Bengaluru: In the world full of wannabe poets who believe that fancy is the new deep, Samantak Bhadra is a breath of fresh air. Dressed in a yellow kitschy cotton shirt, jeans and flip flops, the 28-year-old has no airs about him. A native of Kolkata, Bhadra is a poet and a musician, who performs as a part of The Sound of Poetry, a group that creates an interesting mix of poetry and music.
Sipping his filter coffee outside a Titan store in Koramangala, where he works as a manager, he talks about his mellow romance with post memory poetry. “I’m a nostalgic writer. My poems are based on memories that other people have of events, but it’s spoken of so often, it feels like it’s your own memory, kind of like a transgenic transmission.” His poem These Tendons Don’t Tear that was a part of Bengaluru Poetry Festival’s collective publication, which vividly describes his Bangladeshi lineage and tells tales from his grandmother’s memories, is one such example.
Talking about what drives him and The Sound of Poetry, Bhadra says that stage fright is an actual problem and it is important to make poetry readings into something that does not seem far removed from the audience, but instead something that connects. “Lets face it, most poets are introverts. It’s difficult for them to come out in the open and read and most of the time, its brilliant work that goes unheard. I think it needs something that does not make you feel like you’re under a microscope and make you behave like a nervous wreck. When closet poets bloom, they make us all a little more rich”.
Keeping that in mind, in June 2015, he started the poetry group The Sound of Poetry in Pune, where he went to college. It exploded into the poetry scene in the city, he says. “Before The Sound of Poetry, there was nothing happening in Pune in terms of poetry and the first show was at a café called Pagdandi, but the crowds were so receptive when we started and it sparked off a lot of other groups and readings.”
Using music with poetry was hard at first, as he couldn’t find compatible artists but he believed in the concept and held on, he says. “We had a hard time mixing it up because it was a new concept at the time, but I wanted to stick to it. Imagine a romantic poem recited with an acoustic guitar or a political poem with Hindustani music on flute. It has a lot more impact.”
Unique in its approach, the group readings do not have themed readings, just a time constraint. “We have a time limit of 5 minutes, but otherwise no theme. It is unfair to the last ones performing if people are impatient at the end. You can come up and read your own poetry, you friend’s poetry or just talk about a poem that moved you. No pressure at all,” he says.
Their upcoming poetry reading in collaboration with Alipore Post Offline, a weekend gathering of relaxing to musical performances, poetry readings and art exhibitions at The Courtyard House, reflects this laid back vibe. “You can come in; sit wherever you want, and just feel relaxed with no inhibitions while you enjoy the readings.” he says. After a long and hard week, an easy breath does sound like a place to be!
