A tete-e-tete with Rhythm Divine's Promising Poet of the Month, Payal Gupta

A tete-e-tete with Rhythm Divine's Promising Poet of the Month, Payal Gupta

Dear Bookworms,As you know Rhythm Divine is a poetry group in Kolkata initiating young, talented as well as experienced poets to discover the art of poetry and creative writing. Rhythm Divine Poet of the Month is a year long online poetry contest where every month on a given theme poets write verses and our judge Biswanath Dasgupta, Creative Director and Edit-in-Charge of The Telegraph in Schools(TTIS) declares poet of the month and promising poet of the month. 
                                Being Bookworms is glad to be associated with Rhythm Divine.

Poet Payal Gupta was awardedPromising Poet of the Month ( June) on the 26th September in RD organized thousand Poets for Change initiative in Kolkata, representing poetry and love for art on a global platform.

Payal shares her experiences with us and hope you get inspired to follow your passions.

 Payal Gupta is a DST-INSPIRE Junior Research Fellow working at University of Calcutta towards a doctoral degree in Genetics. Although she was academically pursuing science, she was always passionate about literature and art. She is an avid reader and appreciates works across a myriad of genres. She started composing poems at a young age and is associated with the Rhythm Divine Poetry Group of Kolkata where she recently won the Promising Poet of the Month Award.

 Payal when did you start writing?

I started writing when I was around 13 yrs old. I even contributed to school and college magazines, but these contributions were pretty rare. Being an introvert I mostly wrote for myself and never really shared my work with others around.


Tell us about yourself? How did it feel to win promising poet of the month?

I am simple person with simpler dreams. I don’t believe in magic but I do believe in miracles. I have my vices that I fight and ignore. Poetry for me is my alter ego in black and white and sometimes in rainbow colors.
Given the fact that RD, poets of nature, was actually the first platform where I gave voice to my words meant the world to me. In the debut podium to have won the promising poet award and be so appreciated was like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I’ll always be grateful for the love and honor.

What do you think about the concept of Rhythm Divine? 
The initiative of writing poetry everyday and sharing and reading them too is what RD does, What you think about it? Your suggestions and your experience with RD?

As I have mentioned, I have always been in my shell. Very few people even knew that I wrote. My joining RD was a stroke of serendipity and I have been ever thankful for that. RD and a special mention of Sufia have encouraged me a lot to share what I write and that I think is what we need to help more people portray their talents.
The concept of writing everyday and sharing it with people who would understand and appreciate the emotions and intricacies of words woven together is magnificent and enriching to say the least. A bright side is also the fact that we are encouraged to write in various languages which gives us a chance to do justice to our feelings.
RD is doing some great work and I wish it many more successes and great poets ahead. I just wish I was more available to attend the various workshops that I miss out on. I would like to suggest that we take a themed poet’s meet every alternate month. We select a renowned and favorite poet and recite their work and the work we composed when inspired by them. It could be a wonderful thing and we pay tribute to those who rightfully deserve it.

 What is poetry exactly to you? Tell us in which style you like to write in?

Every day we wish to rise above our mundane lives and feel things that are surreal. We want the magic carpet and the genie from the bottle to make our ordinary selves special in our eyes. And this is exactly what poetry does for me. The pen in my hand is like my magic carpet taking me on a journey through myself. I discover new emotions in myself and newer ways to express them. I find myself through writing.
I am a classic at heart. Free verses are good to read but I feel that writing in rhymes and giving rhythm to poetry is more challenging and more rewarding. I love to read poems with given rhyming patterns. I also have a special something for Sonnets and Odes.

 Your favorite poets? Any specific genre of poetry you like and why?

This is by far the most challenging question, but some poets that I admire are Robert Frost, E. E. Cummings, Mirza Ghalib, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, William Shakespeare and many others.
I love to read poetry on love and human emotions.

What are your future plans? Anything you like to do with your zeal for poetry?

RD has helped me fan my passion for poetry and since I have received so much encouragement I would like to improve my writing and widen my horizon. I would read more and do more experiments with my poetry. I’ll also try my luck at getting it published.

Sufia, you have been a great friend and a wonderful person to know. Your endeavors have done more good than you imagine or take credit for. Keep up the good work.

Hope you enjoyed every bit of this journey..you can join Rhythm Divine poetry group...ping sufa khatoon on fb with your poem and take that first step towards shaping your passion for writing
Keep writing and keep loving that love called books


Regards,
Being Bookworms