Arvind K Mehrotra's flowing beard and his deeply sensitive features make the artistic writer stand out in a crowd. The poet, well known for his internationally famous anthologies, made a very interesting observation at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival by stating, "There are a lot of similarities among Horace, Kabir and Tulsidas." In a brainstorming session, the poet charged up the audience by reading out extracts of his translations of old Prakrit love poems 'Absent Traveller'.
Talking to
Nabila Habib and
Shivangi Singh, Mehrotra spoke on his forte poetry as well as his upcoming works and cinema.
Q: What are the changing trends in poetry in recent times?
Mehrotra: Poetry is one genre that doesn't change rapidly. Unlike other literary genres, poetry trends take time to evolve and develop.
Q: What are your upcoming works?
Mehrotra: I have done translations of Kabir's poetry and Marathi poet Arun Kolatkar's works.
Q: You are also the Head of the Department of English Poetry at Allahabad University. Please tell us about the modern day literature scholar?
Mehrotra: Some of the students are immensely talented and they have the potential to eventually become great writers. Like yesteryears, contemporary scholars are also as sincere.
Q: Which Indian English Writers do you admire?
Mehrotra: I admired Arun Kolatkar, Amit Choudhary. I haven't read much of the recent works of Amitav Ghosh, so can't say about him now.
Q: What do you think of Internet taking over the book?
Mehrotra: Well, I think that will not happen. Yes, on Internet you read a variety of books, you download classic literature, books are freely available and you don't have to go to a library to read. Just Google whatever you want and you will get it. But I prefer a book instead of a computer screen. You can't lie down and read your favourite book on a Kindle. Besides, you don't have to worry about charging your book!
Q: Do you type or write your works?
Mehrotra: I first scribble and then type it. I am more comfortable with paper and pen.
Q: Do you watch Hindi films? Are you planning cinematic adaptation of your poetry?
Mehrotra: Yes, I like films. Recently I watched 'Kaminey', I also liked 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' and found 'Johnny Gaddar' to be impressively slick. But no, there are no plans of cinematic adaptation of my works.
Q: Do you think cinema is inferior to literature?
Mehrotra: Well, one can't say that because both are separate mediums of expression. The mediums cannot be compared or merged. They stand separate and are different branches of art.
Q: Do you plan to write prose works or novel apart from poetry?
Mehrotra: No, I will keep writing poems. I have no plans of taking up any other genre.
Q: Why does poetry sound so much better when it is recited?
Mehrotra: You see, poetry has emerged from an oral tradition. Poems were never written earlier they were recited impromptu. Later, poems were transcripted for record.
Q: Would you please recite something for us?
Mehrotra: (Smiling) Oh, I can't manage an impromptu recital.
Q: What is the idea behind keeping punctuations to a minimum in your works?
Mehrotra: Well, it's not deliberate. You may have read some pieces, which required minimum punctuation marks, but I do use punctuation marks whenever required.
First Published: Thursday, February 04, 2010, 10:46