Ink Dries -- A reading at Lamakaan

The last time Mr. Vijay Marur had lent his voice to bring my poems alive
was at the launch of my first book Moving On at the auditorium of State
Gallery of Fine Arts and looking at the numerous empty chairs, I had
mentally kicked myself for not being able to put together a packed
house -- something that a performer with immaculate credentials in
theatre like Mr. Marur deserved. Incidentally I also felt sad because
(while on the stage and looking out at the empty chairs) I got more
than one SMS from the audience (many of them first timers at any
poetry reading) saying -- "this guy is mind-blowing" and more to
that effect. I mean, what better way to introduce people to the
atmosphere and the sonics of a poetry reading than an event such as
this.

But -- immaterial of how high-thinking or literary your intentions be
you cannot force people to come, can you? And let's face it, if there
is one genre that is misunderstood and shunned repeatedly, it has to
be poetry.

Which is why (in all probability) there were empty chairs galore at
Lamakaan and I could have kicked myself so hard as to do permanent
damage to my ability for locomotion.

The rest of it was excellent; Mr. Marur as usual read my poems to
a rapt audience and we even had a creditable (the joke is on me
really) discussion with him wanting to know why some of the poems
in the book are earthy, whether I write all my poems in situ and so on.

Then we had Lamakaan's "Kaanch Ke Gilaas Mein" Irani Chhai, had a
small impromptu discussion (either sides of a power cut), I thanked
everyone who had come, had a bit of a discussion with N and it was
all over.

A big thank you to Mr. Vijay Marur, to Lamakaan and all those who
could make it to the event. As for those of you who couldn't, I do
understand what it means to labour through the prosaics of distance
and traffic on a weekday! It had to be a weekday because that was
the only slot available at Lamakaan this month.

And I will also say this in conclusion -- I don't see myself as
a "sad" poet or an "angsty" poet. I do have what is the writer's
angst and I do have some other angsts; but I am okay with them,
I can live with them. What I don't want to be is a "vain" poet
who explains the profundity of each and every word chosen by himself
at the very first opportunity. What I cannot be is a frivolous poet,
as I have always been afflicted by gravitas. But it's okay, I am
comfortable in my skin about being serious and about living
with a writer's angst. And I am as happy as anyone else out there;
life is good, can be better!

Thank you.

A reading of poems from Ink Dries at Lamakaan on 20th March

My fervent apologies for being out of action here for so long. Thing
is that too many things have been happening (or not happening) in the
last couple of months and since I am more or less chronologically
challenged -- I haven't been able to write about all of them in time.

Maybe I will, soon.

Speaking of chronology, in a couple of hours from now, there is a reading
of poems from Ink Dries at Lamakaan. Truth be told, this is something I
have been trying to set up for more than two months and failing to.

But then, all good things happen in their own time I guess.

So today evening (finally) it is Lamakaan for me and Ink Dries
as I will be in conversation with, and my poetry will be read
by the one and only Vijay Marur. I know it is very, very short
notice but if you are seeing this in time and are based in Hyderabad
please do come over.

Lamakaan is in lane Adjacent to CBay, Opposite GVKOne, Road No 1, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad

The reading is from 6.30 onwards.

Book Launchitis and some trivia about Ink Dries

Since I had been through the whole process of a Book Launch / Release
earlier (with Moving On), I was a lot less expectant and (looking at
something relatively low-key). Since I am still kinda cussed about
not forcing my poetry on anyone, I also did not go around personally
inviting those close (or at least those I think are close) as if the event in question was my marriage.

And all in all, it was a good event; a book of poetry came out / was launched /
got released and since U was there as my interpreter (typing up questions
-- asked by the audience -- for me to read on GTalk and respond to) there was
a fairly good interaction too. I guess this is a template I can use down the
line too.

I don't know if it shows me in a better or a worse light, but any
interaction with readers / prospective readers is good for the book. And,
considering that I did almost nothing for Moving On, its a sea change
for Ink Dries, something that this book does deserve.

Umm...what exactly is Launchitis, you may ask?

I cannot exactly explain it, lets say I have just coined another word and it
refers to a peculiar sense of ennui / estrangement / withdrawal (?) or a
peculiar trepidation resulting out of "what next" now? But then, its there,
or was there...for the first 2-3 days following the launch / release.

