve this festive party

days vanish and the nights fitfully finish
tell me if it’s a thief? this festive party

the world drifts in its dream yet Parabrahma
motionless sits who sees this festive party?

in Haridwar there's aarati morn and evening
trays wave as Shiv bereaves this festive party

from Raphael accept gratitude's bandish
his note slips through the sieve this festive party

For Janet Fine, a friend. She expired in Mumbai, 24 November 2007.

verse 3: natyam (Skt.): dance – more specifically, Bharata Natyam, a discipline that engaged her from a young age.

verse 7: “a manuscript” – viz., Lazzat un Nissa (The Pleasure of a Woman, circa 1850), a translation of which she published (under her own imprint) in 2003.

verse 8: Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, from the former princely state of Raj Pipla, was a friend of hers.

verse 9: She wrote journalistically about the film industry; and she is credited as the original coiner of the expression “Bollywood.”

verse 14: Jiv (Hindi): life

verse 22: aarati (Skt.): a Hindu ceremony of worship

verse 23: bandish (Hindustani): a classical song

© David Raphael Israel.

Janet Fine

2007-12-05T01:54:00.000+05:30

We were saddened to learn, through her friend, David Raphael Israel, of the passing of Janet Fine, on the 24th November, 2007.

Here is part of David's note:

Janet showed rare independence in her life. She made her living mainly as a working journalist, covering (among other things) the film industry. She also launched a small publishing venture, focusing on old-world Indian erotic literature. She had played a role in helping organize a "Festival of India" series of concerts in the U.S. in 1986, at venues such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, DC), involving performers such as Ravi Shankar and the Dagar Brothers. I'm just mentioning a few strands of activities that come to mind. I have not seen any proper obituary for Janet, but would like to know if one has been published.

For those who knew Ms Fine, a New York Times obituary also has a guest book which you can sign.

How to Read a Poem + Heat in Poetry [links to essays]

2007-11-06T19:23:00.000+05:30

Both links are from Edward Nudelman's blog, which I discovered recently, thanks to Dipalle Parmar on the Pune newsgroup.

From How to Read a Poem:

To have a clue, reading very good poetry must be swallowed whole. Don’t sit there chewing away, gumming the food and trying to figure out if you like it (I’m not talking about fast food here, but fine cuisine). Most people know within seconds if they’ve got a really big fish on the line. The pole goes down and you get a tug. The response? Any self-respecting angler will exclaim in glee and start reeling away like a lunatic.

So, I’m suggesting, when you read poetry, do just that. Read it. It’s that simple. Don’t cerebrum your way through it, asking: what does this mean? What does that imply, what is the author trying to tell me? Oh dear, that poet must be in a very dark place… no, that poet can’t be talking about a real life experience, etc. There's plenty of time for that later. Sometimes you just have to swallow before chewing.

From Heat in Poetry:

I like to think of poetry as a collection of words, each with their own potential energy. We seek to group the words in such a way that will increase that energy, like rolling a huge ball up a hill. The higher it goes, the farther it will roll down. Poetry finds a language that is hidden in the vernacular of our imagination. It will have a certain sound (especially when read by the author, with the author’s full intent) that will sound like poetry. As prosaic as this appears, it becomes clearer if one listens to enough poetry recited out loud (podcasts of poets can be widely found on the web, not only by contemporary poets, but also past recordings of great 20th century poets like Auden, Frost, Plath, Bishop, and Dylan Thomas, to name just a few). It is in the hearing of poems read aloud that I have come to appreciate in a special way this dynamic force of building energy in great poetry.

Go read.

Caferati's first annual Celebrating Shakti Bhatt Workshop - a report

2007-10-24T23:58:00.001+05:30

A report on the workshop (which was announced here & here) is long overdue, for which, my apologies. If it had been up to me, I would still be searching for my notes. Thankfully, there is an Annie. And an Anita.

-peter

Annie Zaidi on the session about Indian Poetic Forms:

The evening began with me making emergency calls to Ashwini — had forgotten to organize envelopes — and Danish — would he please pick up blank paper and extra pens — before landing up a good 45 minutes early at the Attic, where the organisers of the miniature paintings sat at a little table, looked at me expectantly and offered me a chair.

I looked at the paintings, thought about how beautiful the photos would look with these as the backdrop, fretted about what we’d do if enough people didn’t land up or too many did, and paced about anxiously while the Attic staff laid out the ‘farsh’ and the chairs.

As people began to stroll in, I worried about whether to put the shoes inside or outside and whether there was a chance of them being stolen outside. Then I went about collecting money from the participants — and one would-be participant who could not attend because of a last-minute emergency, but showed up anyway to pay up since he had confirmed attendance (thank you, gentle person).

When Professor Shivaprakash called, unable to find his way from Regal, Monica kindly went down to fetch him. He arrived with another scholar from JNU and ten minutes later, we started the workshop.

While the good professor said several things about poetry in general, and more specifically about the historical contexts of forms and short forms like the haiku, I did not manage to take down everything.

However, I do remember that he had compared poetry to firecrackers.

Just like there are two kinds of crackers — the single dazzle-burst kind, like the anaar for instance, and the multiple boom-boom-boom kind, like the larhi — similarly, there are two kinds of poetry. The latter kind gradually reveals itself, one idea leading to the next, and culminating in one final burst that may be a big, definitive finale or a quiet fizzle. The other kind says all it has to in a very short space of time with a very limited use of words. The haiku for instance. Or a doha, a tanka or an abhang. Or the vachana.

He also said that these shorter forms could be equated with a Zen-like instantaneous illumination.

Prof Shivaprakash had chosen to concentrate on vachanas, a form of Kannada poetry from the medieval ages, and also the subject of a forthcoming book he is editing for Penguin India.

Literally, a vachana means ‘speech.’ Alternately, it also means ‘promise.’ A vachana he said originates from triplets in Kannada that was often sung by women, and often contained rural and/or domestic themes.

In the medieval era, vachanas were popularized by speaker-poets many of whom came from the artisan classes and as the form evolved, their poetry became a tool of critique, against both the existing modes of poetry and transmission of knowledge.

Poetry is comprised of meaning and sound, he said. And what these new speaker-poets did was to challenge the content of Sanskrit poetry while simultaneously changing the way it sounded. They were opposed to the use of ‘abhida’ or a referential language. A referential language would depend on figures of speech, such as similes. They felt that a simile is a substitute, and therefore nor the real thing. Only real experience ought to be the subject of poetry, according to the vachana poets and therefore, they often spoke of their own lives, their work and their immediate environment.

Professor Shivaprakash also discussed the two foundations of meter in poetry. One depends on the contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables, which is how it is in older English poetry. The other kind depends on the equivalence of syllables, that is, vocalic length, such as it is in a ghazal. However, meter, he said, is only one manifestation of rhythm in a poem. There is also the notion of a sprung rhythm, which is what vachanas use. Such as ‘we were the first that ever burst into the silent sea.’

In the Kannada vachanas, there are few end rhymes, but there is often an initial rhyme. The first or second sounds of each line may rhyme. This brought a different kind of symmetry to the language. One of the best-known, and Professor Shivaprakash’s favourite, vachana poet is Akkamahadevi. He had circulated copies of some of her work as samples that were given away to participants.

The session was opened up to questions later and several participants wanted to ask the professor tough questions. On the question of what exactly the form was like, he said that the thing about this form was that it followed no rules. It is rooted in the breaking of form, and therefore, it is difficult to ascribe rules to it. He was not sure that new poets will succeed in writing a vachana, or how to advise them to write it, but added that it is possible to write ‘a vachana-like poem’.

Towards the end of that discussion, I observed that forms seem to grow from one to the other, with new twists and variations leading to new names for the form. Such as the qasida giving birth to the masnavi, the marsiya and the ghazal and how the ghazal itself seems anxious to grow in different directions but seems not to be able to find a new name for the newer experiments.

That led to some talk of other Indian poetic forms such as the anthadi and the keh-mukarni (both of which we have seen many examples of in Caferati's forum), examples of which were read out and met with much delight.

The participants seemed more enthused by the idea of the naughtier, saucier keh-mukarni so that form was chosen for an exercise. Several people came up with instant verses which were read out to much merriment and blushing. (Note to participants: do post your efforts in this thread, if you don’t mind.)

Though I had not read mine out, I had written this one:

There’s such black in his eyes
Black his tongue, black his lies
Black as coal, black as a rai
Your beloved? No, the kadhai.

This was followed by a short break for snacks — dhokla, samosa, gulab-jamuns, tea — and we went on to the next session on editing, led by Anita Roy and Urvashi Butalia.

Anita Roy, on the Editing for Non-Editors session that she and Urvashi Butalia conducted. Urvashi and Anita are from Zubaan.

