Rendezvous with a poetess...

Is there a poet in each one of us, one who desires to break the monotony of prescriptions and presumptions and sees a world beyond? In an exclusive interview with My Little Magazine, poetess Shreya Chatterjee appeals to the dreamer in you. Listen to the musings....  

MLM: What are the Musings of the Wanderer (you)?

Shreya: Musings of a Wanderer are thoughts, observations, and rarely opinions about incidents I come across. Several of my poems, articles and scribbles are to do with what I happen to see. A teacher had, once, told me-" keep the "I" away from your verses". But if "I" stays away, then somehow it doesn't work you see. Thus the "I" remains hidden in between the lines. My poems are to deal with my neighborhood, my city, and most importantly my mind.

MLM: How long have you been writing poetry?

Shreya: I have been thinking about poetry since my toddler years, under the benevolent guidance of my late Grandfather. He could speak in rhymes impromptu! I first wrote my thoughts out when I was in standard three. But it was one incident in standard four I remember quite clearly. We were asked to write on "If I were a bird"- and what I wrote turned out to be a poetic prose!! But even then, I had not started penning down thoughts seriously.
 Life in between got punctuated with a great personal loss- a loss I can never accept. It was the demise of the ONE, who believed, " I know my words". And as for the little me, I just made a promise I would write as a tribute to HIM.It was not before standard five, that words began to speak to me and that was all because of this essay "a sudden holiday because its a rainy day". Mine was selected as one of the five best, read out in class along with the words of the English Teacher -"This was written within a very short time, for this student had spent most of the period, watching out of the window and ADMIRING the sudden shower...nevertheless, I am reading this out to you, without mentioning the name of the student...reading it simply because I never thought one could assemble brilliant poetic expressions in less than 10 minutes".And that was from were the journey as a poet started... 

MLM: What inspires you most to write? Is there a story behind each poem? Can you share at least one such anecdote with us?

Shreya: I think everything around me has a story to tell, thus they find a place in my poems. Yes, nearly every poem I have penned down so far has a story behind. All my poems are dear to me. still, I think "WiReS" is one of the closest. Though "A Girl Scribbling..." surely has a good story behind it. It is about one of the two years old twin girls staying in my neighbourhood. One afternoon, while venturing out on my own, I saw her sprawled over their verandah, drawing mindless patterns over a piece of newspaper. I asked her in bangla (both of our mother tongue)- "Ki korcho?" (what are you doing?) She quietly replied-" Ami goppo ankchi" ( I am drawing a story). I sat beside her, on the steps of their house, and scribbled this poem on my notebook. She reminded me of my childhood and lonely afternoons, which I would spend scribbling on old newspapers- trying to act like grown ups. 
 After a while, She crept over my shoulder and softly whispered- "ki korcho?" (what are YOU doing?) I turned and replied-"Ami poddo ankchi".( I am drawing poetry.) She beamed and said  two smart words- "goppo poddo"!!


MLM: How is the readership of poetry in today's mad mad race of life? 

Shreya: People shy away from the words like 'poem' and 'poetry'. And I think it is because, many of the poets love to write their thoughts and feeling in the most-difficult-to-decipher manner! I think poetry is the shortest way to express oneself, provided if one is intending to speak to the person sitting next to him or her. My point is, we should write in all the forms existent, a hard hearted topic should be addressed with iron words, but a simple image of a baby sleeping can have soft and common imagery- something every mother can connect with.

MLM: Who is your target audience/readers?

Shreya: Anyone, who loves poetry, 
Anyone, who desires,
To believe he/she can imagine,
Anyone who would like to know,
"She talks, just like I think and live my life",
And everybody else...
My words are written for all of them.

MLM:  Which is your own favorite poem from the book? Why is it your favorite? 

Shreya: I cherish thinking about "Downcast Eyes"- this poem is just a little one, short and crisp, so as to say, but was born out of several vivid incidents occurring in a single day. It talks about men who might be brave enough to face the wild world, but even they need a shoulder sometimes, for even they wish to cry out the bottled up pain and agony surging inside their beating heart.

"Downcast Eyes" can be read from my debut collection of poems called "Musings of a Wanderer".

MLM: What's next?

Shreya: I am planning for more poetry books, as well as short stories collection and a novel, in the years to come, hoping I can keep up all these promises made to myself.