Rushdie`s poetic novels find mention at Jaipur fest session

Jaipur: Amid uncertainty over Salman Rushdie`s proposed video conference at the Jaipur Literature Festival, a session pitting poetry against other genres of writing today saw a reference to poetic novels of the controversial author.

Poetry contains everything like fiction, drama and story and there is nothing which can not be there in poems, but it does not mean that it is superior as compared to short stories, feels poet K Satchidanandan. "There is difference yet interconnection between short stories and poem. The main difference between the both is of style. Poetry is a rhythmic presentation and we can say many more things in just four lines," he said at the session `Amne Samne: Kavita and Kahani`. "What poem cannot have... it can contain everything - story, drama, fiction and others. There is no element of story which cannot be in poem. In fact, poetry is used as a medium to express stories too," he said while citing the examples of Mahabharata and Ramayana. However, he said, he was not trying to establish that poetry is superior as compared to short stories. Satchidanandan just for a reference also mentioned work (non-controversial) of Rushdie in context of `poetry in novels` and not beyond this. Another poet-critic Ashok Vajpeyi said that stories cannot do what poems can. He also spoke on poetic elements in short stories. Vajpeyi held institutions responsible for present state of poetry. "Schools, colleges and other institutions which were supposed to make efforts to keep the verse alive did not make efforts in this direction," he said. "There is no conflict between short stories and poetry as far as Kashmiri literature is concerned," writer and translator Neerja Mathoo of Kashmir said. PTI