Maybe I won't feel this next time around, or maybe it will be even acuter
as I write poetry that "says" more, who knows...

Now for some trivia and a bit of this and that about Ink Dries.

The book has some 75 odd (need I count and be exact?) poems with two of
them long poems. It also presents some poems that I had written some 10
years or so back and lost; but were safe with U...

The book also has some poems that deal with the logophile part of me;
my innate love for words immaterial of their meaning and context and
how I keep making them do what I want them to do. And the worship of
pith -- as poet and copywriter.

The editing was done at the seventh floor flat of my editor, G, over
two sessions, and the second time we had sat down to it, I could see a
black kite at eye level through the balcony :-) That was one surreal
experience and I really envy G for getting to see black kites in
the eye on a fairly common basis.

Quite a few of the poems in Ink Dries deal with nature; in fact while
describing myself for the only writer workshop that I had applied to
in 2011 (the application was late by an hour), I said "I am primarily
a poet of nature" and it shows in these poems too; poems that weren't
easy to write or pin down and perfect, but poems that I am happy
and thrilled, came to me.

As I write this, I am all set to visit Bharatpur Wildlife Sanctuary
tomorrow, for a day long session of birding. And I know there will
be much more than photos on offer tomorrow, I know more poems will
come too. I just hope I can write them all down!

Oh, here's the last bit -- I am utterly cured of Launchitis now
and its been one full week of hectic travel and the thrills of
being out on the road. What fun, in fact!

Ink Dries -- Book Launch at Akshara

As book launches and releases go, it wasn't much, with around 25
people making up the numbers, counting the little man and my family :-)

But it was an amazing evening all the same, in terms of quality,
interest, involvement etc. and because I was able to interact with
those present thanks to the "interpreting" of U, I did not feel
the usual fears either.

In retrospect, maybe Sunday was a wrong day; in retrospect, maybe I
should have personally invited everyone I know. In retrospect...

Anyway, that's me with Professor Subbarayudu



And here are some photos of the audience






And here is one of the reading by Priti :-)



All in all, it was a good event and thus now Ink Dries is officially released (as of 22nd January). Thanks a lot to all who came a fair distance on a Sunday to attend the event. And special thanks to Akshara Bookstores!

Pre-order your signed copy of Ink Dries at Flipkart

Yes, Ink Dries is now available on Flipkart.

On a pre-order basis, at a cool discount of 25%.

And these are signed copies :-)

Get your own copy here.

Ink Dries -- Book Launch at Akshara Books on 22nd January

Do come on over :-)

Pre-order a signed copy of Ink Dries at Evening Hour

If there's a lot that goes into writing (and reworking on) a poem, there
is an even lot more that goes into giving a collection of poems the
shape of a book -- sequencing them (this itself is worthy of a separate
blogpost), typesetting them with an ideal font (again worthy of at least
one more blogpost), deciding on paper quality, size, etc. and most
importantly, deciding on the print run.

{There is of course the most important step -- deciding on the book's
title and the cover design; but then as you (and I) know that's done
and done pretty fast this time around.}

Peculiarly enough what adds to the task of sequencing the poems in
Ink Dries is the fact that it is not a themed book, unless one calls
"writing a poem" a theme. And as with most poetry books that are not
themed, one has to face up and choose from a literal bevy of
possibilities about where to place which poem and if to let the
book segue seamlessly (as was the case with Moving On) or to
incorporate sectioning and separators...


But then, I have been here before and all that should get done in
time, and Ink Dries will be forthcoming soon. Which brings me to
this post. Thanks to Priyanka and the good people at Evening Hour,
you can now pre-order a copy of Ink Dries and get it shipped to you
free (anywhere in India)!

More details here at Evening Hour's link

The book should be available at a other places and there will be a
release / launch here in Hyderabad too. More details on all that later;
for now if you want a copy of Ink Dries, just pre-order it at
Evening Hour!

And oh yes, as I keep saying, it is poetry so be good to it. :-)

Moving On to Ink Dries and beyond

When I decided to take the plunge and bring out my first collection
of English poetry I wasn't one of the "poets" belonging to a clique
or a group, or someone with an established "voice" / reputation,
academic credentials / blog, etc.

