This has been our consistent endeavor to present literary personalities who will overwhelm our readers with their writings, vernacular, achievements, and much more! We, at Spectralhues are proud to present the award winning poet Mihir Vatsa from Hazaribagh. Mihir is the poetry-editor of Vayavya, a literary journal of repute, and he has been vocal about the poems he prefers to read & publish. Mihir has justified his take on poetry as he urged, “a poem where the voice is confident of what it is narrating, a poem with no clichés.” He has authored a book of poems under the title Painting That Red Circle White, published by Authors Press, New Delhi. Mihir has won Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize in 2013. Recently one of his poems, “Going To The Rain” has been nominated for ‘Best of the Net, 2014’ by Eclectica Magazine. Dear readers, here is Mihir Vatsa in conversation with none other than the bestselling author & poet Kiriti Sengupta from Calcutta. As you read the following lines you will find that this has not been a formal interview session that we usually arrange with our authors. Rather this has been a spontaneous conversation and exchange of thoughts between two talented authors of our times.
Kiriti Sengupta: Mihir, can you give me a date when I can talk to you on facebook for over thirty minutes?
Mihir Vatsa: You can talk now.
Kiriti: Thirty minutes! Are you sure?
Mihir: Yeah.
Kiriti: Thanks, Mihir! I need to know a bit of your background. Like the place of your residence, your schooling, college / university, etc.
Mihir: And why is that, if I may ask?
Kiriti: I expected this in the first place, however! Well, I will compile your answers.
Mihir: For?
Kiriti: For an article, certainly!
Mihir: And what’s the article on?
Kiriti: Mihir Vatsa, the poet.
Mihir: Hah! I’m too young for such fame, Kiriti.
Kiriti: I don’t make a person famous, Mihir. Please know I don’t have the eligibility either. Yes, here is my first question, if you please.
Mihir: I grew up in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. Changed my school quite a bit when young, but from 6th grade stuck to DAV Hazaribagh until 12th. I came to Delhi University in 2009 to study for a Bachelors in English at Ramjas College. In 2012 I enrolled for my Masters in English. In July, 2014 I completed and passed M.A. Currently I travel between Hazaribagh and Delhi from time to time.
Kiriti: What is the compelling factor towards your poetry writing, or what are the factors that compel you?
Mihir: A mixture of personal, representational and the social. A blend of all three in varying proportions. At times I write about myself, at times I represent Hazaribagh, at times I try to connect with people around me. Mostly, my poetry is a curious mixture of these three things. Or that’s what appears to me.
Kiriti: So you admit that you write poetry at a conscious level?
Mihir: Yes.
Kiriti: Do you think your academic background (I meant your literature background) has its influence on you when you write poetry?
Mihir: Yes, it has.
Kiriti: Could you please explain your point? How does it effect? Or, how does it affect?
Mihir: My study of literature as an academic subject has shaped my aesthetic plus critical consciousness. I can do a postcolonial reading of my own work if I want to. Or realize that a poem can be read in ways I may not intend it to. I won’t say it’s good or bad. An extra knowledge — that’s all.
Kiriti: Can you tell me if your critic soul stays awake as you write a poem?
Mihir: Always. I am not the kind of poet who is enamored by sentimentality. Not to say I am unemotional. It’s more about understanding emotions. “I am sad and lonely”- no. “I am sad and lonely because of these these things”- yes. It’s important to interrogate, analyze, and theorize even, to arrive at that understanding.
Kiriti: Okay. This means you think you architect your poems. Did I get you right?
Mihir: I believe poetry is a craft one learns, not a gift bestowed by some god. If that makes me an architect, sure.
Kiriti: Why do you keep your critic soul so active? Is this to safeguard your poetry, or this happens to you naturally?
Mihir: It’s not to safeguard the poetry. It’s actually the opposite. To expose it, but in a different way. I like to learn stuff, so that seeps in. And whatever I learn, I may want to share. In a way, for me, poetry is not much personal as it’s communal. You dispatch a set of words or lines carrying a certain meaning and the reader adds to it or subverts it from their own experience. To be critical is also to go beyond the personal. Develop a distance, understand others. Otherwise, poetry might become another manifestation of the poet’s narcissism. At the root of it, you want to tell something without making it overtly about yourself.
Kiriti: You said, “Poetry is a craft one learns.” Do you think poetry writing can be taught?
