I am beyond thrilled to be having this conversation with Sri Lata, a poet, writer and professor of English at IIT Madras. She's authored several poetry collections, the latest one being The Unmistakable Presence of Absent Humans, which was published in 2019 to rave reviews. Her knowledge table for four was long listed for the Man Asian Literary Price in 2009
Srilata Krishnan
@Srilata · 4:23
And will they please look at each other the way they had the day he had knocked on the door and she had let him in. Jasmine in her hair. My mother looks at the flowers, the crumble of her years. My father away from our sport. This other poem that I'll read to you is called Learn from Me how to make pickles. Learn from me how to make pickles
@writing · 0:32
Thank you so much for that, Srilata. That was beyond beautiful. So that first line of yours, I am not born. What inspires that first line in all these poems that you've written? Is it something you see? Is it a passing thought? A line of someone else's work? So what is it that inspires you to pin down that very first line
Srilata Krishnan
@Srilata · 5:00
And that's something in my case involves the writing of a poem. So, for instance, the poem Gutten, meaning suffocation. It's a new poem that I wrote after the anthology came out basically stemmed from a casual conversation I had with my mother in law, who used a Hindi word Guten, to describe how she felt about the lockdown about being stuck at home. So the poem came from that word. So let me just read you that poem by way of explanation. Gutten suffocation
Srilata Krishnan
@Srilata · 0:40
So the third poem that I'll read you in response to your question is called Our days would catch on the cruel response. We place our hopes on the first of the migratory birds they had arrived. And so all was well and would be. Seasons would proceed as they were meant to. Girls would grow up, become women. We didn't know it then, but the birds would find their way home. I that seasons would proceed as they were meant to
@writing · 0:23
Great. Thank you so much for that. Srilata, if you don't mind, I would like to go back a little bit and ask you this question. Do you remember the circumstances under which you began to first write poetry? And I'm curious, do you even remember who your first reader was
Srilata Krishnan
@Srilata · 1:40
It was also, I guess, days before social media and before all the hype and the school I went to was a public school, quite an ordinary kind of school in many ways, but also extraordinary because it was so ordinary and I think they just let me be so yeah, I was quite an unselfconscious writer, I think now looking back and I value that enormously. So thank you for that question
@writing · 0:38
Writers like me, I'm sure have always been interested to know about the writing process and habits of other poets and writers. So I was wondering if you could share care a bit more about your actual habits in writing words. Do you write every day? Is there a place for you to write that always works for you? Or can you just about writing it anywhere? Are there any writing quotes or habits that you have? I'm really curious to know
@writing · 0:22
Very rarely do you have poets who write Noels. They are clearly very different skills. But somehow you've managed to do them both with finesse. How does the writing of a novel differ from the writing of poems? Would love to have your thoughts
Srilata Krishnan
@Srilata · 1:47
So at different points in my life, I have adopted different writing habits depending on which stage of life I have been in, basically. So when my children were quite young and I was really sort of stone between work and home and all of that, there was a point when I would try and wake up early or at least carve out sometime between my lectures at IIT or between various chores at home. But I didn't always manage to do that
Srilata Krishnan
@Srilata · 1:05
For instance, the plotting and the detailing of characters, the many things that have all got to kind of add up. It's a different kind of canvas altogether. Practically speaking to a novel takes up a huge amount of time typically, and it's hard to keep track of the threat. And I think that's one of the challenges that you face as a novelist
@writing · 0:42
Shrimitha, I must say, I love what you said about taking a break from home and going off to some secluded place and just being with your books and your writing. Oh, my God. But I think at this stage in my life now I could only probably dream of something like that. But I do hope to take a leaf out of your books and try and do what you've been trying to do to keep your creative spark alive
Srilata Krishnan
@Srilata · 0:40
I think Spontaneity is very important. I don't want to call it a virtue or a criterion necessarily for the writing of poetry. But on the other hand, if you do not let yourself go, if you do not stop your conscious mind from directing you, your poetry may just not take flight. And I think it's important to write from that space of the unconscious, to be able to dip into it. And I think the best poets find their material there
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
@writing · 0:22
Wow, that does make a lot of sense. Srilata, thank you for that. My last question is somewhat of a general one. What advice would you give to a young person, about what discipline in his life, or what attitudes he or she might cultivate to improve their art
Srilata Krishnan
@Srilata · 1:50
I don't think anybody needs to say that, but that's really important, as I said, important to practice writing, to show up at your desk and to write as often as you can to be happy as you write. That's really important. And I think the rest of it will take care of itself. And I think there's a way in which you need to find your voice from within than between all that noise that we have around us today
@writing · 0:15
Thank you so much. Sheila Ta, I have totally enjoyed having this little chat with you. And thank you so much for your time and more power to your words. Keep inspiring us all with those beautiful verses of your us