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Up, Close, and Personal

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06 Nov, 19 06:04
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Up, Close, and Personal

Born and brought up in Ud a i p u r, Pr a s h a n t V Shrivastavahasearnedagood name for his writing versatility.Fromcodefor softwareprograms to poetry,Prashant has covered a long journey to become a famous and worthreading author. His newspaper articles, editorials, blogs, and short stories are already popular among people of all ages. To quench his thirst to do more and never sit idle, he wrote his first novel in 2013 followed by the winning poetry for DelhiILoveYou in 2015. Recently he got his first Hindi Poetry book published which is already being accoladed for its simple language and more profound thoughts. Royal Harbinger spent some time with the book and then got an opportunity to catch with the author and poet. Here’s an excerpt from our rendezvous with the maverick Prashant. The Book Review With an inkpot and quill on the front, the book wrapped in golden colors becomes all the more impressive when the poet thanks his parents for all his success. How many successful people do that today? The book is neatly printed and has a warm feeling when you open the pages to smell the freshness. The title poem, a concept that comes from Bollywood music albums, appears very fresh in a poetrybook.Thefirstpoetry isdedicatedtoShipra,whoisthewife of Prashant. The poetry aptly means that the poet (read a loving husband) is ready to do anything, possible or impossible to make her happy - a lovely romantic story that unfolds like fresh rose petals. There is another poetry to hiswifeinwhichheadmits that his busy life has affected their couple-time, but the husband is aware and loves as he used to. Poetry dedicated to his Mom is a self-realization message that the poet got from his mother and has rephrased in the form of poetry. The crux of the poetry is that the poet was searchingforGodeverywhere, but the almighty was in his heart, and the poet never lookedthere.Theideaandconcept is breathtaking and the way it has been put here is impressive. Of course, the message is life-changing one and has been beautifully articulated.Thereare97moresuch poems, and each of which is astoryinitself.Atoneinstance, the poet is thinking to send his love message to his lover, and in the other, he is asking her tokeepthememoriescarefully. Poetry called Koyla is a beautiful story of a family member who has separated from his loved ones in the quest for a better life but ended as nothing in the end. The analogy of coal mined from a deep pit is impressive. One poetry describes the feelingsofthefamilymembers of a rapist. Now, this is new andfresh.Everyonetalksabout the victim and the culprit, but the family members of the culprit pay the price for the rest of their lives. This gives a strong message to the people who think they can face the repercussions of rape after having committed the crime. This poetry warns them to think about how their families will survive after that. Overall, as the author claims, the book has 100 stories written in lyrical manner. This is not just worth reading, it also would be a great companion as it involves all the moods in life. InrendevouzwithPrashant Congratulations on your book. How do you feel now? Thanks. It feels great to have a hundred songs neatly written in a book which has a coverwithmyname.This feeling of becoming an author is notnew,but still,Ifeelasexcitedas Iwas in2013whenLife’s Like That was released. I am speechless and have no idea howtoexpress thisexcitement of ecstasy. Why a book after years of writing? Yes, I had neverthought to do a book of poetry at least. I wroteanovelaboutalovestory, and then I got myself diverted towards short stories as I believedthatpeoplelovedstories that are told quickly. But then, of late, I came across some great book of Indian poets. And then a belief became to build on my mind that I could have a similar achievement. Also, it would always be challenging to search for poetry on the internet and then recite in front of your admirers. When I would read my poetry from shayarana.com or any other platform, people would only see the back of my phone or tablet device. And people would never know from where did I pull that poem. Now, if I have a book, people see the face of the book, I read, and then people can remembertoreadtheirfavorite piece from the book they had. The book is helping me in multiple ways, and I love it. What drives you to write poetry? Almost everything that I can see or imagine. I always try and see the real side of everything,andtheperception changes ups ide down. Everything has a naturally beautiful side,andItryandsee that only. That sets the platformforpoetry.OnceI cansee thebeauty,allIneedisanelaboration.Andthat’sprettyexciting. Inspiration is something that comes to you when you have your arms open for it. Whether I see a kid giggling, a girl with beautiful eyes, an elderly couple walking with theirhandsinhand,aclearsky, or a flower, you get the poetry. Besides, I am a big fan of poetrywrittenbypopularpoets and keep searching for new ideas througholdsongs,poetry books, and love around me. As far as Bollywood and Indian music industry is concerned, I am fascinated about melodioustunes.Attimes,Iget swayed away with the tunes so much that I rewrite lyrics in my own words. This also makes me check my ability to write lyrics in the future. Doyouthink itsgiftedart or can be acquired? Everybody is born with a gift. You need to identify