Wordsworth - Poetry once again

Journalist-writer-painter-film producer and parliamentarian Pritish Nandy has revived his romance with poetry with his book 'Again', which hit the bookstores yesterday. "This book is for my friends, who've been pursuing me to write poetry for a really long time," says the writer with the trademark glint in his eyes. He shares his passion for words:


WHO: Pritish Nandy
WHAT: Talks about his love for words
WHERE: His office in Nariman Point

The poet resurfaces

The magic of poetry is that it's always autobiographical. I have written 30 books on poems till now, and my friends and family were keen that I write another one as there's been a long gap. Gulzar was the most persuasive of the lot; he kept urging me to write this book.
I work with words, so whether it is poetry, journalism or novels, it's just a matter of choice. I get inspired by everything around me, life in general, beautiful women, hope, opportunity and mostly importantly, the constant desire to create.u00a0

On a new level

I think the current crop of Indian English writers is remarkable. The writing is good in terms of language, form, idiom and soul. Indian English writing is finding its own identity. I love it and read a lot of it. It would be unfair to single out a few authors, as the entire generation is doing very well. Even some of the work in regional languages is of an exceptional standard. We are going through a literary renaissance. But my suggestion to the young writers is that they should unlearn what their English teachers taught them and develop their own style. And they must always write straight from their heart.u00a0

Reading through time

I grew up reading Pablo Neruda, Lorka and most of the Latin American writers. In Bengali, my favourites are Jibanananda Das, Shakti Chattopadhyaya and Sunil Ganguly. The romance of Urdu is also very appealing. I love poets like Sahir Ludhianvi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Kaifi Azmi, Majrooh Sultanpuri and others.

Juggling roles

I do quite a few things in life. One thing leads to another. But then, my life has never been like a straight line. And that's what makes it an interesting one. I don't have a normal day like others. One day, I am writing poems and painting on the other. The rest of the time I could be in the parliament or just chatting on Twitter. I like my life this way.