Given below in alphabetical order are bios of all ZESTPoets members who cared
to send in their bios. If you haven't, please do! Post it to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
And if there's anything about your bio here that you'd like to be changed, post
that too, or approach the moderators directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The idea of this exercise is to get to know each other, rather than remain
nameless faces behind cryptic email ID's.
*
Abhishek Hazra
This is Abhishek Hazra here. I dont know how I got myself subscribed to the
ZEST list, but have been following the poetry postings on and off. Have been
reading all the bios with interest though, and finally thought that it is only
fair that I post mine.
I am a visual artist masquerading as a graphic designer; or rather as a
tradesman of type, texture and assorted visual flotsam. Occasionally try writing
on art; exhibition catalogues and the like. Have an amateurish interest in the
sociology of science / history of science. In poetry I am an interested
ignorant. Would have been nice to call myself an enthusiast of contemporary
Bengali poetry, but alas, have read too little to say that. Have been in
Bangalore for sometime now. Hope to post some of my works soon at
www.abhishekhazra.in
However for the real addicts of Alternative Bengali Literature: partake of the
bounties at www.boipara.com - one of the most stimulating online interventions
in recent times.
*
Aditi Thorat, Mumbai
24 going on 25, I love Dickinson, Neruda, Winterson (who I am convinced is a
poet writing prose), Adrienne Rich and Marachera (a fabulous Zimbabwean
writer!). I work in Mumbai with an NGO on urban poverty issues. I write mostly
verse, though am struggling with my first novella...been published a bit- TLM,
nthposition online, etc...Check out www.nthposition.com- the June edition
features one of my poems.
*
Anand Vishwanadha, Hyderabad
I have always had an identity crisis, and writing does help me find an answer
to what I am, who I am. I am based in Hyderabad, call advertising a profession,
am a Telugu Brahmin by roots and upbringing and a jack of all trades by
fast-changing interests (and a master of none thanks to paucity of time). Well,
to state two more facts, I am 32 and single.
Honestly, for me poetry has to have pith, angst, humour or any other emotion
and of course also some soul. My poetry has no strict style and I rarely plan
it for that matter. I must also say here that most of my poetry is derived from
what I see around me, or the happy, poignantly, pregnantly, blissfully bucolic
childhood I enjoyed, back in Orissa. Poetry apart, travelogues are another
muse, but then there are just 24 hours in a day, oh-so-sadly.
*
Anand Vivek Taneja, Delhi
Anand Vivek Taneja is a researcher with Sarai CSDS and works on contemporary
media histories in Delhi. He is also deeply involved with the history of Delhi
and its monuments and has made a film on twentieth century histories of the
Purana Qila called The Past is a Foreign Country.
*
Bikram Bindra, Delhi
I am Bikram. a student of management in the University of Delhi, and stay in
north campus itself. I am an engineer by profession, but this supposedly
mechanical field has not killed the artsy in me, and I love to debate and write
on issues pertaining to societal trends, gender issues and sexuality. The
university of Delhi is an amazing place to explore ones persona, and the
various sights and sounds I encounter daily have helped shape my creativity and
sometimes, break the mould.
Poetry of any kind appeals to me for its pithy attack, and occasionally,
engrossing narrative.
*
Debanjan Bagchi, Singapore
I am Debanjan, I work with money (banking) in Singapore. At age 30, I am living
my last few days of bachelorhood.
I am in a profession that probably requires qualities which are exactly 360
degrees opposite to those of a poet. And probably that's why I have not been
able to write anything that can by remotest chance be called a poem.
Nevertheless I love reading any kind of good literature and someday I hope
ZESTPoets will inspire me to write something on my own.
*
Harris Khalique, Islamabad
Harris Khalique studied social development at the London School of Economics
and Political Science, and engineering at the NED University of Engineering and
Technology, Karachi. He now heads a national community development organisation
in Islamabad, and writes poetry in Urdu and English. His earlier collections
include "Purani Numaish" (Urdu, 2001), "Divan" (English, 1988), "Saray Kaam
Zaroori Thay" (Urdu, 1997), "If Wishes Were Horses" (English, 1996), "Aaj Jab
Hui Baarish" (Urdu, 1991). He is also author of "Pakistan: The Question of
Identity" (2003) and co-author, along with Rohini Kohli, of "Unfinished
Histories" (2002).
