Voices - Malavika

It is the dream of every poet and writer for their work to be appreciated, and more so to be understood, through their works, among minds that think alike. The Book Club is such a platform, where readers and writers alike, join in various discussions that range from books to the world beyond them.

The first book-club session of this year (2020) was less of a discussion, and more of a reading and sharing session. We all decided to share little snippets, and pieces of poetry that we had previously written.

Some themes were dark, some were romantic, and some were even light and funny.

A group of us sat around in a circle, at sunset, and read aloud some pieces that we had written from the depths of our imagination. Some pieces, we might have written for our eyes alone, but many of us found it comfortable to share them among these like-minded writers.

One of our contributors had written a poem in Malayalam, which highlighted periods as the theme. She compared periods to a mansion, out of which blood flows every month.

Another contributor had written a snippet about flowers, and yet-another contributor had written an ode to feminism.

A few writers had some dark themes with an insane imagination.

Some poets had lovely slam poetry to be contributed, and they presented it in such admirable ways.

Every writer who had shared, felt understood by the rest of the group, through the kind of sensible clarifications that followed, and the rubber-stamp approval given via applause by fellow writers. Though some might have hesitated before sharing, not one of the writers felt bashful after sharing, because they were made to feel appreciated for their works.

The snippets and poems were so contrasting in themes, one after the other- one so bright and the next so dark. It was nightfall by the time the group parted, feeling sated and appreciated.