Hearty Congratulations Setu!
Setu once again did it!
What an absolute honour it was to be a part of the very well-curated and very
well planned Setu International Women Poets’ live confluence on 19th
December 2020 [7 to 9 PM] and rubbing shoulders with some wonderful poets
spearheaded by the incredibly diligent Setu Team of Dr
Sunil Sharma, Anurag Sharma, Dr. Sangeeta Sharma, and the silent but powerful technical support of Dr. Shaleen
Kumar Singh and Avneesh Chauhan.
I was apprehensive that I wouldn’t be able to make it, due to a formidable heap
of certain urgent commitments. [Domestic commitments included] but I did manage,
rushing in from another zoom meeting in helter-skelter haste- to come face to
face with poets I had chatted with off and on, but never met before- with the exception of my dear friends Neelam Saxena Chandra and Paddy, whom I have met
many times and loved every moment of the poetic proximity.
No doubt, I was able to meet Megha Sood, Hema Ravi, Dr. Paramita Mukherjee
Mullick, Dr. Meenakshi Mohan, Dr. Maria do Sameiro Barraso, Alicja Maria Kuberska
and Dr. Shreetanwi Chakraborty only in the virtual world, but due to the
sparkling moderation of Dr. Sangeeta Sharma, ably and lovingly assisted by Dr. Sunil
Sharma, the virtual meeting had a REAL ring to it, leaving me with the feeling that I have known
these wonderful poets all my life.
In this nightmarish year when words such as social
distancing and masks have become
the vocabulary of a new normal world, an eclectic ensemble of women poets from
around the world-
Well …actually, unmasked their feelings, waxing poetic about nature, about injustice, peace, love, the evils of racism, about the horrible year wobbling on its last legs, and also injecting much-needed doses of humour. For two hours we were oblivious to things around, as poetry reigned supreme, elbowing away the paranoia of panic-struck humanity. Each poem rendered by the poets was a gem, resounding in the virtual walls with passionate eloquence, indelibly etching itself in the head and heart.
Actually, I have been so scatterbrained of late that I completely forgot that I had earlier sent two poems to the organizers [which I had hoped to recite] and, instead chose a couple of poems at the spur of the moment. One from my forthcoming book, Of Runcible Spoons and Pea-green Boats, about my dad, A June Winter, and the other from my book Songs of Belligerence [2020], Layla Al Ghandour – a Gaza Child.] Hope I did not inconvenience the organizers by my absentmindedness.
Much as I would have loved to be present till the end of the spectacular event, other commitments beckoned and I had to leave, missing the intellectually stimulating discussion, [of which I would have loved to be a part] that followed the poetry reading.
Before I sign off, let me doff my hat, once again, to the Setu Team [alas, I am running short of
hats!] This Pittsburgh based digital literary journal is indeed doing
commendable work in the literary field- above all, in this socially distanced
and paranoid world, by transcending
borders and bringing writers closer and deserves to be applauded for popularizing
virtual tactility, where the poets collectively hug each other with arms of
poetry.
May Setu continue building bridges,
and may we walk this bridge with hope in our hearts and cheerful songs
on our lips.
May the New Year be a happy and peaceful one, and may we, the writers succeed in jerking the world out of its comatose stupor.
More power to our pens!
Such a beautiful and meticulous description of the entire event.It was an absolute honor and pleasure to share space with you Santosh maam. May we continue to get inspired from luminaries like you.
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