Mumbai: Poem by ad professional creates stir for use of F-word

27yearold advertising professional Mihir Chitre who has been writing poems and short stories for nearly nine years now recently created a buzz on Twitter The poet has written a book of poems published by the Sahitya Akademi titled Hyphenated One of the poems featured in the book called Ham Sandwich includes the lsquoFrsquo word as wellPoet Mihir Chitre poses with his book of poems Hyphenated that was published by the Sahitya Akademi PicTushar SatamWhat started with a comment by poet Jeet Thayil saying lsquoBreaking news Sahitya Akademi publishes poetry book with the word F in itrsquo soon turned into a heated debate about the quality of poems that the Akademi is publishing At the time of going to press the last tweet from Chitre read lsquoIf nobody hates you yoursquove been rather ordinaryrsquoHe told us that his manuscript was reviewed by eminent poet Ranjit Hoskote and contains a blurb by Malayali poet K Satchidanandan ldquoI donrsquot think there is anything wrong with it It is also not new for poetry in India to use expletivesrdquo Chitre tells us lsquoThere are many poems from the 1960s 70s and 80s including famous works by poet Arun Kolatkar which have used abusive wordsrdquo he explainsWhen we contacted the Sahitya Akademi in Delhi for a comment an official at the Akademi stated ldquoWhen Sahitya Akademi publishes a book a committee is set up to review the manuscripts that we have received It is only after discussion and debate that the decision to publish or not is taken We havenrsquot received any email or official complaint regarding the content of the mentioned book if we do we will take a look at itrdquoCelebrated poet Arundhati Subramaniam believes that though what gets published and what doesnrsquot still remains a mystery to her use of expletives shouldnrsquot be much of a bother ldquoIt depends on how the word is used It can make for either good poetry or bad poetry and that is all that should matter So many of our Dalit poets use expletive language and so do many others their poetry is extremely powerfulHow can we get offendedrdquo she exclaims refraining from passing judgment on the content itself as we read it out to her Raghavendra Madhu poet and founder of Poetry Couture a probono initiative running across Delhi Mumbai Chennai and Kolkata that engages the young artists in poetry recitations and dramatic couldnrsquot agree moreldquoThings need to evolve A lot of my poems use words like lsquoemailrsquo lsquoinboxrsquo and other modernday language Poetry isnrsquot about rain water and tears anymore Similarly one doesnrsquot use certain words because they are profane You use them because they express what you are trying to say Having said that kids today are more attracted to slam poetry and find it cool to use expletivesrdquoRochelle Potkar whose first book of stories The Arithmetic of breasts and other stories was shortlisted for The Digital Book of the Year Award 2014 echoes a similar sentiment ldquoPoetry comes from the street and goes to the streetThis poem is seductive and witty and the word is almost invisible and suits the tone of the poem Irsquom glad the Sahitya Akademi decided to publish this It gives hope to a lot of contemporary poets like merdquo she concludesHam Sandwichby Mihir ChitreI have a ham sandwich in my fridgeDeepfried ham Wheat BreadBut that wonrsquot suffice will itI can get you some sauceWould that doHow about some sausages as wellAnd Irsquoll spread some butter over the breadWould that be good enoughHey listen Or do you want something completely elseI could get you Poha or Parathas from the next laneI am just wondering what what the f will make you have breakfast with me again