Fwd: Three Poets at a Joint Poetry Reading

[augusto pinto]

Dear All,

I'd recommend this to all. Even if you were scared of poetry this event should change your opinion. I'm intending to go there myself.

Regards

Augusto

           Three Renowned Indian Poets Meet at                                               Goa University

On Saturday morning, 24th August, three well-known poets are getting together at Goa University  to read their poems and interact with the public. Ashok Vajpeyi, a reputed Hindi poet who, among other things, has translated the poetry of great Polish poets  and whose interests range from literature to music, dance, theatre, visual arts, folk and tribal arts and cinema. He has been a cultural and arts administrator and has received numerous awards.  Jeet Thayil, is a noted poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is  the author of four collections: These Errors Are Correct , English , Apocalypso and Gemini. His first novel, Narcopolis , won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize and the Hindu Literary Prize. Manohar Shetty has published five books of poems, including Domestic Creatures.  His poems have been widely published and anthologized and have been translated into Italian, Finnish, German and Slovenian. He has been a Homi Bhaba Fellow and a Senior Sahitya Akademi Fellow.The session will be held at the Conference Hall (Administrative Building), from 10.30 am. under the Bakibab Borkar Chair of Comparative Literature (VRPP), Goa University. Something worth making some noise about!

Isabel S.R. Vas (member of the coordinating committee)

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Augusto Pinto
40, Novo Portugal
Moira, Bardez
Goa, India
E pint...@gmail.com
P 0832-2470336
M 9881126350

[augusto pinto]

Dear All

I did go for the poetry reading of Manohar, Jeet and Vajpeyi and felt it was a an experience well worth going for.

Actually I didn't just sit there and listen to the poems, as an organizer whom I know drafted me into video-graphing the event. He gave me some perfunctory instructions as to how to operate the camera and then left me to my wiles.

Doing this job, howsoever horrendously (as I am an absolute neophyte at photography) changes one's perspective tremendously, as a speaker seen through the zoomed close-up or long-shot of a camera is different from the one seen by the naked eye.

The body language of people can tell much, and this can be captured  when seen in the view-finder of a digital camera, as compared to when one sees and hears a speaker from a seat in the audience.

Anyway, as I was saying, the event was very enriching. I won't describe it because it was filmed and hopefully we might get some clippings from there.

I thought the most thought provoking of the poets was Manohar Shetty who ironically was the most undemonstrative and had the least applause. This is not to say that Jeet or Ashok did not deserve their applause, but Shetty is a poet who is a superb craftsman but he is also a poet who does not do justice to his poems with his deadpan reading of his brilliantly crafted pieces which can be missed by he many except for the few who know what he is doing.

Also when one of the audience asked why students should read or write poetry, he was the only one who gave a coherent answer citing the therapeutic value of poetry apart from its power to charge language with new meaning, but only after learning the craft, particularly the craft of making modern poetry; this after Thayil and Vajpeyi chose to be facetious in their replies asking students not to get into the jhanjhat not realizing that students would not be likely to recognize their flippancy.

The audience interaction was the best part with several people questioning and probing and commenting on the poets, and one gentleman did so by quoting poetry at them.

However the students of the University who were there in fairly large numbers were completely mute and this drew negative attention of both the speakers as well as the outside public who were surprised at their reticence. I was not surprised because we as teachers encourage a culture of "Hanv sangtam, tum aik". Why blame them - when we are the exemplars?

As semi-official video-grapher of the event I felt obliged to pan the camera around occasionally. Somewhere after the event began, I noticed a gentleman who looked mildly familiar. I panned onto his face a couple of times and then came to the conclusion that he must be the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Shetye.

I'm still not sure if I am right here as I do not interact with the mighty on a day to day basis, but if I am correct I would like to say I appreciate a VC who does not just come for the inauguration, collects his bouquet of flowers and fake praises, gives a boring bhashan, and then buzzes off.

But actually comes and listen in to an event that the University organizes, almost anonymously, for it shows that he wants to check out whether the University's money is being well spent or not, besides showing he appreciates good things.

If I am wrong about my identification of the gentleman, I withdraw the compliments.

Regards

Augusto

[augusto pinto]

Dear All

I would like you and others to read one of the responses to my post on this and other fora. (I"m withholding the name of the sender deliberately. I'll let you know why if you ask me why later.) :

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......................................................................................................................................................................

