THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The present life in urban surroundings and the transition from a rural background influenced me to write poems, S Kalesh, a young poet. He was interacting with the audience on his latest poetry collection, ‘Shabdamahasamudram’ at ‘Aa Aksharam’, a monthly event to discuss a literary creation organised by Centre for Arts and Cultural Studies at Bharat Bhavan here on Friday.
“I grew up in rural surroundings, Later, I had to stay in Kottayam and Kochi as part of my job. Slowly, the urban lifestyle influenced me in writing poems and this influence is seen in my poems. In fact, friendship and love have influenced me greatly in my poems,” he said.
On ‘Shabdamahasamudram’, Kalesh said the poems were created out of his eventful life in the past and present and apprehension about the future. “Unlike in the past, my situation is better at present. At the same time, I am concerned about the events that are likely to unfold in future. These thoughts triggered me to write poems,” he added. An interactive session was also conducted where many well-wishers of Kalesh asked questions and made suggestions. Four years ago, Kalesh had done an installation on ‘Shabdamahasamudram’ at Durbar Hall in Kochi. Pramod Payyannur, Pradeep Panangad, among others, were present on the occasion.
‘Aa Aksharam’ is a unique initiative wherein readers are introduced to new books. It is a platform for presenting various dimensions of a book, reading certain portions, one-man acts, in addition to a venue for the reader to interact with the writer and buy the books. It was the second edition of Aksharam. The first edition was about ‘Samudrasila’, a novel by noted writer Subhash Chandran.