The workshop kicked off with the participants all coming up with their own definitions of what an editor should be/should do. This ranged from correcting grammar to taking the author out for a drink (specifically: after their MS has been rejected). The nice list of editorial roles defined by Gary Kamiya — “Editors are craftsmen, ghosts, psychiatrists, bullies, sparring partners, experts, enablers, ignoramuses, translators, writers, goalies, friends, foremen, wimps, ditch diggers, mind readers, coaches, bomb throwers, muses and spittoons — sometimes all while working on the same piece” — was added to by the group: my favourite being “butcher.” Urvashi went on to elaborate on all the different kinds of editors there are out there — commissioning eds, desk eds, copy eds — and what to expect from each.

I then, perhaps fancifully, compared an editor's work to that of a gem-cutter: polishing, honing, cutting, until the light passes through as sparklingly and as clearly as possible. Some diamonds are rougher than others, so need more work. Some will never be more than a hunk of coal, and best consigned to the fire early on.

Then, having hedged around a bit and said how there aren't any real guidelines about how to approach a commissioning editor with your work, proceeded to contradict myself totally by laying down THE LAW in the form of 10 Commandments (see below).

Getting down to brass tacks, we all had a bash at re-punctuating a piece of de-punctuated text: specifically, an extract of Don Marquis's free verse work, Archy and Mehitabel. Had a lot of fun figuring out where to put quote marks and arguing about commas.

Then we sharpened our pencils and the cutting blades of our editorial minds by tackling an extract of an article that appeared in "Crime and Detective", whose idiosyncratic usage of the language reduced many participants to tears — of laughter. But which, usefully, kicked off a discussion about how much authorial quirkiness (and specifically Indian-English intonation, usage and vocab) one should or could allow.

One of the nicest comments afterwards was a backhander: "When they said there'd be editors coming to talk to us about editing, I thought: Oh my god, how dull can it get? But actually, I really enjoyed that."

Well, good. So did we.

I think Shakti would have too.

Anita's Ten Commandments:

Submitting your MS to a publisher
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

1. Thou shalt first find out about the publisher.
If you’ve written a short story for children, there’s no use sending it to Granta. If you’ve written a book review, send it to a journal that actually carries reviews. If you’ve written a book about growing dahlias, don’t send it to a publisher of feminist fiction. Etc. etc. Go to a bookshop or your bookshelves and see who’s published the kind of book that you think yours would sit well next to. Do your research first, and find out which place is going to suit your work best, which ground is likely to be the most fertile for your kind of seed to grow.

2. Thou shalt abide by the submissions process.
Usually on their website the magazine, journal or publisher will have something called “Guidelines for submissions”. Do stick by these if you possibly can.. They are there for a reason. If they state up front that they only accept proposals through an agent, don’t expect them to make an exception for you. If they say: don’t send it by email; then don’t.

3. Thou shalt not tell the publisher why they should publish you.
It’s an editor’s job to figure out whether this MS is suitable for their list, whether it will sell, and why: not yours! Editors are invariably turned off by authors going for the hard-sell: eg “I am sending you the gist of my most valuable work. I am sure it will excite you and you would react positively.” Also be realistic about your target readership — “It will appeal to young ones and senior citizens” cutteth zero ice.

4. In your covering letter, never resort to LARGE FONTS, underlining, exclamation marks, bold, or coloured type.
This smacks of a kind of lapel-tugging desperation on your part — not good — and also the suspicion that you think the editor has the deductive powers of a three year old, who needs Bright colours and Loud sounds to hold his/her attention. Is this really who you want to be editing your precious prose?

5. Thou shalt make sure thy covering letter is not full of typos!
Scan and rescan and print out on paper and then get someone else to read through your covering letter before you send it off. There is nothing more off-putting than having an author make spelling and grammatical mistakes in his/her initial approach – does not encourage an editor to read on.

6. Thou shalt judiciously exploit personal contacts.
“X suggested I contact you.” “We met at Y launch”. “I heard you speak at Z conference” – anything that helps the editor feel that there is some kind of personal connect will help your MS stand out from the crowd.

7. Chose your fonts with care.
Go for safe fonts: Courier, Times, Garamond, Times New Roman. Don’t feel that you need to have ‘designed’ your page before sending them in. In fact, that may backfire: if you’ve got illustrations that the editor hates or have laid out a page in a way that just doesn’t go with their style, it makes it that much harder for the editor to see past the flummery to the “meat” i.e. your words!

8. Attach attachments.
Double check when you say you’re attaching an attachment that you actually do! And make sure it’s in as bog-standard a format as you can think of: MS Word almost always. 1.5 or double-line spaced.

9. Tell them who you are.
Always helpful to have a bit of biodata about the author — where you’re based, age, profession, what else you’ve written or done. But keep it relevant, and keep it short.

10. Thou shalt take ‘No’ for an answer
If you’ve been rejected by one publisher, go kick the door, or the dog, put on some loud rock, pour yourself a stiff whisky, cry, wail or otherwise get it out of your system. Then find someone else to reject you again. Do NOT argue with a ‘reject’ letter. Everyone knows they are full of platitudes like “not quite right for our list at the present time” — do not write back and say, oh, that’s ok I can wait, what about next week/month/year?
There’s no reason why you can approach the same person/publisher with another story another poem another time, but asking for a re-trial is a big no-no.

....

And finally, comments from some of the participants.

Monica Mody:
Thank you, you guys, for organizing this fabulous workshop! I enjoyed Prof Shivaprakash's session even though I wish there were more interactive, poet-friendly elements in it. And sorry I couldn't stay for the entire editing session.

Nupur Maskara:
Yes, it was fun to attend. Thank you for organising it, it was a great way to remember your friend and what she stands for. I have put up the kehmukarni I wrote at the workshop on my blog.
The pics are great!
looking forward to the next session.

Gopika Nath:
I really enjoyed the workshop. Professor Shivaprakash was really very interesting and enlighteneing and opened new windows of interest. In fact I have recently picked up a book by Ramanujan on Vacanas! Urvashi and Anita were useful in terms of the exercisesthey made us do. I would have skipped some of the points Anita made re what one should or shouldn't do, which mostly called upon good ole common sense. Some of the comments/suggestions presented a& very personal, even prejudiced view, rather than one that could be seen as universally appplicable advice. There were times when I felt that for every negative idea she presented, I could already hear someone I had read/heard etc, contradict this, in my head. But that was really a very minor point.
A workshop in memory of someone who has contributed significantly to the field of writing and publishing is a great idea. However, it would be appropriate to list these contributions during the introduction. I, did not know Shakti, nor her work and really would have liked to know more than what the young girl talked of. I could not make much sense of her "being a huge person" and that ilk.
Thank you for all your efforts towards organzing this and hope that we shall have more in the future.

Venita Coelho:
I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. Thanks to you guys for putting it together.
Just one suggestion. You might want to start earlier next time. It's not very fair to people of the caliber of Urvashi and Anita to have people leave mid workshop. Perhaps an all day affair next time with a break for lunch?

Preeta Priyamvada:
It was great to be at the workshop. I did find it useful, but I had to leave early and could not sit through the entire second session - the one i was more interested in. The invite mentioned the editorial workshop would be the first one and I had planned accordingly. Anyway, I do look forward to more of such workshops. Can we have one on hindi literature too - giving an overview - history + brief information about the different genres?

Michael Creighton:
Yes, it was a good afternoon. And I did think Anita's ten commandments were helpful. Thou shalt drop names! Why not?
For what it's worth, here's my keh-mukarni, written that day.

I lick wet, salty, spicy skin;
I bite, I suck, I sigh, then grin.
Who gives so gives so good, I wanna hollah?
My wife? No, friend, the Bhutta wallah!

....

If you were at the workshop, please feel free to add your impressions and/or feedback as comments. Those of you who attempted keh-mukarnis, please post them in the comments, or email me.

P.S. There are photographs taken at the workshop posted in a Facebook album.

50 Poets 50 Poems

2007-10-24T17:52:00.001+05:30

50 Poets 50 Poems, published by Open Space, draws from the contents of the website Talking Poetry edited by Priya Sarukkai Chabria.

Open Space, a civil society outreach program, encourages discussion, debate and action on social justice, sustainable development and human rights issues. It is an initiative of the Centre for Communication and Development Studies.

Open Spaces: 50 Poems 50 Poets has been made possible as the contributing poets have each 'donated-a poem' to the anthology. It is an effort that reflects faith in poetry and its readership to keep alive this art that adds to our larger cultural life and our sense of multiple identities. This anthology hopes to focus on the diverse voices speaking from different cultures that enrich our lives.

Who will you see in the book? Here you go. (And apologies for any errors; this list was typed up independently, not copy-pasted.)

