Romancing words weaved in verses is their common love. Where else could you find a handful of IT professionals, chartered accountants (CA), college-going students and entrepreneurs converging at a common place over the weekend and spending hours listening to each other, but at The Poetry Club. Fondly abbreviated as TPC, it serves as common ground for budding writers and performers of poetry.
When these avid fans of poetry meet on a Sunday, every month at 'Roti Kapda aur Makaan,' a quirky store at Lower Parel and recite their original work, it seems as if a scene right out of the 1980s Hollywood film The Dead Poets Society was playing out in Mumbai.
The idea germinated when two young CAs, Trupthi Shetty, 20 and Ankita Shah, 22, thought of forming a club that encourages not only writing but performing one's original writing. "You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some of it with you. We don't just write poetry, we perform it," Trupthi explains.
Founded in July 2013, out of common love for poetry, TPC has had 16 such gatherings till now, which have seen anywhere between 10 to 40 patrons in consecutive meetings. "While a few poetry gatherings are rather contests, like the open mic events at Prithvi Theatre where participants are ranked, judged and awarded for their work, The Poetry Club conducts no such contests. Everyone listens and receives each other's work with an open mind and heart," said Saurabh Jain, 27.
From nervous wrecks to confident orators, the club garners patronage from 16-year-olds to people in their thirties. Every one of whom holds each other's hands through the tumultuous journey of writing and improving their poetic work. "Not to mention that the '16-year-olds' who throng the gatherings write some very profound work that sets us thinking," adds Trupthi.
Saranya Subramanian, a 17-year-old Humanities student at St Xavier's College, who attended the gathering on October 19, was a closet poet until she opened up her array of work at TPC.
Reminiscing about her fascination with rhyming words, she said, "My parents tell me that I started rhyming words before forming sentences. Up till I was six, my mother had already compiled a book of 65 short poems that I had blurted out at various occasions."
During her early teenage years, she moved on to writing poetry which was dark and morbid. "All sorts of emotions from redemption to guilt flowed out in my work which was based on terror attacks and wars," Saranya recounted.
Another poet, Vivek Sharma, 25, has taken to writing sonnets, which deal with themes related to human emotions ranging from abandonment to love. "The structure and style of writing are extremely important to me. Many people are not careful while writing poetry. They would not put in enough thought into maintaining structure, rhyme and rhythm in the poem. Moreover, they seldom practice economy of words. Also, I know very few people who are passionate about writing structured poetry, like a sonnet or a haiku. It is sad that many people do not think that classical poetry is relevant today."
"Nobody listens to each other anymore, we even converse through WhatsApp these days. This gathering is like an oasis for me. Where one can be one's self and share their work," said Swagata Yadavar, another regular at the club.
If you want to attend the poetry club gatherings or perform, write to – thepoetryclubmumbai@gmail.com
maitri.porecha@dnaindia.net
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