what you’ve got and then work on polishing it. And to be able to identify your potential, you need to be open and listen to the world inside and outside you. The outside world tells you what you are good at, and the inner world tells you whether they are right or not. All you need to do is--be honest about your abilities and work on your strength. There are several popular careers, but you cannot just go and do something you are not adept at. Of course, you can work hard and become whatever you want, but when you work on your strength, you excel, and when you work on your weaknesses, you become average or above average. The world and the goddess of popularity love those who excel. How your parents reacted, having seen poetry on the backpageof your schoolnotebook? I was a bit scared when I saw my Dad reading the last page of my notebook. He did not sayanything,whichleftme underpressureforawhile.But later, Mom and Dad spoke to me and wanted to understand the reason behind my sad poetry. I told them that I wrote thesameafterIfailedanimportant entrance test. Later my Dad helped me understand Ghazals and that was a pretty solid platform for me. My Momgavemeherdiaryofpoetry and that’s when I knew that Ihadaconduciveenvironment togerminateandflourish.Later more ideas to write poetry started coming in. I would sharemy shortpoemswithmy cousinBhawna,andshewould help me get them right. My brother Nishant set up shayarana.com for me and he still maintains the technical sie of it.Ihavebeenblessed.Ibelieve if my family had reacted adversely, this art would have died prematurely. So, I genuinely believe that my family allowed me to spread wings. Howdoyoumanagewritingamidabusyhome-office life? Writing doesn’t need you to sit in a dedicated way. I can scribbleacoupleoflineswhen I am waiting for my daughter to get ready for her class or addanothercoupletwhilewaiting for my office cab to arrive. The real-time I had to spend wasintypingthepoetryinHindi on computer. I would type one poetryadaywhenIhaddecided to go with a book. I would alsosteal sometimeduringmy weekends or holidays to add onepoetryatatimetomybook document.Once done, I took a print out of the 160+ page document and read between the lines and marked all changesandcorrections.Then again, I would steal some time out of my hectic schedule and correct 5-10 issues at a time. It was a gradual process, but everysingleupdateleftmewith plenty of satisfaction. Isthereastorybehindthe title of the Book? Yes, of course! The original title was “Musafir Ki Nazmein”. Musafir has been my pen name, but I do not use that too often as it is too common across poets. And NazmeiNmeanssongsandmy poetry iswritteninalyricalway only.Ihaveaddedsomerewritten songs (based on popular Bollywood tunes) in the book. You can sing with the original tune and new lyrics. About the title, it was the firstandmostlovedpoetry that Iwroteformywife,Shipra.After our marriage, people in the family would ask me to recite some poetry and then would request me to add something that I wrote exclusively for Shipra. Since those days, I have this poetry on my tips. Later, I thought to include this in the book, and then the title clicked. My editor, publisher, andallreviewerslovedthistitle. Now when I meet someone with the book, they pass on their compliments for the title first. What’s your next plan in poetry career? Well, I will keep writing morelyricsandsongs,andperhaps my ideas and thoughts would become better. As far as thenextbook is concerned, I think I might do another book soon as all I need to do is type poems from my diary to a computerdocument.Havinga book would earn me some name and confidence. And that’s what an artist needs to keep going. I already have a huge number of friends associatedthroughmysocialmedia pages. I post one poetry every other day, and my thousands of friends shower their love upon me.Apart from the book, I would also look and accept assignments to write small songs,lyrics,jingles,andother creative things soon. Would you suggest other poets go with a book? Yes, why not? Everything comes from within. If you think a book is what you need to get goingorif youthinkabook can provide you the much-needed platform to showcase your talent to the world, go ahead with full confidence.One thing to be very careful is that you need to listen to your instinct and not thosewho disapprove yourworkortalent.Somepeople may laugh at you; just mark them out of your poetry circle. It doesn’t mean you break up with them but just ensurethat youdonotdiscuss your poetry with them. You needpositiveandupbeatpeoplearoundyoutosucceed.Pick your mates carefully and be a goodnetizenbymakingfriends who appreciate your work. Listen to the feedback that comes from outside and from insideandthenwritelikeafree bird. Poetry cannot have any boundaries. It will give you a skytofly.Haveitandgoahead. How do you write sad, happy, romantic, and other emotions at the same time? All these emotions have become my companions now. I have been through each of these emotions in one stage or another in the past. When I have to write something sad, I get driven by those old feelings and try to understand the situation through new words and lens of empathy. I hold no grudgetoanyone,butIremember all the sad, happy, and annoying instances in my life. Those become part of my experiences and help me take evasive action as and when needed.Andontheotherhand, I use them to polish and shine my poetry. Book’s Availability • Amazon.com • Amazon.co.uk • Amazom.com • Flipkart.com • Notionpress.com


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