The Old Debate of Don Quixote vs Sancho Panza – Priscila Uppal
The Waiters – Adil Jussawala
Lines on Water – Sridala Swami
A River – Bina Sarcar
Ultima Multis: The Last Day for Many – Stephanoes Stephanides
Still Life, Basque Country – Aman Nath
For Children in Wartime – Alamgir Hashmi
Mawlai – Anjum Hassan
Tale of the Young Bride – Anju Makhija
Sat by a Poem – A J Thomas
Lost Etymologies – Arka Mukhopadhyay
Because – C P Surendran
A Pearl within an Oyster – Deepa Agarwal
Study of a Vase – Deepankar Khiwani
Of Sea and Mountain – Gieve Patel
This was Nattu – G J V Prasad
My Lover is Like the Sea – Jane Bhandari
Monologue of the Silverfish – K Satchidanand
Round of the Seasons – Keki Daruwala
Martyr – Jalal Malashah (translated by Omid Varzandeh)
Psalm: From Black Sea Sonnets – George Szirtes
Flight: 4: After the Empress Eifuku – Priya Sarukkai Chabria
Borges – A K Mehrotra
Ghazal – Nakul Krishna
Hummingword – Sampurna Chattarji
A Farewell Letter of Cherries (For Professor MB)– Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih
The Word: Selection from Echolocation – Mani Rao
Four Friends – Meena Alexander
Ass & Pandava – R Raj Rao
My Fat Aunt – Marilyn Noronha
During Breakfast – Ravi Shankar
Speaking a Dead Language – Ranjit Hoskote
Remember Icarus – Aditi Thorat
Jacket on a Chair – Sudeep Sen
Rangzen: Exile House – Tenzin Tsendue
Notes on Chris Hani's Funeral – Vivek Narayan
Diwali (Bundi, Rajasthan) – Barry Scott
Will You Let Me Write – Mythri Surendra
Life of the Imgination – Moeen Faruqi
The Inquisition – Santan Rodrigues
To Roethke – Anand Thakore
The House Next Door: for Phil Blosser – Saleem Peeradina
Stone-People from Lungertok – Temsula Ao
The Witness – Randhir Khare
To Baudelaire – Jeet Thayil
Rumi and the Reed – Taish Khair
From a Deep Dwelling – Steven Grieco
Sky Song – Mamang Dai
At the Rodin Museum – Tishani Doshi
Fire's Goal: For the Sage Sharabhanga – Laurie Patton

The book costs just fifty rupees. If you'd like a copy, please get in touch with Priya Sarukkai Chabria [surpriya34 AT gmail DOT com - you can tell her you got the address from me]. For those of you not in Pune, you may want to band together with other poetry lovers and make a consolidated order to save on postage. Caferati members in these cities, we suggest you get together with your city coordinators and pick up copies for the entire group.

I Can’t Figure Out Why Sathe Died

2007-10-20T23:40:00.000+05:30

Sathe worked in the Traffic Accounts department.

Last week I gave him a brochure to prepare.
He did a good job
And the neat pages were on my desk in a day,
Spiral-binding, figures, flags, all in place
And his featureless face
Hovering.
I thought of recommending his name
For a Railway Week award.
Good clerks are hard to come by.

Sathe usually ate lunch at the office,
His thin shoulder bones hunched up over his desk
Single-mindedly.
Maybe his wife was a good cook.
He definitely had a family.
I distinctly remember
Sanctioning an advance for a daughter’s wedding.

Sathe wore limp shirts of no colour
Yet perhaps his mind contained a palette.
I wouldn’t know
But it was possible.
Perhaps his wife wore blue to please him.
Perhaps he ached for the red soil of his village.
Perhaps he collected match-boxes.

Sathe’s death was in the local papers, on the ‘city’ page.
It didn’t cause much of a ripple.
Some people had killed some other people
And a few bystanders.
We held a Condolence Meeting.
I fast tracked the death-in-harness payments.

I can’t figure out, though, why Sathe died.

© Susmita Srivastava.

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation announces the inaugural 2008 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize

2007-09-22T17:27:00.000+05:30

Sept 27, 2007
7 PM
Charbagh, British Council

September 27 would have been the writer and editor Shakti Bhatt's 27th birthday. To celebrate the occasion, her friends will read from her work and remember her with poetry, short fiction, and music.

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation will announce the inaugural 2008 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize.

All are welcome.

==

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust set up by her family to keep her memory alive. It wishes to reward first-time authors of all ages.

THE SHAKTI BHATT FOUNDATION
announces the inaugural

2008 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is a cash award of one lakh rupees.

A 3-member panel of judges will shortlist entries. The 2008 panel of judges includes William Dalrymple and Kamila Shamsie.

We invite entries in the following genres: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography, biography, and narrative journalism) and drama.

Open to first-time authors of all ages.
The book must be published between June 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008.
Only books published in India are eligible.
Publications must be in English or translated into English from an Indian language.
Vanity press publications are ineligible.

Deadline for entries is July 15, 2008.

Jeet will be happy to answer specific questions.

If you would like the mailing address of the foundation, to send in your book, or if you have queries for Jeet, please leave a comment with your email address here.

The Kural

2007-09-19T19:09:00.000+05:30

There is a form of poetry called the kural in Tamil. It is best known by the classic Thirukural, a book of 1330 kurals written by Valluvar in the 1st century BC. A kural is a poem of seven words, four in the first line and three in the second, and addresses a wide variety of subjects. The first (and most famous) kural is

"Agara mudala ezhuthellam adhi
bagavan mudatrae ulagu."

A-kara (the letter a) is the first of all writing
God is the first of all being.

One feature peculiar to Tamil compared to English is that two words can be merged into one, while they must be hyphenated in English, whicha allows the seven-word rule to be applied rigidly.

Here's a link for more information.

In reply, David Israel said

The Wikipedia item about the Kural points, in turn, to Venpa for a discussion of the metrical form used by the Kural.

It is explained to be this sequence—
cheer cheer cheer cheer
cheer cheer eetru-cheer
mdash;where "cheer" is explained to be roughtly equivalent (in effect) to the English iamb. My question: what is the eetru cheer roughly equivalent to, in terms of English prosody? Also, besides just the metrical verse form, what should one know about the formal grammar of the sentence?

Establishing that, it could be possible to attempt writing
something like an English Kural, maybe. :-)

Ozymandias replied:

The kural is a form of venpa poetry, consisting of 1 and 3/4th feet. Venpa can go upto 11 and 3/4th feet.

The basic Tamil poetic unit is the asai, which can be can be monosyllabic (ner) or bisyllabic (nirai). 1-4 asais make a cheer, though 4-asai cheers are not used in venpa poetry.

Four cheers make a foot or 'adi', which is the line of the poem. A a venpa poem is one where the last line is just 3/4th foot (eetr-adi). An eetru-cheer is a truncated cheer.

1-asai cheers: These can only occur in the end, and that too they must be either a naal (1 long vowel) or a malar (2 short vowels).

2-asai cheers: 4 types are possible (nerner, nernirai, nirainer, nirainirai) and all are allowed except in the last cheer. The last cheer (which is truncated) must be either naal-short (long-short) or malar-short (short-short-short).

3-asai cheers: Though 8 types of asai combinations are possible, only the nirai-X-ner cheer and ner-X-nirai cheer are allowed. Both long and short vowel ners and nirais are allowed.

Three rules govern the assembly of cheers:

a)X-ner must be followed by nirai-X or nirai-X-ner.
b)X-nirai must be followed by ner-X or ner-X-nirai.
c)nirai-X-ner must be followed by ner-X or ner-X-nirai.

I hope with these rules once can make up an English venpa quite easily.

© Ozymandias.

The Keh-Mukarni

2007-09-19T14:07:00.000+05:30

The "Say-and-Deny" Riddles of Khusrau

Keh (say) Mukarni (denial) is an interesting genre of riddles played between two young women, where one of them describes something in a way that it is mistaken by the other girl as a reference to the first girl's beloved, but which finally turns out to be something completely different.

Here are a couple of examples from Amir Khusrau himself.

Lipat lipat kay wa-kay soyee,
Chhaati say chhaati lagakay royee,
Daant say daant bajay to taada.
Aye sakhi saajan? Na sakhi jaada!

(Cuddled up in his arms she slept,
Bosoms pressed against each other, she sobbed,
When the teeth started clattering, she saw.
Was it the beloved? No my dear. Winter!)

Oonchi ataari palang bichhayo,
Main soyi meray sir par aayo;
Khul gayin ankhiyan bhayi anand,
Aye sakhi saajan? Na sakhi Chand!

(Had my bed on the roof top,
and was off to sleep, when he came;
Could not sleep any further, it was such a pleasure.
Was it the beloved? No dear, it was the moon!)

© Manjul Bajaj.

Manjul Bajaj's "Modern Day Keh Mukranis."
David Raphael Israel's Keh Mukarni thread (open to contributions from other writers).

The Anthadi

2007-09-19T13:56:00.001+05:30

As the name suggests (Antha- End, Adi- Beginning), the last word of the first verse forms the first word of the second.

An example is a famous poem in Tamil composed of 100 verses, Abirami Anthadi, dedicated to the goddess Abirami, the deity in the southern temple of Thiru Kadayoor in Tamilnadu.

