Choqath – An Emotionally Driven Poetry Reading
- 26 Jun 2017
- Sunaya
- Features
Emotionally driven and beautifully written, poems are always a win-win
Everyone has a writer inside them and with the right emotions put in with the right words, one delivers an emotionally enhancing piece of writing, and poems are one among them. Kochi recently witnessed a poetry reading “Choqath” at Ledhi Café, focusing on the topic of body, gender and sexualities. The session was moderated by Shana Susan which involved a varied crowd ranging from 15 to 72, with their emotionally articulated poems which were soul-touching.
Covering topics from body shaming to bullying, from first kiss to lust, gender roles and expressions, single mother concerns and pregnant women issues, transgender lives and being oneself, homosexuality and lesbian desires, relationships and breakups, the emotionally driven words touched the hearts with tears escaping through the eyes, making their way down through the cheeks. The poetry session witnessed people with geographical differences and poems were presented in English, Malayalam and Hindi.
Sarah, a 72 year old lady read out her poem that was written in 1992, putting in her emotions in the perfectly curated way, she touched the souls with her beautiful rendering in her sweet voice. And, Manpreet read out his beautifully written poem about desire and first touch in Hindi, delivering it with emotions that everyone has once experienced. Gathered around in the cosy room, people exchanged their emotions with open mindedness, paving way to change and evolve in a better way.
The session was later joined by playback singer, Anna Katharina, who read out her emotionally driven poem that she wrote when he was carrying her first born. It poem dealt with the subject ‘I’m Who I’m’ talking about how one should embrace one’s body and by not adhering to the norms set by the society or the to go with what people want you to do.
With an aura of self-driven emotions packed high in the room, it rose to deliver hope for life and dreams. With emerging writers in the block, Choqath, in association with Queerala, Ledhi Café and Queer Arts Movement – India is an initiative to create change and much more.
Text: Roshan D Photos: Roshan D
