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“I like to leave a little bit of poetry in everyone I meet – but in the end, I find there’s a little bit of poetry left in me whenever they go.”
Before “the third space” became a much sought-after phrase, there was the chaupal – the spot around the peepul tree and the always-open neighbour’s house where people gathered for conversations and tea. India comes with a rich heritage of communitarian practices – from the casual adda at a tapri to organised people’s movements. In today’s world of information overload, where we vicariously see and experience much more than has ever been possible, we find ourselves craving these in-person communitarian spaces, where one might talk about their lives without any pretences.
Book friendships
The Bookshop Inc in Delhi recently hosted a poetry reading circle where attendees read in whichever language they wanted. This was followed by a discussion. The poems were translated for the rest of the audience in real time, and everyone spoke freely about how a poem made them feel. Liberating and empowering! Sitting there listening to well-known poets from Pash to Matthew Sweeney to Ada Limon, to being introduced to poets such as Brad Aaron Modlin through a poem titled “What You Missed That Day...