Found a translation of the verses in a site (as usual, something is lost in translation, but it suffices as an example):

First two verses:

1
She who has the reddish sun as a tilaka,
She who is the red gem for those who understand her and worship,
She who is like the tender bud of pomegranate,
She who is the first ray of lightning,
She who is the reddish liquid made of saffron,
She who is like the Lakshmi sitting on red lotus,
She only is my life�s all help.

2
Help thine is needed from thee,
Oh, most beautiful one in the three cities,
Who has the cool flowers as her arrows,
Who uses the sweet cane for her bow,
And who has the rope and the ankusha in her hand,
To know that you are in the Vedas,
And in its different branches,
And as holy drops in Upanishads,
And as Pranava in its roots,.
And Oh mother, make me realize.

The same form of the word need not be used; as in if "help" is the last word in the first verse, "helped" can be the first word in the next. This serves to give some latitude for composition.

The last word of the last verse, will be the first word of the first, completing the entire cycle.

There are other Anthadis, dedicated to other gods will try to find those examples too.

Someday, a medium would be found, where we can translate everything, the beauty, the piety without losing those essential qualities. Till then...

Link to Sridala's anthadi.

© Sruthi Krishnan.

The Ghazal

2007-09-17T07:40:00.001+05:30

What is a ghazal?

For the uninitiated (like me, so forgive me, oh scholarly ones, if I mess up any of this explanation), here are the basics.

• A short poem of between five and fifteen couplets in the same metre.

• Always opens with a rhyming couplet called matla. The opening couplet of the ghazal is always representative. It sets the mood and tone.

• The rhyme of the opening couplet is repeated in the second line of the other verses. So, the rhyming pattern is AA, BA, CA, DA, and so on. But it's not that simple.

• The entire ghazal uses the same rhyme and refrain. The rhyme (called the qaafiyaa) must always immediately precede the refrain (or radif). The refrain may be a word or phrase.

• Each couplet is a unit which can stand on its own, as a sher in its own right.

• There can be no enjambement across the couplets in a strict ghazal; each couplet must be a complete sentence (or several sentences) in itself.

• In the maqta, which is the last sher of a ghazal, the poet's takhallus, or pen name, traditionally appears, often in very creative ways.

This is what a ghazal looks like:

Couplet one:

------------------------------ rhyme A (Qaafiyaa)+ refrain (Radif)
------------------------------ rhyme A (Qaafiyaa)+ refrain (Radif)

Couplet Two, Three, & so on:

---------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------ rhyme A (Qaafiyaa)+ refrain (Radif)

References and further reading (Some of these did not appear in the original post)

(Thanks Annie, who suggested this exercise, and provided the first three links.)

What is a Ghazal? by Abhay Avachat

Elements of a Ghazal, in Urdu Poetry Archive

Urdu Ghazal: an introduction, by K C Kanda in Urdu Poetry Archive

Agha Shahid Ali (1949-2001 a Kashmiri-American poet who wrote original ghazals in English, and translated Faiz Ahmed Faiz)

Basic Points about the Ghazal, by Agha Shahid Ali

The Wikipedia Ghazal page

Jeet Thayil's Ghazal in Salt Magazine.

That Bastard Ghazal, by Andy Weaver, in Poetics.ca

The Ghazal: An Inevitable Unity, by Jenny Burdge in Trilopia

The link to the original post, below, will take you to a Ghazal exercise on the forum.

Coming soon: the Caferati blog, Version 2

2007-09-13T01:51:00.000+05:30

As some of you—very few, alas—have noticed, we have temporarily closed the Caferati blog.

Why? Well, we found that some posts on the blog had never appeared on the forum. It seemed to us like some members were now completely ignoring the forum that is this blog's home. Many others hadn't posted for over a year. And we think that some of what was posted is really rather far from being the best of Caferati.

So we did a rethink.

The blog will soon reopen in a new avataar, one that will bring back its initial focus, to be a Caferati showcase to the world. The moderators, with a selected team of curators/editors* ~~(which we will announce soon)~~, will select what we think is the best writing from the forum and post those to the blog. (The posting page on the forum has been changed to notify all members about this.)

In other words, the only writing that will appear on the blog from now on will be writing that has been selected and voted for by the curating team.

Of course, since many of the original members were invited to the blog because we liked their writing, we're sure you will continue to read work by some of your favourites.

Thanks

Peter (and also for Annie and Manisha)

Update:

Meet the new curators of this blog:
Ashwini Ailawadi
Rohinton Daruwala
Peter Griffin
Priyanka Joseph
Manisha Lakhe
Sridala Swami
Anita Vasudeva
Annie Zaidi

Posting will start soon.

Closed

2007-08-28T17:47:00.000+05:30

This blog is closed. Perhaps temporarily. Perhaps not.

The Stench of Death

2007-08-28T06:45:00.000+05:30

What use is love for those whose hands stink of death?
What meaning does humanity hold for
those laughing through tears?

Where were the answers printed in gold?
Where were the guardians of hope on a day
when blood splattered faces spoke of a
madness that came home to roost?

We will shed two tears, perhaps burn a candle or three.
But who will wash the crimson smears off our common spaces?
Who will awaken our sleeping senses?

Stainless steel plates and plain blue chairs try
to shield a private sadness from prying public eyes.
Are you watching? Go ahead, step over crumpled
bodies, skewered limbs and satisfy your blood lust.

An eye for an eye you want in the vain hope that
you can sleep better and dream of a world
where only the righteous punish the sinners.

These rivers of dark blood smear our foreheads
and drip from hands clenched in fury.
But who will spare a thought for those whose
stories stopped with a phone call?

(Cross posted here)

A Gift

2007-08-18T08:46:00.001+05:30

If I were to give something to you,
What would you like to have?

Shall I give you gold?
You can make – bangles, rings, anklets.
You may then win over your beloved
And make her yours.
You shall enjoy bliss, perhaps.
But gold is robbed.

Shall I give you iron?
You can forge – hammers, axes, chains.
You may then resist the conquistadores
And interrupt their designs.
You shall be free, perhaps.
But iron rusts.

Shall I give you stones?
You can build – temples, forts, palaces.
You may fear not rain or summer heat.
And be secure in their shelter.
You shall have peace, perhaps.
But edifices ruin.

Shall I give you friends?
We can form – alliances, parties, relations.
We shall have wine and dance and songs
And be mirthful.
You shall have joy, perhaps.
But friends die.

I shall not give you any of these.
I shall give you the one gift I have.

I shall give you words.
You can tell - stories, poems, truths.
You can tell me what you think
About love and peace and freedom and joy.
Your songs will be sung forever.
Your words will never perish.

not now, darling!

2007-08-17T22:03:00.000+05:30

it’s not convenient that you die now,
do you understand?
you haven’t noticed but we’ve had wars.
friends divided over loyalties to henry and rose,
who fought bitterly over cds and books
and unused kishko cutlery sets,
but were happy to see sarah go in the spca van
dilip was finally incarcerated for hitting jane,
but only because we intervened,
and stayed night after sleepless night in vigil
at her side, trying to get the blood stains off the love seat,
playing U2 and Nirvana to drown dilip's rage
as he hurled the garden gnomes at the oak,
howling outside, high on jealousy.
sammy lost an eye battling brush fire
and then lost his job, and we’ve all taken turns
taking care of bobby and sonya,
while he’s stood the dole queues
hoping nobody would notice him.
my days are numb from carrying trays
of six-egg omelets and gravy,
the night shifts have left me not a single minute to think
about broken nails and straw hair and coffee gone cold.

tina told us about the rejection letter and your drunken binge
that has lasted three months and how the doctor was surprised
to see your tequila riddled pancreas still working.
so don’t tell me you are dying now,
dying, giving up the ghost, kicking the bucket
because your muse has been unkind to you.
i have exhausted empathy, have no words of comfort,
am tired to the bone and quite empty of tears.
and white, my dear, has never been my color.

The Impotence of Proofreading - by Taylor Mali

2007-08-02T00:54:00.000+05:30

Hilarious. And a great learning for the perfomance poets among ye. Even though I do think he hams it a bit too much at one of two points.

Via Annie.

Is This What We Have Come to?

2007-07-30T18:59:00.000+05:30

It’s raining black rivers from the skies tonight,
Incessant angry rivers of our sorrows,
We shiver, cold and wet like drowning rats,
In our warren holes, cracks, and burrows.

Is this what we have come to?
Then how far is it to perdition?

Around us the rhythmic Bollywood dancers,
Shake their legs; thrust their hips in motion,
We are like amorous dogs baying in the night,
For a touch of the idols we see on television.

Is this what we have come to?
Then how far is it to perdition?

Why do we live in constant, unfounded fears,
Of credit we have used, and loans unpaid,
To buy the follies that rot at home from disuse,
When Warren Buffet lives in a two-bedroom pad?

Is this what we have come to?
Then how far is it to perdition?

Have we broken our errant promises,
To our brothers who till the soil, grow grains,
Not to decimate forests and mine the hills,
So they don’t twist and turn nightly, for rains?

