My world and words - Sangeeta Sharma

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Sangeeta Sharma

- Sangeeta Sharma

It was a beautiful sun-drenched day of March 2009 when I was flying back home in the cozy company of my beau-hubby from the  pink city, Jaipur, after completing a month-long orientation course, staying alone with him far from the grind of the household, in the University of Jaipur, when for the first time, while the plane was wafting within the fluffy clouds, I was so overwhelmed by their dazzling and mesmerising beauty that I decided not to let the idea fade without penning it down on paper.

After returning home, as it is always, I got busy with my daily professional and domestic schedule and could not find time. However, whenever in my mental eye I tried to recapture the moment…there it was in its full majesty!
The beauty was heavenly and had nevertheless left me gasping for more!!
The day I jotted down my emotions of that particular experience, my first poem was born:
Epiphany
Suspended 
between
air and the earth
I floated like a skylark
and
felt like the venerable Wordsworth

I was exhilarated
macro had become micro
Encompassed by a huge illuminating circle
I was gliding over the fluffy clouds
In an incredible state of mind
with feathery and smoky hillocks of clouds beneath and above
I wondered whether I was still a mortal
I had always known that
it is only the soul that traverses the skies and the immortals

This was like Wordsworthian epiphany.

Life had never seemed so beautiful and surreal
A sanction from God, perhaps, who
gifted me wings to float and soar 
through the enchanting heights!

It was a feeling of elation and jubilation, to be very honest. Till then I had never thought that I would be ever able to compose a poem. And there it was.
Since then there was no looking back. I was not prolific and fully adhered to the Wordsworthian philosophy of “Poetry is a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”

Wordsworth, the great Lake poet, created poetry from the realm of the subjective and I became his disciple, of course, a very humble one.

My compositions, written mostly in free verse, revolve round strong experiences of  life in general and  men, nature, emotions, gender inequality and  Indian realities of the 21st century, in particular.

The subject matter in the poems varies from highly personal, deeply penetrating concerns to those that lament the prejudice and harsh realities of daily life in various sections of Indian society. Sample one:
The Healer
This healer
does not recommend remedy,
Cures itself.
The longing ends
With the presence
A divine feeling!
Relieves
Pain and restiveness.
The revocable presence of the signified does
what multiple signifiers cannot.
Composes and restores
the flailing self.
Submitting is uplifting
and
Affliction, soothing
A few moments
Alas!
The Lacanian lack persists…

Teaching undergrads Modern English and American Poetry, Metaphysical and Shakespearean poetry and particularly, teaching them how to appreciate poetry unlocked more insights and incited interest in trying my hands on this genre which has, of late, become the most innocuous literary expression.

In addition to all this, my official visits to the US and China and Europe enlarged my world-view and provided a cyclorama of ideas.

The poems, with passage of time, got published in various national and international anthologies and journals. Joining online poetry groups and posting my favourite compositions on them, too, proved helpful. Louis Kasatkin, founder of the prestigious Destiny Poets Online Group was kind enough to honour me with the Poet of the Month title. Regular encouraging and insightful responses from Louis Kasatkin and other members on different online groups encouraged me all the more to write. I will remain indebted to all those who cared to send their valuable feedback on my poetry. Gradually, I reached a stage when I had more than 100 poems.

On coming across the collection of Hector Hugh Munro’s (Saki) Collection of 76 Short Stories, I decided to get even my collection of 76 poems published.

Along: The Way (3rd book authored by me), a collection of 76 poems, thus got afloat in October 2017 by the highly-esteemed AuthorsPress, New Delhi. Sudarshan Kcherry, the publisher of high repute, deserves a grateful thanks for supporting and publishing writers. Along: The Way is available on the links given below:

Literature has always been considered as a record of the times and an imaginative reconstruction of social reality. So is poetry. It clarifies and crystallizes our thoughts and as James Joyce defines ‘epiphany’, it helps preserves the most delicate and evanescent moments.

I firmly believe that poetry enables us to capture everyday experiences, variegated emotions, fluid, critical, awesome, and enlightened moments and safeguards the crucial life occurrences from slipping away into nothingness.

3 comments :

  1. Thank you Setu for letting us, the readers, know of the epiphanic start to the poetic journey of Sangeeta Sharma, of her global exposure, of her poetic insights, and of her conclusion that poetry is capable of capturing everyday experiences, emotions and moments. Enjoyed every bit of the narration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, dear Atreya Sarma, for your valuable comments.
      I am honoured by your kind words.

      Delete
    2. Thank you so much, dear Atreya Sarma, for your valuable comments.
      I am honoured by your kind words.

      Delete

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