American Center brings activism back to poetry

The American Center has been a hub of various cultural activities in the city. This month too, the center is organising a program, Poetry for Social Change — Hindi and Urdu poetry contest. This is an online and interactive Hindi and Urdu poetry contest on the theme of ‘poetry for social change’. Indian nationals across the country can send in their poems, not more than 25 words and in couplet form, before July 18.

Renowned writer and lyricist Gulzar will inaugurate the three-day program on disability awareness on July 26 at the American Center, Marine Lines. The American center has collaborated with Arushi, an NGO working to increase disability awareness and affect positive change.

Anil Mudgal, volunteer, Arushi says, “Gulzarji is a volunteer for Arushi and many of his poems are used as captions for innovative posters to generate awareness on inclusive education for Arushi. So, we invited him for this event to spread the message of disability.”

Till now, the center has received around 150 entries and is expecting to receive more before the closing date. Samantha Hicks, public affairs intern, American Center says,       “Initially we had the competition extended to few states, but later with the number of enquiries and people contacting us we had to make it a nation-wide competition.”

Copywriter Sandeep Gaur got to know about the competition through his colleagues. “To have this kind of competition is a right step towards bringing about a social change. There are many people who can write on love and life, but it is very difficult to pen down a couple of words on disability,” admits Gaur, who has penned a poem in Hindi. The poems can be submitted via the wall on the American Center Mumbai’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/amcentermumbai). Submissions will also be accepted via e-mail entries that can be sent to hickssx@state.gov.

The competition allows multiple entries, and Gulzar will decide who the winner will be from the poems short-listed by the American Center. The winning poets will win some exciting goodies.

The American Center director Lynne Gadkowski states, “Through this contest, we want to encourage people to use their creative talents for positive impact.” Those who have posted their couplets on the social networking site have received positive feedback from others.

Voice-over and dubbing artist Vijay Menon, a participant himself, read some well-written poems from his fellow contenders.
“Using the medium of social networking sites for the competition is a fantastic idea as many people now-a-days interact and share their opinions and thoughts online,” says Menon.

The cultural program will be open to the public from July 26-28, and Gulzar and the U.S. Consul General will be inaugurating it on the opening day at 10:30am at the American Center Auditorium.
For further details log on to Mumbai.usconsulate.gov or www.facebook.com/amcentermumbai.  All submissions must be received by no later than midnight on July 18.