Is this what we have come to?
Then how far is it to perdition?

Instead we celebrate our borrowed money,
Indulging ring tones and crass downloads on the net,
Then we huddle and cry when the skies open up,
And nature weeps the black rain of regret.

Is this what we have come to?
Then how far is it to perdition?

The Platform

2007-07-16T16:20:00.001+05:30

On the platform the hiss of steel,
Is like hiss of snake; the clang of wheels,
It’s the 8.30 a.m. local arriving,
And, the 8.31 a.m. local departing.

Travelers, their faces expectant,
Thoughts of home and contentment,
Faces staring at the far horizon,
For trains to arrive to their destination.

The announcer’s trained voice,
Impersonal in its insouciance,
There are voices humming,
Insistent shouts and hurried running.

Tired-, haggard-looking men,
And sweet-, spent-looking women,
They walk, shuffle legs, and shift,
Churning; regimented mass of three shifts.

The bhel-puri is tangy and sweet,
Mixed with the vendor’s own sweat,
Eat we must, spit, and drink,
Of civic sense, we must not think.

Births, this platform has seen,
Deaths, when the lights turn green,
As bogeys trundle in in the night,
There are many a curse and a fight.

There are aimless people here,
Embarking, disembarking to nowhere,
The weak lights cast shadows everywhere,
The neon light’s glow is so bizarre.

Some faces tragic, some faces sad,
Some are bored, some are mad,
Some long to rest their weary heads,
On the soft comfort of their beds.

The platform is now empty,
And, now, full of girls pretty,
Their talk and walk fills one with hope,
But, age has caught up, you dope.

The stoic platform in the early dawn,
Look, how it reposes in the sunny morn,
It bakes in the relentless heat of noon,
And, at night it sleeps in the glow of moon.

J

-----------------
I work very close to a railway station, in fact, I can stare right into a platform from my office. So, I have been working on this poem and hope it works for you.

Aubade

2007-06-13T12:33:00.000+05:30

The clouds hang in the sunless sky like fluffy pink pillows.
The air is still between us. I smell you between the smells
of growing grass and blooming azaleas. You are curled up
holding my hand between yours. You can feel my little finger
travel slowly along your stomach. Textures are teased out in
an exploration of tender territory. I lean forward and run my
tongue along the back of your neck, through gleaming hair
and salty skin. The still air between us suffers, squeezed
between shivering bodies. Your leg slowly slides along mine,
miming a language in movement. I let the light of dawn flow
across your freckled forehead and pool in your opening eyes.
I wait for the breathless breeze to surround us and then blow
through your hair. I bend over and touch your lips, soft like sin
and flecked with spots of red teeth marks. I close the gap with
my lips and lazy light struggles to escape their locked confines.
The careless cries of birds wash over our aroused senses. We
sink into seconds and stretch them along our sinuous spines.

Silently, dawn parts from us like a jilted lover. The yellow overseer
is riding in on her familiar coattails. The brittle business of another
day awaits his grim golden gaze. You leave too as morning moves
her mundane face on us. Fie! A perpetual interrupter of intimate
auroral moments is here yet again to erase the early spoils.

(First posted here)

sweorcan

2007-06-13T11:23:00.000+05:30

i fear the molten light
that cuts the embrace
of my darkness

somebody, somebody please
inform the sun to stop staring
and to the moonbeam to keep off
keep off my wavering mind

i fear the molten light
that cuts the embrace
of my darkness

tell that sun again, please
to warm not my heart
and to the moonbeam
that binds my being

let me be

let me be in
the shadows
of my eclipsed love
of the silence

i fear the molten light
that cuts the embrace
of my darkness

* sweorcan, anglo-saxon verb, meaning "to grow dark."

(c) arjun chandramohan bali. 2007

On Poetry

2007-06-13T06:44:00.000+05:30

Dangerous Poetry - video of a stand-up routine.

Poetry, life full of surprises for Billy Collins (an interview with Richard Anderson)
Excerpt:

All children, I think, write something that, for lack of a better word, is poetry … It’s really impossible to get out of the emotional turmoil of high school without, for better or worse, recording something that, again, by default if for no other reason, you might call a poem. …
Someone said you don’t need to have an uphappy childhood to be a writer, you just need to have gone through adolescence … . But most people stop, just as most people stop drawing and stop playing music and stop dancing and doing a lot of things that they did as children. I think poets are just people who never wanted to stop playing with language.

To save America - Fifty years ago this week, a bookshop assistant was arrested for 'peddling' obscene literature - the banned work was Allen Ginsberg's Howl. James Campbell on the poem that defined a generation.

A set of photos and an essay by Gordon Ball, about Ginsberg and friends.

Publishing 2.0, anyone?

2007-06-13T02:35:00.000+05:30

Interesting moves in publishing. Or are they gimmicks?

Reuters reports on Tough sell for writers at NY literary "speed-dating" (by Claudia Parsons):

If you think speed-dating is tough, try selling your book to an editor in three minutes.
That's what hundreds of aspiring authors were doing this week at a New York trade fair, and the odds were against them.

And in the New York Times, in Publisher to Let the Public Have a Vote on Book Projects, Motoko Rich covers another interesting concept from a site called Media Predict, which is..

..soliciting book proposals from agents and the public, and posting pages of them on the site. Traders, who are given $5,000 in fantasy cash, can buy shares based on their guess about whether a particular book proposal is likely to get a deal, or whether Touchstone Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, will select it as a finalist in a contest called Project Publish. If either happens within a four-month period, the value of the shares go to $100 apiece; if not, the share price falls to zero.

What's your call?

Shalimar the Clown - Salman Rushdie - Book Review

2007-06-09T21:16:00.001+05:30

We are all familiar with the sad, sad story of Kashmir. In fact, let’s shed a collective tear for this beautiful land, that hasn’t seen a semblance of peace in the past many years. Paradise, it has been, still is, but no longer a haven of peace. There is the rumble of armoured vehicles, bombs, mines and bullets shot from the most modern killing weapons as proof. Death haunts the valley. It takes the power of Salman Rushdie’s pen to script a story of the rape of this land and the disillusionment of its people in the face of unending terror.

Rushdie writes a masterpiece of literary skill and an epic-proportion chronicle of all that has gone wrong with the state in which the spectre of terrorism has arisen. His prose brings the struggle between the protectors and the oppressed with such felicity that one is, truth be told, left dazed and amazed.

But that is not the Kashmir Shalimar the clown was born into. It was the Kashmir where the Muslim Bhand Pather performers and the Hindu wazza were friends and gently ribbed each other in the halcyon days of yore. Shalimar, the clowning member of the Bhand Pathers performing group is in love with Boonyi Kaul, daughter of the village wazza, or, head chef, who can cook up delicious Kashmiri meals, minimum thirty-six finger-licking delicacies.

Tragically Shalimar and Boonyi marry, and thereby begin their trials.

Panchigam, or, village of birds - where Rushdie’s novel is set - is heaven personified before terrorist insurgency and the army turn it into a virtual hell. Bhand Pathers do their acts which include “magic real” acts and tight rope walking by the clown – Shalimar. It is the place where the local Hindu – Pandit Pyarelal Kaul makes excellent cuisines with 36 dishes minimum to feed his friends that include his friend Abdullah Noman, the village chief and Shalimar’s father. All’s well in the small Kashmiri village and its inhabitants.

Into the valley comes a Rajput General Kachchwaha, the tortoise, who as representative of the Indian army is there to protect the inhabitants against militants personified by the Gegroo brothers who, goaded by the extremists across the border, become terrorists.

The army isn’t the bunch of angels they are presumed to be in this once peaceful paradise. That we know. Headed by a ruthless man, who remains a bachelor all his life, it is ruthless when it comes to putting down rebellion. There is no softness or mercy in their training manuals, and once unleashed their passions are immitigable.

General Kachchwaha instead of protecting the villagers turns his men into an evil force and unleashes a reign of terror only matched by the Gegroo brothers’ evil deeds. Who is the protector, who is the purveyor of terror, the line is thin, the division is indistinct.

Rushdie begins with Ambassador Max Ophuls’ death and then weaves a pastoral memory of Kashmir and develops a plot thicker than Swiss cheese. Yes, it has all the hallmark of the Rushdie genius, be it in the description of the French Resistance whence the “Grey Rat” rules the internecine labyrinths, or, the tragic life of the clown whose love life is doomed from the beginning. Yes, revenge is sweet, seems to be the major theme of the novel and it’s played out beautifully in the revenge of Shalimar and that of the shamed inhabitants of Panchigam.

Particularly noteworthy are the passages where the step father and step daughter: one a hardened terrorist and the other an athletic American youngster, are involved in a cat and mouse chase and a telepathic battle of wits across America. Some of the “magic realism” such as the clown walking away into thin air from across the prison, and the situation inside the US prison are well handled. Obviously, as with his previous novels, a lot of research has gone into the writing of this book.

