ABout: Vinita Agrawal.
Vinita Agrawal is a Mumbai based writer and poet. Apart from a poetry book under the title "Words not spoken", there are few others in press. She in featured in Asian Cha, Kritya.org, Mahmag World Literature, The Brown Critique, Poetry 24, Mandala and various other online and offline platforms. Right now, She is on a all time high winning mission grabbing more than three awards within a week including a commendation prize in All India Poetry Competition 2014, and Wordweavers poetry 2014.
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The Literary Voyage in a chit-chat with notable poet Vinita Agrawal. The conversation started with some personal questions regarding writing experience, hobbies and later transformed into vogues and fads. To know rest, read the whole conversation stated below. I bet you are going to love and enjoy it : Happy reading.
TLV: When did you first realize you wanted to be a
writer?
Vinita Agrawal:
At a very young age actually. I was five when I wrote my first
poem. I've been writing poetry as far back as I can remember. I used to
contribute to my school and college magazines and from there I progressed to
contributing to national magazines and newspapers.
TLV:
Describe
typical day spent writing? Do you follow a strict writing schedule or just
write when the spirit hits you?
Vinita Agrawal: Writing
is a very fluid exercise...one can't write rigidly at the same time everyday.
If someone has that kind of discipline then it's very admirable! Speaking for
myself, there was a time when I used to write when the mood struck me but that
has changed now. I write everyday. But not at the same time of the day. But I'm
particular about writing regularly; my day does not feel complete if I haven't
written something.
TLV:
What
genre of books do you like to read?
Vinita Agrawal: I like reading
biographies and war novel and books on spirituality and culture. I also like
reading light philosophy. What I like reading best is the life of the Buddha in
its myriad dimensions. Broadly speaking I like reading books that bring to
light extraordinary courage in human beings.
TLV:
What
stimulates or motivates you to write: nature, human events, a little wine or
vodka, or did I miss something?-this is a being honest with yourself question.
Vinita Agrawal: Certainly not wine or vodka...although I do believe you meant
that in jest! Everything inspires me to write and human emotions most of all.
Even if I'm writing about nature, I tend to weave emotions into it. My poems
are rarely purely descriptive. I like to give a deeper dimension to whatever I
write.
TLV:
Do you think contemporary English poetry in
India is far behind the times compared with fiction writing?
Vinita Agrawal: That's a good question. It's not the poetry that is far behind
the times as compared to fiction but the importance that is accorded to it is.
Poetry is still fighting for its rightful place in the field of creative arts.
Not enough forums promote poetry seriously and therefore it had poor commercial
value. Fiction on the other hand is a genre that stands on its own feet and is
better recognized. I think we need many more awards for poetry in our country.
We need to inculcate the spirit of poetry in children right from school days.
TLV:
What’s
about family support?
Vinita Agrawal: You cannot achieve anything in life without family support. My
family has been very supportive and encouraging in all my endeavours. I am
particularly grateful to them for giving me an environment where I could pursue
my passion for writing.
TLV:
What advice would you give to people who
"run out of creativity” or those “who are willing” to write?
Vinita Agrawal: If by running out of
creativity you mean the quintessential 'writers block' then I'd say that it
happens to the best of writers. Personally, I just abandon writing at such
times and take to reading instead. Sooner or later inspiration returns! As for
advise to people who are willing to write, all I can say is that anyone who is
willing to persevere will one day be rewarded. Hard work never goes in vain.
TLV:
When
your first book release is scheduled to be published?
Vinita Agrawal: My
first book of poems titled Words Not Spoken was published in November 2013. At
this point in time, I have a couple of manuscripts ready and waiting but have
not sent them out to publishers yet. I guess when the right moment comes,
things will fall into place.
TLV: What is
the role of Internet and social media in life of a writer?
Vinita Agrawal: Interestingly they seem to play
a contradictory role - while internet and social media are an irritating
distraction when it comes to writing per se, the same become significant to
announce one's work to the world. Post publishing, the social media becomes an
important platform to share your work globally. That said, I have to add that
it is a very time taking exercise.
TLV:
If
you had to choose, what would you say are the two best poems, flash fiction, or
short stories you have ever written to this date? Would you like to share a
link or few lines of them?
Vinita Agrawal:
I would be pleased to share a few
lines from my poems here but would not like to choose them as best or not
best...it's hard to select your own work from that perspective. I hope the
readers will enjoy reading these lines:
Home
Homes have no walls
no rooms, no
furniture, no thresholds.
Nothing through
which you might enter
and nothing from which you might want to exit
Because homes are not houses
Homes are built in the eyes
Erected by
naked, hungry hearts
In skies, in
dew drops, lichen, mosses,
Sometimes on
parched, parted lips
Sometimes
inside the darkening irises of your eyes
Homes are tender assembles of empty air
Sorted by the
linear breaths you lend to me;
Built for
unborn little feet to run
And for smiles
to sun themselves on broad porticos
My home is in the centre of your palms
Sunk in the
wells of your destiny
That you carry
like a liquid in your eyes
Or like an abode in your hand, my very own delta
Between the nine mounds of the universe.
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Land's End
The souls of pavements
and the silence
of footsteps
that have nowhere to go
slope down into the sea here,
at Land's End.
Salt licks air.
Something unfinished
lies in the net of the night
like fallen
stars
and the railings
mating
perpetually
with the sea's spray,
beckon to leap
into the mess
of my past
hoping to become food for fish.
So many sandbags of me
heavy with
touch are lined
against the shore's crags.
Vastness floats to me
seeps inside my
jute.
I look like
earth's lips:
Parched
Parted
Puckered
Dry, as all the nothingness
that pants like
a tired,
broken leaf
seeking Land's End
and then, the endless burn of seas.
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TLV: Describe
your literary voyage in two lines?
Vinita Agrawal: My literary voyage has only just
begun!
And
to quote Frost, “I have miles to go before I sleep"...
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Thanks Vinita Ma'am for all this support and precious time of yours. The Literary Voyage wishes you a happy and notable writing journey ahead; much like your divine poems.
One can order a copy of her debut book " Words not spoken" by simply sending a mail at browncritique@gmail.com Contact person is Gayatri Majumdar. In order to get more of Vinita's works, follow her at www.vinitawords.com.
https://www.facebook.com/vinita.agrawal.127.
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