"Harris Khalique comes from a generation of poets who have internalised both
English and South Asian poetic traditions. Also, through English he has imbibed
a lot from world literature. His experience of living in both South Asian and
European cultures brings a rare synthesis in both thought and expression. But
what makes him unusual is his ability to express his emotions with a unique
directness and a remarkable combination of paradox and simplicity. His poems
are widely acclaimed and considered much deeper than conventional poetry by
leading critics and writers. He is counted among the most significant poets of
his generation who use English as a medium linking local feel andexperience
with the universality of anguish and wonderment."
*
Indira Babbellapati, Vishakapatnam
Im referred to as Indira and to my son, Inda reducing the maternal burden. A
teacher by profession, I tell myself that cheating is what my profession is all
about (no, Im no cynic). Im in my mid-forties though I got stuck with time.
Ive been living in a port town. Theres no room for choices. Thats where i
work. Most of my time is spent in meeting everyday challenges with gusto.
I hardly realised what I write could be called poetry until I began posting to
ZESTPoets. If one calls me a poet, ZEST is responsible. Wonder why I write in
English in spite of my Telugu formative years. Wonder why what happens any
where in the world stirs me though Im pretty provincial in my upbringing. Im
never specific of the choice of my subject as its the subject that chooses me.
Scribbling is a compulsion. For my balance and to balance others.
*
J K Mohana Rao, Frederick, Maryland, USA
Presently, I am a scientist at the National Cancer Institute - Interested in
poetry since college days - Written a few in English and Telugu - Wrote only
two so far for Zest - Interested in the theoretical aspects of prosody. Doing a
lot of research in Telugu prosody to discover new metrical and musical patterns
- Some ten years ago, I used to contribute a daily piece of
inspirational poetry to the India Digest - Compiled more than five hundred of
those (including a few of my own) and the compilation is available as "Today's
Beautiful Gem" at http://www.msci.memphis.edu/~ramamurt/mohan_gems.html
*
Jane Bhandari, Mumbai
I was born in Edinburgh in 1944. I came to India 38 years ago. It would be hard
to get rid of me now: the Mumbai culture - with a Punjabi bias - has made me
semi-Asian. The European beneath the patchy Indian veneer has diminished
somewhat over the years; I am comfortable with this duality. Our children are
true Mumbaikers.
I trained as a textile designer but ended up as a teacher and counsellor in
leraning problems. Then I looked after my in-laws for a while. My mother-in-law
had Alzheimer's; my father-in-law was simply very old and crotchety. I really
started writing after my husband died, but had published 2 volumes of short
stories for children in the 70's. Better a late start than none at all.
I now redesign other peoples' homes, and write in the spaces between...what a
wonderful life.
My writing has nothing to do with being Western, or a Punjabi graft: it is
everything to do with the way I am, which crosses all cultural lines. I think
most women have a bawdy sense of humour, which they hide from their men. It's
our secret weapon. At sixty-one I still find myself debating the phallic
significance of microphones, and giggling at the unexpected humour of life. I
write about it too, for the sheer pleasure of it.
*
Juhi Dua, Mumbai
Ok, I know this is a really delayed reply but I guess the new comers reminded
me that this is a task waiting to get done. So here goes.... I am a
Scriptwriter by
profession, working with Times Music (Times Of India) in Bombay. Poetry and
painting are two passions that criss cross often with my profession, blurring
further the hazy boundaries between the two.
Amrita Pritam, William Blake, Keki N. Daruwala, Reetika Vaziriani... are some of
the poets I love reading. I particularly like originals of Amrita Pritam in
Punjabi. The rhythm and music that her original Punjabi poems have is often
lost in the meticulous translations. I write in free verse in English and
Punjabi. I like semi-abstraction in both painting and poetry and appreciate a
tinge of spiritualism in both.
*
Khadeeja Arif, Delhi
I am khadeeja. I work as a researcher at SARAI, CSDS. My interest includes
filmmaking and photography. I am interested in issues of gender and identity.
My video film ' Life is elsewhere' deals with the issue of identity and gender
in the wake of 1992 riots. Currently I am working on 'Popular devotional music
of Muslims in India' and also onto finishing a film on the struggle of Dalit
women. Poetry, for me, is the most secret way of expressing my emotional
turmoils...
You can easily reach me at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
*
Manindar P. S. Suri, California
I'm a native of Calcutta (hometown of Rabindranath Tagore--if only my poetry
reached his level!)and an alumnus of La Martinere (for those Martinians who
might be part of this august group). I have been a resident of the US of A
since 1968. Rutgers University saw fit to give me a Bachelor's degree in 1972.
