India, despite known for its rich artistic culture, isn’t very encouraging for the independent artists and their communities. But these artists, devoted to their art, will always find a way nonetheless.
Considering we’re only a small group, with not much experience when it comes to holding major-scale events, our contribution to 100 Thousand Poets For Change was a modest one. Even then, it’s something we feel quite proud of.
In our day to day lives, despite being a part of a rich social environment, there is still a lot of discontent buried in our midst. The causes of this collection of discontent is usually never addressed because most of us are either uncomfortable about speaking it out clearly (due to fears enforced by taboos and politics) or we’re misdirecting our feelings altogether. When communications fail, all attempts at solving problems come to a stand-still.
And we wanted to change that.
When we organized our first 100 Thousand Poets For Change event, we were hoping that as many poets as the last time would turn up to talk about things things that they personally care for, so it was surprising when only about a half were present for the event (they were many reasons for the absences, ranging from examination season to themed-slams not going too well). Some new faces also only recently found out that Pune had a regular slam-scene that they could be a part of, so as the event trailed on we had numbers after numbers of folks attending to witness the event, until the venue was packed.
Our slams are usually an open invitation for folks to freely join in and be a part of a fun community bound by a shared interest, and it doesn’t matter if they’ve ever written a single poem or if they’ve been writing all their lives. In this community, everyone is equal, and everyone has something important to say that needs to be heard. Everyone has been through something that another might not have. Every word, and every person, matters.
And this was the point of introductory workshops, where each person introduced themselves, not as who they are but who they envision to be — by associating themselves with a metaphor that they hold close to themselves, such as:
“I want to be a bicycle wheel that keeps turning to bring you closer to your destination.”
“I want to be this rare wrist-watch I’m wearing that keeps reinventing itself with every upgrade necessary.”
“I want to be this pair of glasses I’ve been wearing all my life, so that our perceptions can be a little bit clearer than they otherwise would have been.”
With a little bit of conversation to break the ice, a little bit of laughter welcome every bystander outside, and a little bit of hope that in this event no taboo could ever bar one’s words from having been spoken, we began the first round of our slam.
As a host, I found myself a really hard time conducting this. I wanted to keep the audience’s attentions fresh while still keeping them involved with each performer — new and old. Despite the low numbers compared to the previous slams, we weren’t disappointed with the performances because those that did perform did so with the explosive need to communicate. There were even more attendants and performers for the Open Mic after the slam, which could not be covered due to technical limitations but was still far more intimate than the slam alone could have been (especially considering some poems were genuinely pleasant experiences, such as KC’s “Trees” which didn’t shy away from interacting with the audiences).
Below, I provide you a playlist from both rounds of the slam. While each of them are important and worth watching, there are a few gems that in it that I could not help replay them on a loop. So sit-back, get some popcorn, and enjoy!
ORGANIZERS: Tushant Mirchandani, and the entire team of Pune Poetry Slam.
CONTACT: tushantin@gmail.com
Artsphere, 402, Fourth Floor, North Court Building, North Avenue Road No. 12, Above Oriental Bank, Near Joggers Park, Kalyani Nagar, Pune 411006
