Longing for those familiar faces and places, words that are spoken come to life and turn to poetry. The poetry reading session at Ranga Shankara, though devoid of this romanticised setup, evoked emotions of a similar kind. In sync with the theme of the play and our own scarred history, the poets spoke of their interpretations of the place they called ‘home’ and the pain associated with being displaced. Since most of them had lived in Bangalore for a major part of their lives, the City became a ‘muse’ for them. While some spoke affectionately of it, others mocked the jarring delays of infrastructural projects in the City. Words created magic as the audience gasped, clapped, sighed and smiled as they found a connect with each of the poems.
The first to face the scrutinising glare of the audience was Joshua Muyiwa, a dance editor. His poetry dealing with simple philosophies, revolving mostly around his life and the people in it was a nice affair. The highlight of the evening though was the German poem read by Andrea Gronemeyer, the director of the play ‘Boy With A Suitcase’. Elaborating on the importance of being rooted to where one comes from, Andrea said, “I also had to leave my home and realised that is all about finding a home within you.” The English translation was read out by Kirtana Kumar Reddy.
C S Bhagya too read out her musings on Bangalore. Deepika Arvind, a poet and an actor, was extremely delightful. Her first poem ‘Anticipating Exile’ was a refreshing take on the ‘development work’ in the City. Anindita Sengupta, a writer, was also quite popular with the audiences. Many people requested her to read out some of her older work.
Bandu Bidu Amma Bengalurige (come to Bangalore mother) was a cute poem in Kannada which left one smiling at the innocence of it. After Kannada poetry, the audience was encouraged to take centre stage and dabble with a little poetry of their own. Dominic Franks charmed people with his poem ‘Tired Of Being Tightrope Dancer’. People were appreciative of the effort. Rachel, a power yoga instructor, described the reading as the most honest interpretation of human emotion.