Go figure! California has been my home since 1977. Here's my bio, such as it is:
Mani Suri is a veteran of the now-defunct Poetic License crowd in L. A. His
poems have been published in a few anthologies, online and in print. He has
read and been featured at various venues around Southern California as well as
at Austin's International Poetry Festival and London's Paddington International
Poetry Festival in 2002. He is the author of two chapbooks, Poetry My Wife
Hates and the Mistresses I Could Have Had Would Have Loved and Reflection: More
Poetry My Wife Hates or the Mistresses I'll Never Have Who Might Have Loved It.
He co-hosts a weekly reading on Fridays at The Rapp Saloon in Santa Monica. (If
you're in L. A.,stop by and visit us. Write me for directions on getting to the
reading or if you'd like to be on the mailing list for our announcements).
*
Maya Ganesh, Mumbai
I have two names, one real, the other unreal. One official, the other
unofficial. But you will only know me as Maya. Everyone does. And Maya doesnt
exist on this plane - no bank account, no passport, no lease nor telephone
bill. Much of my life so far has been about bridging this gap between a
corpo/reality and an imagined one. Some days the duality feels as intimate as
the skin I was born in. On other days it feels like a mask that has been worn
so long it has become my skin. So I write. I always have. In the last three
years I have chosen to focus entirely on writing, casting away other things
that felt untrue. I write to pay the bills, and I write to feed the soul. By
day I am a consultant to inter/national agencies and NGOs in the gender/sexual
health/HIV&AIDS prevention sectors as as a writer and researcher. Apart from
writing I enjoy yoga, travelling, and cooking exotic meals. I moved to Bombay
18 months ago and I dont think I could live any where else now...
The short story is what I enjoy writing the most and find it the most
challenging. I read a little bit of poetry everyday (because "it makes you
exercise muscles you never knew you had" - Ray Bradbury). Now I just make poems
on my fridge door with my magnetic poetry pack. Writing poetry usually inspires
in me a rare terror like no other form of writing does.
*
Monica Mody, Delhi
To her growing astonishment and consternation, Monica finds that she can no
longer relate to cities other than Delhi. What is even more remarkable is that
she actually enjoys living in a sand-walled house at Jangpura Extension, and
the daily drive to work through Lodi Road. She believes the days spent here
form a significant part of her Experiments with Truth.
Monica's poetry is fairly intolerant of dissent these days. She welcomes emails
that are ecstatic about it.
*
Nandita Gandhi, Delhi
Hi, I am Nandita. Have been member of Zest for a while but never got down to
introducing myself. I am a sociologist and researcher in women's studies. My
main job besides running an NGO is writing on social issues and the women's
movement. I love literature and poetry and bringing in different styles to my
non fiction writing. Haven't written poetry for many years now as it requires
more leisure in time as well as state of mind. Hoping that reading other people
will get me back to writing poetry. Want to get back to writing haiku.
*
Ronnie Banerjee, Delhi
I am Ronnie Banerjee and have been following the very interesting exchange of
mails that has been taking place between the zest poets. I am certainly
interested in poetry but pat conversations and sharp exchange (tempered with a
bit of compassion) gives me my jollies. Shivam is delightful and keeping in
mind his earlier criticism of inadequate zest-intro, I am insisting that I do
read any and every poem that I can but am slightly disorderly.
TS Eliot ruled my early college days while his transatlantic fellow country man
critic- Cummings was my favourite too. Not to forget the great William Carlos
Williams (or is it William Carlos William) and our very own Ramanujam. I have
greatly appreciated the lovely exchange between Mr. Mani and Ms. Basu; the
poems on the Sunday flea market were absolutely terrific. I think Shivam you
have a Bloomsberry circle brewing here. Incidentally - purely as an irrelevant
detail - I am a lawyer practicing in Delhi.
*
Paromita Patronobish, Durgapur/Delhi
I stole money from home to get hold of a Dead Poets Society V.C.R and ran it
twice every day till the video rental people came hounding me at my doorstep
three months later. this was when I had been grounded and denied TV for a month
after flunking my English Lit paper for being overtly prolix. My association
with poetry has been rather strange. just like my personality, my poetry is
defined by paradoxes. In pure poetic terms, I see myself as an abortive cross
between Nietszche's Zarathushtra and the dove from Noah's ark that flew. and
found its "Space" in Wole Soyinka's "Shuttle". Doing an under-graduate course
in English Literature can really, seriously brain damage ones "poetic
sensibilities", or so I think.
*
Revati Laul, Delhi
I'm 31, a woman, live in Delhi and was, until now; a tv journalist. Now I'm
trying to live out a long standing dream of making the switch from journo. to
documentary film maker. Let's see how that goes.
But this tells you next to nothing about ME. Let's see...would it help to say I
like Peter Sellars, bitter chocolate, T.S. Eliot and Che?
