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ShareFor better or verse, it's a new way of making poetry more young and happening, finds Reema Banerjee
The rock will roll, the beer will flow and people will do whatever they do in a pub on a weekend. But this time things will be different. Poets will take over the microphone and jerk the crowd out of its happy haze.
No License Yet, a performance art group and the brainchild of Shivani Tibrewala, introduces Mumbai to its first ever all-language poetry slam: One Night Stand. Poets who are master slammers and some who aren't will perform original works.
The rules are simple: register beforehand, perform original constructions in three minutes with a grace period of ten seconds, use no props, music or costumes and get through three rounds, with eliminations. Judges come from the audience; the winner gets a surprise prize.
This is performance poetry. A poet can rap, be-bop, groove or anything else, while the audience boos or yells for an encore en route to the grand finale. "Poetry is the purest, most incredible form of expression through words that I have encountered. It is usually more difficult to say it in three minutes than in three hours. Given that we're all heading for attention deficit disorder, I thought I'd better gear up. Therefore slamming," explains Shivani. Readings are ritual entertainment, disengaging the mind and self from mainstream media. And slam poets cherish the right to rant in public.
Slam poetry is different from that written down, though many conventional poets have done their share of it and vice versa. The form is raw, eccentric, political, over-the-top and bursting with vigour. It can be profane, spiritual, anti-establishment or boring; it must enthrall an audience that reacts instantly.
First time slammer Abhigyan Jha is all nerves. "I have no idea what I am going to do. I haven't prepared anything yet. But I have been thinking about Sunday since the day I registered," he says. Practice sessions in front of the mirror? Jha firmly fast-forwards that to "Maybe on Saturday. Incidentally, my poem has a lot to do with mirrors."
Dr Eunice Dsouza, poet and columnist, recalls, "The first time I attended a slam was in Scotland, by a poet called John Agard. I loved his style -- he was witty and added to his performance impromptu. Slam has to have its own quality; anything cannot be poetry," she says.
What about the criticism? "Honestly, I don't give a damn," asserts Shivani. She hopes to make slamming a national event one day. But that needs more poets, who, she says, are hiding somewhere. They need to be dragged out to prove that 'only the mad shall prevail', as the registration for the event presages!
One Night Stand, the Ghetto, Sunday, July 22, 8-9pm
