Bengaluru Poetry Fest
Part 1
2nd - 3rd August 2025
Back from the Bengaluru Poetry Festival, where, needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, meeting new friends and renewing old ties. If they were miffed by my incessant chatter, I got no inkling of that by word or gesture.
They are a discreet lot. My friends are.
Scheduled for 2nd and 3rd August, 2025, this was the 9th edition of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival, an annual celebration of music, poetry, storytelling, and much more for the young attendees in the parallel event with 22 participants. [Children's Fest]. Meticulously curated and organised by the Bengaluru Poetry Fest Team- the dynamic duo - Lakshmi and Subodh Sanker, Co-Founders, Bengaluru Poetry Festival, Shinie Antony, the Festival Director, and the rest of the organising Team, it was a delightful poetic extravaganza, of which I enjoyed every moment.
On reaching the majestic and massive Bengaluru airport, on the afternoon of 1st August, butterflies broke into a maladroit jig in my stomach. All sorts of apprehensions and misgivings hammered away at my head.
But then followed magic!
The moment I stepped out of the airport, my eyes fell on a smile.
A huge smile. A proper smile.
Had the Cheshire cat left it there?
No, the smile was not disembodied. It had an owner. Nihal N Hegde.
In fact, when I looked at this shy and smiling youngster, all my fears vanished.
But the smile and its owner remained.
He booked a taxi and remained there till he had seen that I was comfortably seated in the car.
The moment I hopped into the taxi, I felt I was in very good company. The amiable driver was as talkative, if not more talkative, than I usually am. We kept changing roles- no, he did not hand me the steering wheel. Sometimes he talked and I listened, and oft he listened and I talked.
Nice arrangement. I must admit.
I must also admit that I met some very fine human beings and poets during my sojourn.
I will come to that later.
TO BE CONTINUED
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