Moreover, the novel is not only about unrequited love but also about the friendship of the Noman and Kaul families that is disrupted by terror. Kashmir even “Kashmiriyat” will never be the same again. Reading the novel one questions the very banality of using terror to bring social justice or even to bring about political settlement. The whole exercise seems futile; the very foundation on which the use of terror is built seems shaky. Hope someone sees sense in this message that the novel sends out.

It’s a sad novel in the sense of utter hopelessness of its characters. While Shalimar is tragedy personified Boonyi, the Kashmiri beauty, is even more so by her exploitation by the prurient US ambassador. Rushdie usually bases his characters and story on true incidents. This reviewer wonders on which story he based Boonyi’s ill-fated affair with a powerful US ambassador. Midnight’s Children was based in part on the famous Nanavati murder case, which occurred in Bombay. Old-timers would recollect how it shook the placid exterior of Bombay society in the fifties.

This reviewer wishes to draw here some parallels between Kashmir and Kalimpong as portrayed in the novels of Rushdie and Kiran Desai. These are places that are going through the same genre of problems. On the one hand there are ill-informed young cadres of terrorists trained by their harsh masters and on the other the mighty arm of the law that is sent to control them or to wipe them out using the force of guns.

The people, such as you and me, caught in the middle of this tussle bears the brunt of this tug of war, as is ably described by Rushdie in this novel, and by Desai in The Inheritance of Loss. This is the stuff we have heard happening in banana republics of less developed countries. Is this where we are headed? Is this the reality behind the empty rhetoric our leaders have foisted on us in the name of democracy?

Would definitely recommend the novel if only to know the reality of Kashmir, the customs of its people, and its myriad problems. After all the truth of Kashmir concerns us all, however insulated we may be.

The First Rain Saudade

2007-06-07T10:13:00.001+05:30

First Rain Saudade

The first showers fall,
Syncopated percussions,
Like memory of first love.

It wets eyelids,
Brings out a drawn sibilant breath.
The rain paints sky with a gray brush,
Satiates the earth,
Slakes desire, like an absent lover’s kiss.

Slowly memory unravels,
Oh! How the nymphs came and went,
Spilling the air
With moist yearning.
Isn’t love
The desire of something one can’t have?

The upended trees, buildings,
Reflected in recent clouds,
And the skin erupting with goose bumps,
The wetness clinging,
As memory to soul:
A feeling of saudade.

She went away,
Forsaking love,
The memory lingers,
As first showers.
The smell of wet earth,
Brings back her musky spoor,
Wish she were here,
To hug and to hold.

The clouds make love to thunder,
The skies pour forth anguish,
It would be enough,
To know that somewhere in the world,
She is alive,
And watching a similar rain.

The first showers fall,
Syncopated percussions,
Like the memory of first love.

J

------------------------------

Saudade, according to wikipedia (http://wikipedia.com) is a Portuguese word for a feeling of longing for something that one is fond of, which is gone, but might return in a distant future. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return. (Thanks “?!” for introducing me to the word.)

The Girl Who Fell in Love with Shahrukh Khan

2007-06-05T23:02:00.001+05:30

“Ha Chokri tho nathi sudharvani che!” Baa says in Gujarati from the kitchen, in between flattening dhokla with a wooden roller. This girl will never improve, never!
“Look here, Bapu, father of my daughters, Cricket or Shahrukh Khan movies; she will go mad, and drive us mad one day.”
“Leave her alone,” is all what Bapu would say.
Parul is seated on the doorstep of their modest house in Ghatkopar in a lowly housing complex listening to the radio which is playing the song “Badi Mushkil Hai,” from Anjam. She likes Anjam in which Shahrukh Khan leaps over cars to flirt with Madhuri Dixit. She likes the song particularly because of her favourite star: his raw energy, the twinkling of his eyes, his dimpled cheeks, his full lips, “Oh, what a man, hai, hai!” she exclaims.
She watches all his movies, wheedling compact discs from friends to watch them on her friend Pallavi’s compact disc player. Her father can’t afford discs or players, he is too poor. She fancies him playing negative roles that none of the others stars would touch: serial killers, and characters veering towards the dark side of life.
“I am fond of him because he has unconventional looks, he isn’t tall and strikingly handsome, is good-looking in a homely way, which adds to his charm,” she tells Pallavi.
“But aren’t you aiming too high, dear girl?” Pallavi taunts.
“Doesn’t matter I know he is made for me. If not in this life, in the next,” Parul says. She believes in Karma and rebirth.
“He is such a super star and you….” Pallavi doesn’t complete the sentence and Parul knows what she means. She has acne on her face, and she is fat.
“She is in love with a star,” her elder sister Purvi teases.
“Why are you troubling my girl so much,” Bapu says between reading the newspaper. He is a writer and a dreamer that is when he is not teaching in a nearby school.
“But what if she fails in her final B.A. exams? You will responsible,” Baa accuses Bapu.
But Parul Kapadia keeps dreaming of Shahrukh. How his hair falls over his eyes, how his cheeks dimple into those deep crags of the flesh, how shapely and attractive his lips are.
Oh! How she wishes she could meet him once!
*********
Then along comes Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, hosted by Sharukh Khan. Parul knows this is her chance. She sits beside the phone and dials the contest number, for hours. Her fingers ache. But she knows she can, at least, be in a room with him, even if she doesn’t get to the “Hot Seat.”
Her mind is a whirl with the hum of the telephone’s recorded messages repeating in her mind. She imagines Shahrukh talking to her in her sleep, his lips forming the words like magic. She imagines talking to him when going to college, when in class, and when she is at home listening to the music of his movies.
She wants to win the KBC quiz contest and take Bapu and Baa and Purvi out of the miserable housing complex they live in. She wants to see her father, Bapu, happy.
“Soo thaye gayo? What’s wrong with you people? She has a dream, that’s all.” Bapu would scold Baa and Parul. Baa is old-fashioned and superstitious, both her daughters know, but on this she has Purvi’s support.
“If she goes and does something unusual, then don’t blame me,” Baa warns.
Parul knows Baapu like Baa doesn’t entirely believe in her and thinks this is a passing phase, something all girls go through. But she knows he believes in the power of dreams, how dreams are made of the substance of the mind. It is the force of the mind that makes her dream and, if she strongly believes in her dream, her mind can achieve anything.
*********
Unusual is what Parul does. She skips meals and sits for hours holding the telephone in her lap, dialling.
“Did you get through, son?” Bapu would ask from his easy chair in the small verandah of their house. Since he doesn’t have a son he calls Parul “son” considering her the son he couldn’t have.
“No, Bapu, not this time. But, next time when the phone lines open I surely will,” she says, rubbing her bleary eyes.
“Son, why are you doing this? See how angry Baa and Purvi are. We aren’t getting any phone calls because you dominate the phones so much.”
“They don’t understand. They just don’t understand me, or, what my heart says. Shahrukh is a really nice man and I have a feeling I will meet him, talk to him.”
Bapu looks at her earnest face, her misty eyes, her chubby cheeks and his heart melts for her.
“Do whatever is right, son. I will support you, I am with you.”
************
Then it happened, without warning. It marked the end of all her expectations and the beginning of all her fascinating dream, now slowly coming true. When she is selected to appear in KBC quiz contest; she dances all over the house, teasing Baa and Purvi.
Two nights ago she had dialled the phone numbers till her fingers had grown numb and her sleep-deprived brain had become blank. “Next one, next one…” she had kept goading herself. She knew no telephone line could be engaged for ever. Then she got a recorded message with a simple question to which she gave the right answer.
And so things begin to happen! She receives a letter from the KBC organizers with the dates and details of when and where she has to appear for the show.
“Don’t worry, you will never get past the first round,” Purvi says.
“Yes I will, I will tell Shahrukh to blow you a kiss,” Parul replies.
“That is if you first get through, no?”
“You wait and see,” Parul says.
“You lucky girl,” he friend Pallavi says. Pallavi is happy for her.
********
On the day of the quiz Bapu escorts Parul to the studio of KBC. She is amazed by how a television studio looks. The shooting is done during the day. She had imagined it would be done at night as it was broadcast daily at 9 p.m. A shooting takes hours of preparation. There are the studio hands, there are bright lights, there are people hurrying about shouting instructions. Then there is make-up, and all seem to pass in a whirl.
Then Shahrukh makes his appearance. He looks so relaxed and jovial; all nervousness disappears when she looks at him. Here is the man she truly loves, and the man of her dreams, now right before her. Her Shahrukh! She can reach out and touch him if she wants.
Then the opening round of “Fastest Fingers First” starts after the previous episode’s contestant withdraws after winning Rs 650,000.
“Arrange these films of Shahrukh Khan, that’s me (Oh! He dimples so sweetly!) in the ascending order in which they were released. Meaning starting from the earliest, arrange these films of mine in the order they were released,” his super-confident voice rings out.
Parul swallows hard. She can’t believe it! Luck is on her side. She has seen all his films, and knows the years in which they were released.
A. Darr B. Anjam C. Swades D. Mohobatein
Her fingers fly on the screen; she is done in a flash. BADC. Then a pause when she can hear her heart beat, her ears ring, and the music pauses for effect.
“The winner is Parul Kapadia, who answered in 3.02 seconds, congratulations Parul!” Shahrukh has called her by her name.
**********
It feels like a dream when Shahrukh hugs her. She walks to the hot seat as if she is in a dream. He wears a nice-looking suit that looks expensive and his face and skin are glowing as he looks at her. She is going to ask him to marry her, she is determined.
The first few questions, till she reaches Rs 20,000, are simple. She knows all the answers.
“From now on Parul the questions get a bit tough,” he says, “are you nervous?”
“Yes,” she mumbles.
“Main Hoon Na? I am there for you. Main Hoon Na is one of my films. Do you know that?”
“Yes.”
Then he reaches across and shakes hands with her. His hand is a little moist in hers.
“Shahrukh, I have a request,” she says, her voice tremulous. A silence falls over the audience.
“Tell me,” he says with all his usual earnestness.
“I want you to greet my father Bapu, who is here, my mother Kantaben Kapadia, my sister Purvi Kapadia, and my friend Pallavi.”
Shahrukh greets Bapu with a namaste. Then he turns his shining eyes towards the camera.
“Kantaben, Purvi and Pallavi, I hope you are watching this. Here’s lots of love and, muaaaaa,” he blows a kiss towards the camera.
A twitter passes through the audience.
“Shahrukh I want to ask you a question.”
“Yes, go ahead.” He looks slightly puzzled; one eyebrow shoots up effortlessly, eloquently, as she has seen in his movies.
“I know how much you love your wife Gauri, but I am in love with you, too. I want to marry you.”
The audience looks on, stunned. But the star doesn’t look ruffled and it seems as if he has met with such girls, with similar requests, that too, often.
“Yes, I will marry you,” he beams, his dimples cutting fissures down his cheeks.
“Y-y-y-yes?” she is ecstatic and couldn’t control her voice from breaking.
“Yes, not in this life, but in the next one.”
Her heart almost misses a beat. Her head throbs, drowning the audience’s laughter.
“That’s enough for me. I believe in Karma and after life. I will wait for you, Shahrukh, promise?”
“Promise.”
*********
That answer makes her happy, and she glows all over. Her mind works faster; even the answers come fast to her mind. For the Rs 1, 250,000-question she is asked:
Q: What did Galvin Corporation first manufacture under the brand name Motorola?
A. Battery Eliminator B. Walkie Talkie C. Cell Phone D. Car Radio.
She knows it’s a trick question. Motorola’s famous brand is Cell Phones, but they still manufacture all the other products. The question is what they manufactured first under the brand name. Cell phone is the obvious answer as Motorola is a popular brand. She answers “C.”
Shahrukh is playful now. Something tells her she is wrong. She has exhausted all her life lines.
“Shall I freeze “C”?” he asks.
“Yes,” she says seriously while the star, her love, tries to create tension with his trademark goofiness.
“No. I think it is “D” Car Radios,” she says. Epiphany has struck.
“Shall I freeze “D”?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, why did you change your mind? Parul, you were playing so well, you got all your answers right. I told you to be careful. I told you, if you gave the wrong answer you would lose a lot of money.”
Gone, all that money gone in a second! Parul is disappointed and angry with herself. She has acted stupidly and has lost a lot of money, and her dream of a better house for her family is never going to be a reality. The handle of the Hot Seat seems to slip from her grip. Her eyes can hardly meet his. Her throat feels as if furry creatures are clawing at it.
“However, if you had answered “C,” you would have been wrong; “D” is the right answer.”
Was she right?
“You win Rs 1,250,000. Congratulations!”
Yes, she is right!
The next question for Rs 2,500,000 is:
Which cricketer’s autobiography is titled: Beyond Ten Thousand – My Life Story?
A. Sunil Gavaskar B. Allan Border C. Steve Waugh D. Brian Lara
Parul is a cricket addict. She knows it is Allan Border who has written that book. But she hesitates.
“What importance does Rs 2,500,000 play in your life?” he asks flirtatiously.
“I want to take you with me on a Hawaiian holiday,” she says.
He pretends he is touched, places both palms over his heart and says, “Jaaneman, sweetheart, my loving wife in my next life, what is the answer?”
Oh, how her heart beats when she hears him call her “sweetheart.” How she would have liked to hug and cling to him for that. She is prepared to give all that she has won, to be his, only his. How her eyes betray her love for the man who sits opposite her, his eyes twinkling in the studio lights, his face a halo of charm, calm and friskiness.
But she has to help Bapu, Baa and Purvi. They need the money to move to a decent house away from the lowly housing complex in Ghatkopar.
“The answer is “B” Allan Border.”
“Congratulations Parul! “B” is the right answer. You have won Rs 2,500,000. Now you can take me on my Hawaiian holiday.”
The next question is tough and Parul is so excited, doesn’t remember what it is. She is ecstatic and in a frenzied state of mind. She says she would quit rather than take any risks.
As Sharukh Khan, the star, her love, envelopes her in a warm hug for the last time she is wondering, does he mean what he says? But she believes in Karma and the eternal chain of death and rebirth. She plans do a lot of good work with the money that she has won. Then when she is reborn he would be hers, in her next life.
As they exit the studio into another world Bapu looks at her and the cheque she is holding and says, “Son, the power of dreams. Didn’t I tell you to trust in the power of dreams?”