Nor was I -- for that matter -- someone established in prose or
any other genre, a name out in the market and known to readers.

In other words, I was out and out obscure and unknown. In other
words, expecting any mainline publisher to show interest in my book
would have been a bit like wishing for a lottery.

As such, I decided to go it alone and self-publish my poetry. And I
put up Coucal Books to do the same. With the objective of bringing
out other poetry books; of poets as obscure as me.

But then, this and that has resulted in the last two years being a
bit choppy on the personal and professional front; which meant I
couldn't really do much about scouting out for other poets looking
at getting their books out.

Besides, in these two years there hasn't been an earth-shattering
awakening of interest for poetry in the minds of readers. And
though it is a bit easier to find out the "niches" of poetry lovers
thanks to the burgeoning numbers of online groups, poetry books
are still risky propositions, slow starters, etc.

So, the sum total of books brought out by Coucal in the last 2 years
is one. Mine.

And the next book that Coucal's bringing out is also mine.

In the eyes of a lot of discerning or opinionated or plain cynical
people out there this would look like vanity publishing.

I wouldn't know; I am as vain about my poetry as any poet out there
but I certainly don't write to get famous or to show you my best side
or to see my name in print.

Nor do I write poetry (or bring out poetry books) to become rich,
for that matter.

So I would like to see what I do as self-publishing, that too in the
great tradition of senior Indian poets like Nissim Ezekiel, Jayanta
Mahapatra, Arun Kolatkar, etc.

For those who can't make out the difference between vanity publishing
and self-publishing, I have nothing much to say.

For those who are interested in poetry; specifically those interested
in bringing out their poetry -- hey, Coucal is here, drop me a mail,
(or message me on FB) and we will take it ahead!

Speaking of "Moving On", I still think it was one of the best things
to have happened to me, one of the most important things I have done
in life. Since then, I have learned a lot about poetry, poets and
publishing, but I am happy to say that my passion for poetry still
stays un-quenched and I will keep at it. And as far as poetry books
go, Moving On has garnered a fair amount of readership and been pretty
well received with many readers writing in to me appreciating this poem
or liking that poem.

Since I haven't done this elsewhere ever, a big thank you to all my
readers.

Yes, I promise to keep at it and write and publish more poetry,
even as the ink dries.

December Dilemmas and drying ink

I have a peculiar relationship with December, for all of five or
more years now. I love December since it is the high-point of the
Indian winter, the weather is bracingly cool and ( I can say this
as have done a fair bit of touring) the landscapes and the vistas
when you are out on the road and in the interiors can be stunningly
breath-taking. And yet, December also means the end of an year;
and the onset of another that comes with its own attendant worries.
This December has been no different; and has added the gravitas
of bringing a lot of memories to do with Orissa (about which there
are quite a few poems in my forthcoming book)to the visual feast
that I have been enjoying in the wilderness I ramble in -- near my
place -- for birding. Significantly, in a throwaback to my childhood
days, I have yet again "bonded" with the outdoors, felt the same way
I used to when I was 11 years old and just learning what my self means
while rambling over the hills that comprise the Durgapur Range.

I may have aged in the interim but somehow the outdoors seem the same;
I could be sitting besides a Pokhuri in Orissa instead of a disused
quarry out here in Hyderabad. I could be rambling over the hills and
rice fields of my childhood, instead of these acres that flank a
military installation (and are left wild to serve as a perimeter)
here in Hyderabad. Its not the mind playing tricks, its an overpowering
surge of memories, a flood of poetry.

As such it has been bloody tough; to collect all finished poems,
rework on them, run edits and simultaneously finding time and
mindspace to write this month's, this season's. Oh well, maybe
its a good problem to have after all.

But the biggest dilemma of December has been what to call the book
and what cover image to run with. Revisiting all that I have gone
through and typing it all out here could end up splaying my fingers
even further; so let me suffice to say that it wasn't easy to decide
on the name Ink Dries. Nor was it to decide on the cover visual,
but then as I say in one of the poems in the book, "if you are ____,
there will always be time".

So there, the cover is decided and bit by bit the book's taking shape
too. And expected to be out in January 2012.



More updates to follow; for now some trivia -- yes, the photograph has
been taken by me and yes, the book has a number of poems dealing with
the "word" and with the most important tool of the writing trade, ink.