Bengaluru has a new generation of brutally raw and striking poets who believe that in order to reach out and preserve their art, pixels and bytes are a better forum any day. Instagram, the app once designed to replicate a photo album online, is now the chosen platform to showcase poetry as youngsters addicted to both their gadgets as well as rhyming, have found a convenient balance between the two.
"Writing is a long term process. Any legitimate piece is all about improvising and the couplets or snippets of poetry that might go on social media is just any unfiltered thought that passes one's mind.", says Bharat Sudama, (ig: @tinybrratt) a 26 year old executive producer with a penchant for rhyming. Later he adds, "Yet, today's generation is known for their need to be on social media at all times. I'm always on my phone, so Instagram or Facebook is any day an easier option for me to reach out."
These unconventional poets pen verses that are precise and hard hitting. From war to gender inequality, and from the challenges faced by their own selves, Instagram poets have left nothing uncovered. Nupur Saraswat (ig: nupursaraswat), the 22 year old spoken word performance artist who is already touring the world claims her Instagram is "to let people know where they can watch me perform next. Instagram is to reach out to as many people as possible, and since my art is a vocal performance, I turn to videos to create a platform for it."
Adolescent school goers to upfront social activists, Instagram is a cluster of vibrant poetry, courtesy names such as Lavanya Snigdha (ig: @wordblocked), Minal Sukumar (ig: @minal_sukumar), Siddharth Shukla (ig: shukla_siddharth), Aishwarya Iyer (ig: ash_iyer) and many others. Bold words and resolute voices lest be dissolve away with paper, turns them towards social media.
Khawaja Musadiq, a computer science engineering student is passionate about verses. The 19 year old has a booming Instagram account (@poetofblues) of over 10,000 followers, and spills, "When I started writing, I used to post my poems on Facebook so that people know I write. I wanted to compile them into a book which unfortunately didn't happen because of a lack of audience here. This spurred the start of my Instagram account where I post almost everything I write. The lack of a good publisher for my stuff made me turn to social media sites for showcasing my work. I didn't want my poems to wither away without being read."
