In Chandigarh, renowned poet Naresh Saxena in conversation with famous lyricist Irshad Kamil talked about the demands and challenges of his profession

Sheetal

Poet, author and National-award-winning director Naresh Saxena, who was in Chandigarh recently, delighted the audience with his sharp insight. In conversation with celebrated lyricist Irshad Kamil, who is currently basking in the success of Netflix film Chamkila, Saxena banished the misconception that ‘anybody could be a poet’.

“When somebody asks if you can paint, we say we haven’t learnt it, so the same goes for singing, sculpting and other art forms. But once you talk about poetry, everybody would say, yes, I write occasionally. This is the root problem, when you feel anybody can do it,” he said.

The 85-year-old received a National Film Award — Special Mention (Non-Feature Film) in 1990 for his short film Sambandh. His book, Samundra Par Ho Rahi Hai Barish, has been translated by Jagdeep Sidhu and part of the syllabus in graduation course at Punjabi University, Patiala, for many years now. The same book is part of Master’s curriculum in Haryana.

Driven by passion

According to Saxena, if one truly wished to master any art form he or she should focus on it alone and not on doing several other things simultaneously. “Then it becomes a hobby, not a passion that drives you. You can give your whole life and it would still not be enough.”

Saxena adviced against the idea of just freestyling in poetry, as one needed to read contemporary as well as established names in the any genre of poetry you relate to, if not all, not just from your region or nation but across the world. A blunt but true opinion on those claiming to be Instagram poets of today, Saxena said, “If you cannot even recite your poetry without reading it from a piece paper, that’s not a good sign. How do you expect your audiences and readers to remember something you don’t remember yourself?”

Recalling his childhood and how poetry was a profession looked down upon by parents during those times, Saxena said he also had an interest in learning the flute but wasn’t encouraged by his folks. “Afterwards, I got the opportunity to hear many poets at kavi sammelans and also used to read a lot of poetry in newspapers. My parents never liked it; for them a poet’s profession did not mean a regular income! So, I went on to become an engineer and often combated professional stress because I was a poet at heart. It gave me a better perspective on things, as I found all my answers in poetry,” he said. Saxena soon started writing for television and short films, while he also completed his service as a government employee.

Saxena, who enjoys reading Suryakant Tripathi Nirala and Vinod Kumar Shukla, added, “We didn’t get language through writing, we got it by listening. So, to say that one is a good poet but not a great orator of his own poetry is a contradictory statement.”

Praise for Kamil

About Irshad Kamil, Saxena called him a brilliant lyricist and someone who was doing a great job in an industry like Bollywood. “Writing a poem is one thing, it’s very easy as compared to what lyricist does by making a poem hummable. That too where he is restricted by the mood, music, situation…it’s a tough position to be in.”

About the current times, he mused, “Everything has become controversial. You can only use certain words and stay away from others; when there’s so much of restriction, it’s not good for artistes and art lovers. But, as they say, great art evolves from hard times, I hope for the same.”

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