Poetry: A Disruptive and Life Affirming Force
The years between 1905-1942 were important for India and her people. India’s struggle against the British had intensified. Every other day, a movement was birthing and spreading its roots far and deep into the Indian soil. People were rallying to boycott British goods and revive Indian art and craft. The air pulsated with rebellion, defiance and rage, It burned fiercely in people’s heart and soul. People desired freedom. They sought liberty. Prisons filled. With their heads held high and hearts overflowing with pride, freedom fighters marched to the gallows. Freedom was no longer a distant dream, it existed in the possibility of here and now.
Cries such as “Inquilab Zindabad”, “Jai Jawan Jai kisan”, “Baharat Chodo” resonated in every nook and corner of the country. People took to verse and poetry to express the anger they felt, and the loss and grief they experienced. It was almost as though amidst all the bloodshed that was taking place, poetry had become the heartbeat of the Indian freedom movement.
But no two heartbeats are alike, no two hearts are alike. If Sarojini Naidu’s “Rise, Mother, rise, …” was a quiet assertive whisper, Ramprasad Bismil’s “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna” was a battle cry– urgent, militant and unyielding. If Tagore wedded Vedic mysticism with National thought in his “Geetanjali”, Makhanlal Chaturvedi with his “Pushp ki Abhilasha” made hearts weep with tenderness and beauty.
That said, poetry was not something that emerged only during the freedom struggle. It had always been there– multilayered, intimate and revolutionary in the Indian fabric of life and living. Whether it be the Bhakti poets Kabir, Surdas and Kalidas striving to bring poetry from courts to the common people or poets like Ghalib and Faiz blending melancholy and resistance, poetry had always been there– it disrupting one’s usual way of thinking, forcing people to look beyond mere categories and lending more expansiveness to not only one’s relationship with the world but also with the Earth and her beings.
That makes us reflect on the question, what does engaging with poetry(or any art form for that matter) do to one’s body and spirit?
What happens when you write poetry or listen or read poetry?
To reflect on these questions, let us move forward in time.
Poetry– A Longing, a Connection
It was early 2020. The world started reeling under the weight of the pandemic. There was grief and despair all around. Hospitals overflowed and death tolls multiplied. The world was grappling with vocabulary such as “social distancing”, “self isolation”, “lockdown”, “asymptomiotic”, “herd immunity” etc. During this time, people started to look out for communities, spaces that would hold their confusion and grief, spaces that would instil care in their tired bodies, a place which fostered connection not distance.
As life became harsher, something else started to happen– something so imperceptible and subtle that had it not been for the devastating quietness of the pandemic, it would not have been noticed at all. People from all walks of life whether they be medics or teachers or politicians started to turn to poetry to cope with the new reality.
It all started with a poem by Jessica Salfia, “First Lines of Emails I’ve Received While Quarantining” that became wildly popular on the internet after which it was published in The Washington Post. In it, Jessica Salfia stitches together the first lines of all the emails she received during the pandemic into a poem. It begins something like this:
“In these uncertain times, as we navigate the new normal, are you willing to share your ideas and solutions?”
And continues with lines like:
“As you know, many people are struggling.” “Calories don’t count during a pandemic.” “Mother’s Day looks a little different this year—you’re invited to shop all jeans 50% off.” The poem which takes a potshot at consumerism brought lightness during a situation that was dreary and bleak. People found it easier to laugh at their inboxes rather than question everything that was happening around them at that time.
Roughly around that same time, a media company in Japan reported that workers in Japan started to write senrū: “short poems in 3 lines with 17 morae (which are like syllables) in which they focus on the triumphs and tribulations of everyday life” (source)
Elsewhere across the globe people were writing short autobiographical poems to make sense of their confusion, loss and grief.
That was when between June2020 and June2021, a website poetryandcovid.com (now archived as poetryandcovidarchive.com) came into existence. This website started inviting poetry submissions from across the globe. During this time (between June2020 and June2021), the website received more than 1000+ poems from 600+ people. The same website conducted a survey based on Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) to study the impact of poetry. The quantitative results, supported with over 250 qualitative final comments by respondents, showed that the writing and reading of poetry had demonstrable positive impact on participants’ “wellbeing”, and specifically those suffering from “common mental health symptoms”, such as feelings of isolation and loneliness, as well as those suffering from grief.
Poetry and the Poet
All this begs us to ask/wonder, what is poetry then?
Poetry can be a number of things. It can be a flow, a gaze, a cry. It can be a pause, a movement, a leap. It can be sky, fire, earth. It can be a forest, a tree, bird. It can be footsteps left on wet sands. It can be the ocean or the oyster found in deep seas. It could be all these things and something more.
And who is the poet you might wonder. Here the verses by Adishankaracharya begin to reverberate:
Mano Buddhi Ahankara Chittani Naham Na Cha Shrotra Jihve Na Cha Ghraana Netre Na Cha Vyoma Bhoomir Na Tejo Na Vayu Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham
Translation: I am not the mind, intellect, ego, or memory.
I am not the senses—ears, tongue, nose, or eyes.
I am not the elements—space, earth, fire, or air.
I am pure consciousness and bliss.
I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
In the end, poetry as Heidegger described is a form of unconcealment, where truth is not defined but revealed. It’s not about naming, but about being. And in that being lies the beyondness of both the poet and poetry.
Sources:
American teacher constructs poignant poem out of emails – Times of India
Author: Sridevi Dutta – Associate writer
