Poetry helps tech grad cope with illness

Reijul Sachdev’s ‘Emerald Blades’, a poetry collection, is one among the eight books selected for ‘Write Publish Publicize’ contest organised by the Bengaluru Poetry Festival and Artkhoj.

Says he, “I was taken aback when they told me it was selected; I am honoured. ‘Emerald Blades’ was born out of my desire to express myself through poetry. It isn’t that great, but I think it counts because I wrote from my heart.”

An IIIT-B graduate, Reijul developed juvenile diabetes at the age of 6, and in 2015, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, because of which he had to discontinue college for a while.

He found solace in writing. “To help me come to terms and cope with that, I turned to poetry,” he says.

Reijul shares that a lot of people also found his poetry collection therapeutic.

He rejoined college and completed his degree in 2019 and was also awarded the Sir M Visvesvaraya Scholarship Award for scoring the highest CGPA across all streams in IIIT-B.

Planning to become a research associate, Reijul is also working on a novel based on his experiences in college.

“I have added a mystery element to it. It is work in progress,” he signs off.