Hi Augusto

I'm tempted to reply in extensive detail to your post. Let me say I am in agreement with what you've carefully observed and commented on.  The diversity of personalities and work of our three poets was something I very much appreciated. And yes, Manohar clearly deserves huge applause for the wonderful poems he so carefully crafts and he read out, and we are to blame for what I would call a deficit of applause, here and elsewhere. Either we don't know if it's right to applaud or not, or when... But it does an injustice to the artist. I was also grateful to Manohar for taking the question about writing seriously: even if it's a handful of students, they are there, and one day they will write and it'll be a slap on our faces for underestimating them. As you say, we've created a culture of passive listening in our classrooms. 

Jeet Thayil interacted, as part of his course, with students on a one-to-one basis in his workshops where only 12 people could participate, and the youngsters felt a surge of confidence in their ability to write, or that's what both students and instructor tell me.

Ashok Vajpeyi's lecture on 'Why Literature' was something worth listening to and reflecting on. Bringing his experience of a huge range of fields into his lecture, he had the students laughing and, I'm sure, pondering. His manner is very informal and I have a feeling he will encourage the youngsters to participate as the days go by.

And yes, it was the VC you caught on camera, sitting quietly among the audience from start to finish. He believes in this project of having Goa University bring experts in diverse fields to the students and the public at large, and I suspect he stands for being authentic rather than pompous. No bouquets in sight, did you notice?

Thanks, Augusto. It is great to see our college teachers find space to participate in more ways than one; quite a few did, at different sessions. I know of one principal who actually encouraged a teacher to participate in a whole course. How glad I am that I'm bekaar and so able to attend.

Thank you for helping publicise the events too.

Regards,

[Ben Antao]

Dear Augusto

 

I know the identity of the responder. She is a member of our Goa Writers group. I could tell from her style of

writing and the fact she called herself ‘bekar’.

 

Anyway, you did a fine job of covering the event with a video camera. When you retire there will be a job for you as

a videographer 

 

Since you are not a professional journalist, I’d not fault you for this. But if I were covering this event (and I’ve covered many such

conferences way back in the past!) I’d have written a report that gave the readers some concrete idea about the poetry readings.

 

1. I would take two comments from each poet and then after the event ask one or two students what thought about it. This way I’d

get good quotes to embellish my report.

 

2. You mention a culture of “Hanv sangtam tum aik.” One proven and effective way in pedagogy is to allow students to work in small groups

of five on a theme or a topic. At the end of their 15-minute discussion, a spokesperson summarizes the group’s findings. Over a period of a year or two

of studying in this manner in high school, students become fairly confident and comfortable about speaking and asking questions in college and university.

 

All the best.

Ben

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[augusto pinto]

Dear Ben,

Thanks for the suggestions. I did not set out to do a report of the event as such; rather only give my personal opinions about what was happening. Still in future I'll bear in mind what you say about how to write a report.

As regards getting students to open out, I think this is an issue many of us Goan teachers are now getting worried about. As part of the same series of lectures that the poetry sessions were conducted, I will be attending a five day course from tomorrow: the "One Credit Course ONB-103: "Paradigm Shift in Education and Learning in the 21st Century" by Prof. Arvind Kudchadker, Professor Emeritus, IIT Bombay."

While the "credit" does not apply to me but to students who can also attend the course, I find that the methodology of the course is one which points to how we should be doing our teaching in the future. I'm forwarding the course outline and methodology to you privately, but maybe I'll do the same here too.

Regards

Augusto

[Jose Colaco]

Ben Àntao wrote thus to Augusto

1: you did a fine job of covering the event with a video camera.

2: One proven and effective way in pedagogy is to allow students to work in small groups of five on a theme or a topic. At the end of their 15-minute discussion, a spokesperson summarizes the group’s findings. Over a period of a year or two of studying in this manner in high school,students become fairly confident and comfortable about speaking and asking questions in college and university.

COMMENT:

I agree absolutely with my good gaumbhau, Ben Antao.

Re 1: very well done, Augusto.

Re 2: very true.

As one who has limited experience in teaching, I'd recommend the following - which I recommended to my own children and students. It is also something I recommended to myself in my post-MBBS years.

For the student:
1: Read ahead of the subject being taught on that day. Everything will appear 'foreign' and difficult.
2: In the class, go with the attitude that you are there to learn, and not to teach.
3: In class, You will hear many of the words again. It will start making more sense now
4: When you return home, read the chapter again.
5: Revision at the time of exams will be a breeze.

For the teacher:
6: As Ben has described
7: Use visual aids like PowerPoint.
8: Avoid highfalutin words.
9: Every 15 mins. Stop, Review and Invite questions from students
10: Summarize at the end.

best

jc
.