Netting Poetry of a Digital Age

For the first time ever, the Punjabi Sahit Akademi opened its arms to poets who write, share and publish their works online, on reading websites or online social networking platforms. For a poetry fair held in Ludhiana in April this year, young poets who are yet to see their works bear a physical form shared stage with published, well-established names from Punjab and Delhi.

The fair, named ‘Punjabi Kavita Mela’ saw around 100 Punjabi poets from various cities of Punjab as well as Delhi recite their poetic works, those creating rich digital literature adding up to at least half this number.

“There is a growing tribe of such creative writers who post works online and enjoy a great fan following. We can’t ignore them,” said well-known poet Jaswant Zafar, Secretary of the Akademi who initiated the event. “The platform is to give them a chance to improve, through interaction with well-experienced poets. This is also a novel way to synergize the two forms of poetry,” he added.

Zafar observed that most such poets belong to small towns of Punjab who are quite savvy with the Internet. “They connect on Facebook, blogs or through their own websites and pages. Most of them are below 30,” he added.

Dr Gurbhajan Singh Gill, President of the Akademi, said he is impressed with the quality and imagination in this “paperless literature” and thus welcomed the move.

“Consider these beautiful lines that come from a young poet Manjinder Singh in Ludhiana, for instance:

Ae keho jahi adalat hai
Ae keho jahi waqalat hai
insaaf da sach tikeya
jhoothe gawahan utte

“We need such talent to come to the fore,” added he.

Interestingly, a majority of these online poets comprised women, observed Dr Gill. “The artist can bear complete anonymity on the web. And the restrictions on stepping out of the house to connect with poets or perform are non-existent here,” he argued.
The event took place at Punjabi Bhawan, Ludhiana, and was organized in association with Shabd Lok.