Review of "An Iron Harvest" by CP Surendran

2007-06-05T22:31:00.001+05:30

Poet and columnist CP Surendran's debut novel "An Iron Harvest" is a living chronicle of how an industrially backward state took a leap into radical ideology of the industrial era (communism) to find itself slowly enmeshed in a seemingly unending class struggle.

Communism has been a by-product of the industrial age of systematic production, streamlined marketing and shrewed people management and its failure is in most parts because of the eclipsing of the industrial age by the information age. The information age is another deal. Here people work as if no clocks exists. But still, communism continues to thrive and prosper in an industrially backward state, Kerala, and has fanatical adherents there who believe that revolution is possible and that workers of the world can rule countries. CP Surendran's novel depicts such a group of people who is bent on carrying on with the idea of revolution.

Kerala is the first state in the world to elect a communist government by a democratic voting process in 1959. Almost half a century later, it is today (in 2007) ruled by a communist government though all over the world communist governments have failed. Communist Russia and China have embraced market realities and its communal ideologies have been washed away by capitalism. But Kerala still adheres to Marx and his teachings of dialectic materialism. The exploited labour force still believe that only a communist revolution can redeem their plight, and have a stranglehold over industrial enterprises across the state.

It is in such a revolution that John, ersatz Che Guevera, protagonist of Surendran's novel fights for his ideology, and believes he can achieve with this associates. He along with his band of men are killing evil landlords, attacking police stations, terrorizing the ruling class to bring about a revolution (remember Crasto and Che Guevara took over Cuba with just eighty men, they had the backing of the people).

They call themselves "Red Earth" and this breakaway group of leftists is led by Varkeychayan, who is an erstwhile communist leader. John's comrades are a motley group who use sickles, matchets, and crude country-made rifles to achieve revolution. But in what sense? Could a revolution in one state of India transform into a mass movement to take over a country such as India which has world's second largest army to protect it? They achieve in some measure to spread terror among the landed classes and the ruling elite.

Ironically the epoch is the emergency days of Indira Gandhi and Kerala's home minister Marar has deputed commissioner Raman to hunt down the radical revolutionaries. Raman is a bachelor given to lascivious thoughts, masturbates copiously, presumably because sex is unavailable in conservative Kerala. But he is shown by the author as ruthless and powerful, despite his puny appearance.

Abey, an innocent student in John's college is picked up by the police for questioning. He dies in the police lock up at Raman's behest as a result of the police's highhanded interrogation methods. His father Sebanstian makes it life's mission to get justice for his dead son. He is helped in this mission by Nambiar, the Inspector General of police - a theatre aficionado, therefore an artist - who is at loggerheads with the ambitious Raman.

Surendran is at ease with his narration of the beautiful Kerala conuntryside, and its customs. What this author liked best about the book is that to a great extend Surendran has succeeded in capturing the Malayalis' aspirations, behavior and "mentality" with his words. All through the book a Malayali's innate cynicism, humour and wit is amply depicted.

The author's prose has poetic inclination right from the start. Examples: "The sky paled in slivers over the paddy fields and rivers and, in between them, the railway tracks bared themselves in the first light like bones of distance. A necklace of white birds flew past in the East." Who but a poet can write such elevating prose?

Raman's life and actions provide comic relief throughout the novel. His deviationist look at women and sex is told hilariously, especially his encounter with his subordinate Vijayan's wife. "Mrs. Vijayan spoke very fast, as if she had only one breath to speak and a great deal to tell," a very apt description of some fast-talking Malayalis I have seen and met. Raman is ruthlessly caricatured throughtout the novel. His discription of the excesses of the emergency as seen through Sebastian's eyes brings home the terror of those dark days.

