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A bacchanalia of muse, music and dance
Highlights
In the North American literary scene, the emigrants from South Asia, especially from India, have long since made their presence felt. The galaxy includes Pulitzer Prize winners Vijay Seshadri, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Siddhartha Mukherjee. Others like Akhil Sharma, Bharati Mukherjee, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Kiran Desai, and Shauna Singh Baldwin have received mainstream acclaim and honour.
Matwaala, a South Asian Diaspora Poets Festival, was held at Casa De Luz, Austin, Texas recently. Co-hosted by the Poetry Caravan and Austin Poets International, the festival was the first project of the collective by the Indian Diaspora in the US
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In the North American literary scene, the emigrants from South Asia, especially from India, have long since made their presence felt. The galaxy includes Pulitzer Prize winners Vijay Seshadri, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Siddhartha Mukherjee. Others like Akhil Sharma, Bharati Mukherjee, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Kiran Desai, and Shauna Singh Baldwin have received mainstream acclaim and honour.
Adding colour to the American literary canvas, there are a large number of poets from the South Asian and Indian diasporas in the US and Canada. As an efflorescence of this literary fervour, accomplished poets – from Vancouver, New York, Houston, Trinidad and New Delhi – descended on Austin, Texas, under the banner ‘Matwaala’.
The maiden venture by the South Asian Diaspora Poets Collective of North America was organised by Usha Akella, festival director and prominent poet from Austin. The two-day event was supported by Austin Poets International; Arts and Humanities of Austin Community College District (ACC); and her own Poetry Caravan.
The core group of Matwaala comprises Usha Akella, Pramila Venkateswaran and Saleem Peeradina, while Fulbright scholar Dr Amritjit Singh suggested the Hindi name ‘Matwaala’ –meaning an inebriate; metaphorically one who is intoxicated with the muse, evoking a “spirit of non-conformity, bonhomie, and fun.”
The first day took place at Raindrop, the Turkish cultural center; and the second at Casa de Luz. It was a heady cocktail of poetry readings, panels, papers and youth readings, besides a musical and terpsichorean extravaganza and a photo display of poetry. The poetry readings were conducted under the aegis of the Dialogue Institute in the evening, where poets – established, young and local – brushed shoulders with one another.
Lyman Grant, who taught at ACC for 40 years, presided. Keki Daruwalla, a prominent poet from India, was the guest of honour. While welcoming him, Usha bowed to his simplicity and generosity. He read a love poem sparking the imagination of everyone present. A lot of other poets too chipped in with different kinds of love poetry, viewing love as the foundation of poetry.
The programme was emceed by Usha’s daughter Anannya and her friend Rehana, who welcomed the poets with limericking banter. See how Keki Daruwalla was introduced – “Too much easy rhyme we confess: Akella, Matwaala, Daruwalla, While coming to the point, we’ll mention he is an Oxford wallah. Let’s learn to do it better with Keki, God forbid we mention that Englishman Shelley, But it’s cool to toast the Persians and Greeks in Fire Alta!”
In the same breath, they warbled on how Usha Akella pulled it off – “An Austin poet named Usha Akella, Unemployed, so created Matwaala,Kept her up at nights!Barely had a bite!But hey! She brought in Keki Daruwalla.” Keki Daruwalla highlighted the immortality of poetry and dwelt on the distinction between the poetry of commitment and of playfulness.
Jesus Pantel from the Arts and Culture Department of Austin conferred Keki with an honorary citizenship. Usha characterised ‘the first South Asian Diaspora Poetry Fest in Austin and perhaps the US’ as a celebration of the talent of the Diaspora, ultimately the celebration of poetry; and as a forum for the “Voices that break down barriers... dare to be South Asian, American, and simply human.”
The idea was to “create a space that emanates from the spirit of poetry, not the industry of poetry,” she averred, and added that it should be “inviting and hospitable,” encouraging a sense of community, not competition or rivalry. The mission, stresses Pramila Venkateswaran, was to “increase awareness of South Asian poetry in the mainstream American literary landscape... and to maintain high standards in writing while avoiding cliques.”
Phinder Dulai from Vancouver, recalled how in 1914 a shipload of immigrants from Punjab to Canada, were stranded in Vancouver harbour for two months before being forced back to India, because of exclusionary laws, as recorded in his stirring book, Dream/Arteries.
Saleem Peeradina, spoke of the Bombay poetry revolution of the 1970s before he migrated to the US; and how his anthology of it is now part of all modern Indian literature classes throughout the world. In the post-lunch recess at Usha’s home, he entertained the party by singing ghazals and Indian classical songs. Saleem taught at Sienna Heights University in Michigan for three decades.
Thom Worldpoet, an Austin bard demonstrated his improvisation poetry. Pramila Venkateswaran, a poet laureate of Suffolk Country, New York, dwelt on the representation of South Asians in the top journals and presses. She is a professor at Nassau Community College.
Ravishankar read from his new book of Ekphrastic and collaborationist poetry, ‘What Else Could It Be’ (Carolina Wren Press) and spoke on the concept of Bhakti. He regaled the group with his banana poem saying that he never understood the banana. Teaching at Central Connecticut State University, he is founding editor of Drunken Boat, one of the earliest literary e-zines.
Sasha Parmasad, a teacher of Transcendental Meditation in Iowa, spoke of the importance of solitude for creative artists. Originally from Trinidad, she studied in New York. An excellent critic and a poet of well-crafted verse Anis Shivani’s “questioning dialectic” about his identity as an immigrant poet was thoughtful.
He cautions about “the trap the neoliberal culture industry sets by segregating different branches of writing into insular ghettos, cultural zones cordoned off from economic concerns.” He is the author of several books of poetry, fiction, and criticism, the latest being the novel Karachi Raj.
Young poets Shubh Bala Schiesser, Archana Vemulapalli, Debangana Banerjee, Mamata Misra and Varsha exuded confidence and ease. The cultural segment presented a captivating cosmic dance dedicated to Lord Shiva. Enacted by ten dancers of Natyalaya School of Dance, it was presented by Vinita Subramanian. The performance of Faure’s sonata by 12-year-old violinist Kai Cole was moving. The evening ended with the sweet Arabic and French songs by Lebanese-American singer Julie Slim-Nassif and her band.
The Rosary of Latitudes, a prose cum poetry collection by Usha Akella, was unveiled in the traditional Indian fashion. It was published by Transcendent Zero Press, founded by Dustin Pickering, who actively participated in the event. A photographic rendering of these poems by Rama Tiru enhanced the fest. A local photographer and teacher, she has a brilliant book on East Austin to her credit.
“Everyone,” at the end, “felt they relived an old India again, an India that seems to be lost...” feels Usha. And Dustin Pickering says, “I will attend this festival again next year,” and ruminates “I felt a togetherness, a spirit, and a shared mission in the community. The importance of those who attended, their historical involvement and mission, brought a deep sense of commitment to the art and festival... As I returned home to Houston, I felt a peace I had not felt before...This festival was a returning, both to self and other.”
By:U Atreya Sarma- With inputs received from Dustin Pickering, Anis Shivani, Saleem Peeradina, Pramila Venkateswaran and Usha Akella
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