*
Rinku Dutta, Noida/Delhi
I'm a Bangalee from Jhargram, West Bengal, still very much under Tagore's
influence. I am a molecular biologist and biochemist by profession. I did my
PhD from Rutgers Univ, NJ. While I was there I met Sarmad Abbasi, who is from
Sindh, in Pakistan. We got married in Lahore. Since this is a poets' group, I
can add that our nikkah was performed by Faiz's son-in-law Shoaib Hashmi, at
Faiz's home. I returned from the US to South Asia in 2002. For a year I taught
Eng. Lit. and Drama in a school in Lalitpur, Nepal. I moved to Lahore in 2003
and am now in Noida, since Aug 2004. Sarmad's still in Lahore. We're trying to
juggle several lives.
I write as Rinku, Tanu and Tanya. My poetry's moody.
Moody Poetry
Poetry must punch like Ali
And move as sure-footedly; "Fooling around
Is okay too, some-time"; Bursting into bubbles
of mirthful giggles, occasionally!; Or coupling like pigeons
Cooing in contentment, part-time.
Tanu
01-25-02
Noida
*
Shivam Vij, Delhi
Initiator, the ZEST groups.
I am prosaic.
*
Sunalini Kumar, Delhi
I am Sunalini Kumar, 28 and always stunned at how so many years attached
themselves to me. On this issue at least, I'm perhaps slow on the uptake, which
I hope is good for poetry, if for nothing else. I'd like to believe there is a
connection between slowness and poetry. Milan Kundera (not my favourite author
or anything, by the way) says there is a connection between slowness and
memory. Poetry living in the same realm as memory, perhaps it all adds up...
I earn my living teaching political science at a college in Delhi. All you have
ever heard of political science being dull-as-ditchwater I assure you is
perfectly true, and worse. However, for no good reason at all, I love it. Plus
there is the occasional delight of finding somebody like Hannah Arendt, who
combines in her philosophy, Greek history, a damning critique of modern
economics, storytelling, poetry and (believe it or not) political science! In
general though, its a prosaic life, I don't read as much poetry as I would like
to, and I write it as if it's my little dirty secret. But then, perhaps there's
something of the little dirty secret in all poetry. On that presumption, I look
forward to reading (and writing) on this list!
*
Tripta,
I am essentially a voyeur who thrives on conversations amongst strangers, lost
streets and found loves (somewhere in between, scattered and spattered).
Luckily, I have been able to make a profession out of my passion and am a
researcher working essentially on issues of urban spaces, technological
cultures and everyday life.
Is that fifty words?
I read (and try to write poetry) because it allows me to swallow the tastes of
different emotions and similar experiences. Upholding my naivety (not in vain)
I cannot categorize the kind of poetry I like only some of the names ramble on,
dylan thomas, plath, lorca, wendy coope, neruda, iqbal, cummings, t.s.eliot,
ondaatje. and so many others.
`The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock' is the poem of my life and `/nobody, not
even the rain, has such small hands' /the line which sends shiver down the
spine.
*
Vivek Narayanan, Delhi
Well, this is Vivek, I'm 32 and not single, studied historical anthropology and
creative writing, and work at Sarai in Delhi as a content editor. I won't say
too much more about myself because a) the poem "Death Wish" (to be included in
the next mail) more or less sums up what I am and also what I would like to
ideally be and b) I've already written to this list about who I am and who I am
not, what I've written and what I have not written. Googling myself used to be
an ego-boost, now it's a Borgesian nightmare. Each day more Vivek Narayanans
arrive on the net, and some of them write poetry, prose, or play the cello.
Whence all these Vivek Narayanans? Will we form a club, a world-plundering
army, a cabal with secret designs, or merely duel amongst ourselves with
hand-held weapons of mass-Vivek-destruction until the last Narayanan standing?
Will we all ascetically give up our names or force all 4 billion of the species
to also change their name to Vivek Narayanan? Only time will tell.
About poetry: poetry for me should be a legacy, a seance with the dead and also
with the not-yet-born. Because poetry is a dialogue, a collaborative collective
safety net, the reading of poetry and the writing of poetry should always go
hand in hand. One ought, as Calvino advises, to read in equal parts the
classics, the work of contemporaries, and the work of a few quirky, unknown
personal discoveries, so as not to be overly seduced by any of the above.
Poetry is far beyond form and yet, paradoxically, it is most often released
through a mastery of form. And as for poetry and spirituality, I think of Les
Murray, who said something to the effect of: when it's standing still, it's
religion; when it's in constant flux, it's poetry.
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