I would have loved it if John's relationship with his love Janaki was explored a little more in detail and intimacy. All in all, a well-crafted, intricately woven novel that looks not only at the radicalisation of God's chosen state, but also provides a window through which to view Kerala and its people.

Surendran's novel is dark but with a purpose. He takes the reader on a new high with sharp observations and pointed irony. He tells the tale of a people caught in a time warp trying to exorcise the ghost of an ideology that has failed, and like obsessive love, compounds it by going even further in an unproductive attempt to revive the lost magic.

Temple Day

2007-04-26T12:37:00.000+05:30

Today is Monday:
Temple going day.
Queue is long with
hundreds of folks
waiting to see God
and praying:
to escape from sins,
for getting easy money,
resolve doubts
or feel strong.

Priest is doing rituals,
chanting fierce mantras
in dense Sanskrit,
adorning idol with flowers
and sandal-paste,
and burning
powerful incense.
Devotees are awed
'Siva Siva' they are chanting.

Outside one shop is there
selling things for God:
Flowers and coconut
to bribe the God
inside the temple.
It is asking one rupee
for keeping chappals
safe for pilgrims.
Prasadam also it is selling.

It is also selling
tacky little idols
of brass or copper,
little brocade dresses for
the goddess lined with jari
and little steel cradles
for baby God to sleep in.
There are cushions for
the cold metal idols
to rest when tired,
pretty little crowns
and lots of other things.

All for pious believers
to dress up their Gods
as if they are dolls.
Is God like a doll,
to be adored and played with
and not awed or worshipped?
Or is he a dangerous king
who will be angry
if looked upon
with love, not awe?

Doll-god? God-doll?
Mere idolatry
or the feelings
of innocent faith?

I am thinking
God is living
not in the big temple
but in that doll shop.

Shakti Bhatt

2007-04-02T22:59:00.001+05:30

Shocked and deeply saddened to hear about Shakti Bhatt's passing away. I can't claim to have known her well; but I know many people who knew her, and had heard of her often, all nice things.

I met her just once, at the Kitab Festival in February, where I got to thank her for releasing our book at the Jaipur Literature Festival in January, and for a workshop she, Jeet Thayil, her husband, and Nilanjana Roy, conducted for Caferati Delhi. At Kitab, we shared a light at the Prithvi Cafe, and talked of this and that, and the impression I filed away was of a hugely intelligent, vibrant, cheeerful person. Later, at the dinner, I joined her, Jeet, and a couple of other friends and chatted a bit. I have been an admirer of Jeet's writing from the days that he was a columnist for a Bombay paper, so it was a pleasure to meet him; Shakti said charming, encouraging things about the things we - Caferati - were doing. Meeting them was pretty much the best thing about Kitab for me, and I was looking forward to strengthening the acquaintance when I next visited Delhi..

My thoughts are with Jeet, and the family.

Update: You can leave your memories of Shakti here, and read remembrances by others here.

We Steal Your Senses: The Initiation

2007-03-29T00:43:00.000+05:30

With words we construct
a sarai ten feet by eight,
a river of magic,
fire, blood with
a bridge of smoke,
a building of three tiers
stacked over it
with fairies in it
throwing pearls
at the piranha
floating
in the river of magic –
With words we create
all this and more
on the proscenium
of an auditorium.

But beware!
These are not tales
of horses and mare,
of fairies and angels,
of Lord-smudged gospels.
Here desires heathen
would deepen with
every twist of the tale
that you choose to veil
your senses with –
Your senses Ha!
Like some former lover
are no more
a part of your tale.
Like a bedouin’s loot
in this bazaar of lies and truth
they’re up for sale.

So we wait at the gates
of the kingdom of Afrasiyaab,
the sorcerer supreme,
the king of devils and djinns
before whom sixty-thousand
warlords
each with an army
of a hundred thousand
or more
genuflect, kiss his girth,
wash it with their blood.
He, The Arrogant One
whose kingdom
runs from The Upper West Quarter
to The Lower East Trough
even he,
even he bows
to Zammurad Shah Bakhtari,
also Laqa, the ultimate in sorcery
but only a wily old bastard
with fungus in his teeth
and beads in his beard
who sits on a throne
smelling of his own faeces.

Together they fight
Amir Hamzah –
The Lord of Conjunction,
Sahib-qiran,
before whom the moon
and the sun both bow,
whose valour instills fear
in many who’d kill, tear
with their swords and their spears
and not once show remorse
even they, when they’d hear
his name their pride would run
like a disease from a medicine.

But the point where
we choose to enter –
our senses surrendered –
the point where we
let ourselves be
in this magical world,
this magical world
where the difference
between the real
and the imagined
is perhaps a trick
between the awake you
and your sleeping self,
the point where we enter
is the one where Amar Ayyar,
confidant, friend, chief trickster
Amir’s lieutenant, masquerader
has murdered Mahtaab Jadoo
and has in a jungle taken refuge…

© Dan Husain
March 27, 2007

The Lost People

2007-03-27T03:47:00.000+05:30

“People, people, people,
listen, listen well to this song
passed on to me by our fathers.
It is about the pale men
who came to our shores
in big brown boats.

They doffed their hats and proclaimed, “Dear sirs, this land is ours”.
We laughed at their funny names and
wrinkled our noses at their peculiar fish smell.
They came up to us and said, “Give us your gold”.
We smiled and asked why.
“To protect you sirs.”
So we laughed some more and opened the temple doors.
We were children of the sun. We didn’t need gold, did we?

Years passed and their numbers increased with every boat load
while our numbers dwindled due to diseases
brought by those greedy men and women.
One day they came and put chains on our hands.
We sighed and asked why.
“To teach you civilization sirs”, they said.
So we bent our backs and tilled our/their lands.
Our sweat turned brown land into green fields.

Years passed, and our last chief
was murdered in the battle of bended knee.
Then they came and took away our children.
We cried and asked why.
“To build a new nation of equals sirs”, they said.
So we broke our hearts, sat around the fire and sang sad old songs.
What else could we do?
The laughter of our children had been swallowed by the molting moon.

Years passed and our faces were scarred
by the scattering of our nation in the ill wind.
They came and put a fence around our homes.
Our silent eyes voiced the unspoken question.
“To protect your culture sirs”, they said.
So we took to the false comfort of their moonshine
and burnt our bodies in a drunken rage.
Our young were converted to the religion of the crucifix.

Now, I’m the last of the bards left,
singing this forlorn song of our frustrated history.
Times have changed, promises on paper
have turned to powder, and you are all that is left of a glorious tribe.
So will you remember? Will you remember?
Will you remember to sing this song when the wolves dance and the coyotes cry?”

(First posted here)

List of lists

2007-03-10T05:16:00.000+05:30

Let's not mince words: literary lists are basically an obscenity. Literature is the realm of the ineffable and the unquantifiable; lists are the realm of menus and laundry and rotisserie baseball. There's something unseemly and promiscuous about all those letters and numbers jumbled together. Take it from me, a critic who has committed this particular sin many times over.

But what if—just for argument's sake—you got insanely rigorous about it. You went to all the big-name authors in the world—Franzen, Mailer, Wallace, Wolfe, Chabon, Lethem, King, 125 of them— and got each one to cough up a top-10 list of the greatest books of all time. We're talking ultimate-fighting-style here: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, modern, ancient, everything's fair game except eye-gouging and fish-hooking. Then you printed and collated all the lists, crunched the numbers together, and used them to create a definitive all-time Top Top 10 list.

So says Lev Grossman in Time, writing about The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books. He goes on to say

There are several lifetimes' worth of promising literary leads here—544 books in all. An 85-page appendix providing enlightened summaries of all the works mentioned is worth the price of admission all on its own.

He also gives away the punchline, so to speak, with "the all-time, ultimate Top Top 10 list, derived from the top 10 lists of 125 of the world's most celebrated writers combined." Here ya go:

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
4. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
9. The Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov
10. Middlemarch by George Eliot

Oh yes. J Peder Zane, the editor of the book, has a website up here, complete with blog and a page where you can go list your personal top ten. As of this post, the people's voice says that the top 10 books most mentioned from all the top 10 lists posted are:

Anna Karenina
The Great Gatsby
Lolita
Crime and Punishment
Ulysses
To Kill a Mockingbird
War and Peace
Moby Dick
All Things, All at Once
The Sound and the Fury
The Brothers Karamazov
Pride and Prejudice

(Yes, yes, 12 books. There was a three-way tie at number ten.)

The list of 544 books is here, by the way, all neatly linked up to Amazon "buy" links. That should pay the hosting bills!

And for the list of writers who contributed their lists, scroll down to the bottom of this page. (Chitra Divakaruni was the only Indian name I could find on the list before the wee type began to blur. No Sir V. No winner of the Booker of Bookers.)

(cross-posted)