Bonding with masses through poetry

Rahul Devesh

“Poets are unacknowledged legislators of the world.”—   Percy Bysshe Shelley

On Sunday evening, a group of young poets gathered at Shanti Kunj, Chandigarh, to “bring poetry to public spaces and people’s lives”, so that it does not remain confined to only those who can appreciate and understand it. True to their aim, they have launched an initiative, ‘Cross Connection Poetree’, and have been holding poetry sessions every month since April last year.

Initially, Amy Singh, an alternative educator and a TEDx speaker who strives to promote positive change and social justice, performed alone. Later, Daljeet Hindustani, a former journalist who draws inspiration from short stories of Saadat Hasan Manto and keeps his satire aimed at politicos, and Shivam Dhall, a professional theatre artiste from Pehowa, Haryana, and an admirer of Urdu poets like Mirza Ghalib, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Rahat Indori and Gulzar, collaborated with her. The USP of their programme is that they don’t charge anything.

The only requirement is to squat on the lush green grass and relish the poetry of great poets. Vineet Raj Kapoor, a local resident who has been attending their programmes, says, “In a couple of hours, you can relish the choicest of verses of the celebrated poets.”

On Sunday too, their presentation was never monotonous. Shivam Dhall and Amy Singh recited poems of Kaifi Azmi, a poet credited with introducing Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures, with utmost sincerity to a small but dedicated audience.

Their performance was replete with anecdotes from the poet’s life and they paused whenever they were required to explain the context and meaning of a couplet.

Their choice of verses also varied. Romance was not the only theme they wanted to touch upon. As Amy and Shivam said,” Our aim is to present those creations that underline the exploitation of man by man. It must have food for thought and question people’s conscience.”

So, they began their performance with a tribute to Kaifi Azmi, reciting a poem, ‘Ajib aadmi tha woh’, written by Javed Akhtar, a famous Bollywood lyricist and scriptwriter, before reading Itna to zindagi mein kisi ke khalal pade, Haath aakar laga gaya koi, Aaj ki raat bahut garam hawa chalti hai, Ram banbas se jab laut ke ghar aaye, and Uth meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe.

They touched upon themes such as injustice done to the poor, the subordinate position relegated to women and disapproved the communal poison being spread for political gains.

However, they have problems too. Performance at public spaces in Chandigarh comes at a price, unlike Delhi and Patiala, where they can perform without disrupting the normal routine of life, for free. “In our initial days, we were removed from Leisure Valley, as performing there required the permission of the authorities. So, parks remain the only option. We need free spaces to perform,” said Amy, Shivam and Daljeet in unison. But they won’t stop. Their juggernaut will halt at Rose Garden on February 13. So, Chalte Chalte, as they call their programme, listen to another celebrated Urdu poet, Faiz Ahmad Faiz.