Twin City Poetry Club
With samosas and hot cups of coffee, the passionate poets of this club begin their monthly meetings. Founded by Rajesh Kumar, Vice President of an HR firm, the club believes in inclusivity and welcomes poets of all genres and languages to share their poetry.
“We are concentrating on the communitisation of poetry. The intention of the club is to provide a platform for anybody who wants to dabble in poetry, irrespective of form, structure or language,” says Rajesh.
Mighty words: (first from left) Rajesh Kumar, founder of TCPC.
Open Sky slam
Despite growing into a group for other art forms like theatre and music, Open Sky Slam still prides itself on being recognised as a group founded on poetry. Started a year back in Hyderabad, Open Sky is increasingly gaining strength.
It is also present in Pakistan and Australia. Shruthi M. Acharya, the Country Ambassador says, “We’ve had poets from five to 58 years of age. It’s a space for people to perform without having to worry about how good or bad they are. It started when my friends and I prepared for an event and it got cancelled. We then performed for each other and thought we’d take it ahead.”
A Slam Dream
Founded by Aarcha R.S. when she was just 17, A Slam Dream was born almost by accident. Aarcha, who is now pursuing her Bachelor’s degree, says that she had never heard about slam poetry until the day that she got invited to an event by the American consulate.
“I then started watching videos of slam poetry performers and I was enamoured. I couldn’t make it to the event that day, so I thought I’d host one myself. When I was 16, I convinced three of my friends and we had our first slam. I formally started A Slam Dream a year later, after I took a course with the Airplane Poetry Movement,” she explains.
Ka Se Kavita
While other clubs focus on reciting their own poetry, this Hindi and Urdu group does the opposite. “We don’t recite our poems but those of great, established poets and masters. These days, while every other person has started writing poems, not many read poetry anymore,” says Minakshi Choudhary, an active member of the group.
Ka Se Kavita is the local chapter of Hindi Kavita that’s popular on YouTube with Bollywood celebrities like Naseeruddin Shah and Manoj Bajpayee reciting poetry. “If one of us recites poetry, people may not listen, but if Amitabh Bachchan recites, people want to,” explains Minakshi.
