Photo: Prakhar Pandey
In tune with the famed American poet Robert Frost’s words, ‘Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words’, an International Poets Meet was held in DLF I on Sunday. Hosted under the auspices of The Poetry Society of India, the country’s leading forum of poets, this event was co-sponsored by the Global Fraternity of Poets and Earth Vision Publication. Former Chief Justice of Calcutta and Punjab & Haryana High Courts, Justice Debi Singh Tewatia and Dr. Yayati Madan G Gandhi, popularly addressed as Poet’s Poet in the arena of Indian English poetry, presided over the lively Meet. Enthusiastic poets, hailing from various parts of the world, rendered their versified thoughts. To mark the occasion, ‘meritorious‘ poets and authors were honoured with prestigious awards in different categories. These commendations ranged from ‘The Poet Laureate’ and ‘Best Poetry in Rhyme’, ‘Best Mystic Poetry’, ‘Best Editor of a Referred Journal of Media, News & Management’, to ‘Lifetime Achievement’ awards. Among the award winners was Vinod Khanna, in the category of Best Poetry in Rhyme (for 2014), for his collection of poems, ‘Lamp Post’. Although an engineer by profession, he boasts of a penchant to pen notions in verse and chant them in rhythm! “Most of his poems are in rhyme, which is a fast disappearing genre of poetry,” opined Dr. Madan Gandhi, while bestowing the award to Khanna. The Best Mystic Poetry genre was conferred on Preeth Nambiar, for his book, ‘The Voyage to Eternity’. According to the jury, this author-poet’s debut poetry volume is a work of exceptional merit, heralding a novel metaphysical voice. For her book ‘Dictionary of Electronic Media’, Dr. Sushma Devayani was honoured with the Best Editor of a Refereed Journal of Media, News & Management. An academician by profession, she is the Dean of Media Studies faculty in Guru Jambeshwar University of Science & Technology, Haryana. The Poet Laureate was awarded to D. Russel Micnhimer of the USA, for his compilation of poems in a book titled ‘Notes to be left with the Gatekeeper’, which has been viewed as an eclectic mix of sacred and profane works. Lifetime Achievement was awarded posthumously to Prof. Som Prakash Ranchan, who was well known for scripting epical poetry. He was often referred as a ‘Poet of Many Voices’, resonating mythical and mystical themes through his writings. The event was also marked by the inauguration of the global forum, the PEN (Poets and Poetry Enthusiasts Net) Book Club, which aims to bring poets and poetry lovers from across the world closer. Eswar Anandan and Dr. Tripti Sharan compered the programme. Jen Walls, an eminent English poet, Made her presence felt through a video, featuring her poems dedicated to the event.
With over 500 members today, The Poetry Society of India was mooted by Dr. Yayati Madan Gopal Gandhi, a former visiting Fellow at St. John’s College in Cambridge, as a platform to tap poetic talents and encourage them to publish their works - apart from providing critical analysis, to ensure quality in the versified words. Within a span of eight years, the Society has published more than 80 titles and truly opened the gateway for budding poets. Plans are afoot to confer annual awards in more categories, the Indian languages in particular, and also hold periodical poetic symposia. Commenting on the Society’s activities, Gandhi said, “Our motto is to provide a platform for new talent. As a poet, I have seen that nobody is quite eager to publish poems...and so immense talent is lost in the dark. This forum has tried to give them a path to showcase their talent. Since nowadays everybody is tech savvy, we started this journey from facebook. Many budding poets across the country are a part of this forum.” In his presidential address, Justice Tewatia complimented the organisers, saying, “I am very happy to be part of this programme, I have known Gandhi since many years and his poems are incredible. The forum is doing a pretty good job.” With a hope that more among the intelligentsia would learn to appreciate poems, one of the participants cited American writer Carl Sandburg, who said: ‘Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance’. υ
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