By IANS
New Delhi : A jaded audience burst with an infused energy as 50 poets, from an eight-year-old to an 80-year-old, spun a web of luring words, magical stanzas and beautiful poetry around them here.
While eight-year-old Sourya Reddy expressed what his dad meant to him through a poem titled “My father, my hero”, a woman in her twenties let her emotions flow and a 60-year-old reminisced about the glory of the bygone days.
They wove magic over an audience of nearly 500 and led them to the charming world of poetry Tuesday evening at the India Habitat Centre here. Claimed to be the biggest poetry reading session in 150 years in Delhi, the event was organised by the Delhi Poetree society on its first anniversary.
The best thing about the reading was the fact that it cut across hierarchy, age and profession and offered a platform to all poets – amateur and veteran.
Veteran journalist Bharat Bhooshan expressing his dismay at the high-paced life that people lead these days in his work titled “We are all too busy”, while photojournalist Bandeep Singh read out his creation “Noor”.
There were others like environmental economist Majul Bajaj reading out her poem “Blessings” and the man behind the Delhi Poetree society itself, Amit Dahiyabadshah, roaring “The last will of the tiger”.
Attended by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the event went on for more than an hour as the electrified audience applauded and cheered till the end.
The 50 poets who participated were given citations by Dikshit. “The citations to these poets is to mark that they are the living treasure of Delhi. By the end of this year I will bring 50 more poets out of their shells,” Dahiyabadshah said.
“Poetry doesn’t sell these days, they say. I promise that by the end of this year all the 100 poets will earn a taxable income through poetry,” he asserted.
The society organises poetry reading sessions every Tuesday at the India Habitat Centre. Apart from this, members also meet at other public places like bookshops and cafes where they recite their pieces.
“We organise 18 poetry sessions in a month but our aim is to make it 30,” said a confident Dahiyabadshah.