Mihir: It’s the controversial question again. Let’s see. Before explaining further, I should probably emphasize that I think poetry is an art. Now, there are various forms of art. Painting is an art. Dancing is an art. Acting is an art. So is writing. Poetry or prose. Writing well is an art too. And one thing art offers is an encouragement for polishing. So you have people going to special classes on Sundays to learn painting better. You have people going to acting schools. You have people going to their gurus to learn singing. If a person comes to me and says, “Hey Mihir, I want to write better poems,” I won’t think of it as a big deal. I have bugged so many friends myself. You write a poem, you send it to a friend. Your friend sends it back with comments. That’s learning. You do it in a classroom with a group of poets or in a cafe.
Kiriti: Well, when you explained you didn’t mention any class room coaching for poetry writing or teaching under the auspices of a worthy poet or a group of poets. You said about special classes for singing, dancing, painting, but when it came to poetry you said something that was not a formal affair. Why was this?
Mihir: Because at present there’s very little formal space for writing. Writing is somehow considered to be a solitary affair. You stay awake in the night under curious circumstances with cats or owls and write. I think some poets and writers like to keep the mystery alive even though they know it’s not mysterious at all. They will say no, it’s blasphemy to study poetry. STUDY? POETRY? But well, Ambedkar University in Delhi is out with MA and PhD in Creative Writing, British Council at Calcutta has partnered with the University of East Anglia for workshops. Poets are now conducting workshops in their homes and people attend them. It’s after all a matter of choice. If you think you don’t need “training” then sure don’t opt for it. If you think you do, then go ahead.
Kiriti: Nice answer, Mihir. What according to you is/are the reason(s) towards a poor readership of poetry?
Mihir: Poor readership, no, I don’t think so. Poor market, perhaps. People will read your work if you want them to read it. And by this I mean, if you know what they want to read and give it to them the way they can relate with. I’m not being condescending here but realistic. Sometimes I feel stumped by some of the “experimental” poems. So I am not the best reader for that kind. But that doesn’t stop me from writing one myself and desiring readers for it. I think you need to understand that “readership” is not something universal a category. It changes and can be a mix of various types. Poetry appears opaque to some and some might find a moment or two of transparency in it. Mainstream publishers won’t publish more poetry titled because they don’t sell. It’s true. How many books of poetry does one buy anyway? But there are newer venues. The internet is one. So there are literary magazines out there which publish poetry.
Kiriti: What makes a piece of prose different from a piece of poetry?
Mihir: You can ask this question a hundred years down the line and yet not get an objective answer. The reason is that there isn’t much objectivity remaining to these two categories. Yes, a prose with line breaks may look like poetry and the most serene poetry can be condensed in the form of prose. For me these categories aren’t fixed, so I cannot tell what makes a piece of writing poetic, or prosaic. But I can offer some conventional wisdom: poetry is discursive, it flows, it’s compact, etc.
Kiriti: Thanks, although I don’t find this proper enough. Would you call yourself a reviewer or a critic when you write an article or a note of others’ books?
Mihir: Reviewer for now.
Kiriti: A reviewer essentially recommends a book to the prospective readers. Are you sure you act as a reviewer?
Mihir: I would disagree with your definition of the reviewer. A reviewer reviews. As simple as that. A reviewer is not the one who writes recommendation letters.The ones who recommend write blurbs.
Kiriti: I beg to differ though! A reviewer writes recommendations indeed, even a blurb is a part of a review.
Mihir: They may. They may write a recommendation if they like the book. If they don’t they won’t.
Kiriti: If they don’t like they will refuse to write a review in the first place, and again if they are so eager to write, they will write a critique instead of a review. Well, what exactly you search when you read others’ works of poetry, or poems, to be precise?
Mihir: I have answered it elsewhere. So I will just reiterate. A certain warmth in narration. It’s okay to complicate but also to reassure if there’s no solution in sight.
Kiriti: Can you name five contemporary Indian poets (writing in English) whom you follow or admire?
Mihir: Manohar Shetty, Arjun Rajendran, Ranjit Hoskote, Sumana Roy, and Nandini Dhar.
Kiriti: My last question. Can the poets bring more readers to their works? If yes, how?
Mihir: Poets need to come down from their supposed pedestal and engage directly with the community. They need to talk about poetry, and not just write it. No one will it for them, they have to do it themselves. Write about other people’s work, introduce friends to poets apart from himself/herself. Make poetry cool. Utilize the internet. Be less pretentious.
Kiriti: Thank you so much, Mihir.
Mihir: We don’t agree on certain things but that is not a fault. It’s better actually. Thanks for taking an interest in me. I am kind of flattered!
