Late summer still burns in the Eastern corridor of the United States. And a tropical storm or two. This weekend we welcome Indian author and blogger, Soumya Vilekar to the internet wilds.
Name: Soumya Vilekar
Pen Name: SoumyaV
Most recent title published: “Suroor of the Soul”
Where do you write? On my blogs at Wordpress and Blogger
You can also find me on my facebook page called “ Poems of Life”.
I am also on Destiny poets , UK poetry Library, Writeforpassion and several other sites as a guest author!
What kind of poetic tradition do you see yourself coming from? (lyric, surrealism, realism, etc) Surrealism with tint of Divinity and spiritualism.
The contemporary American "form" is elegy. How do you see your work fitting into that "tradition"? I am a person of hope and faith. The ray of hope gleams in my poems and I am far away from the elegy!
What are your rituals with regards to writing (ex: Must have tea, a cat on the lap, etc)
Of Course a pen and paper, if not my desktop! Rest ,the lines just flow with the thoughtful emotions.
What themes did you explore in this new collection? What was challenging about culling poems together? The book “ Suroor of the Soul” is a phenomenon in itself. A process which involved my deepest of thoughts and took the shape of verses, inspired by the Divine . The inspiration though in human form came in art of a mystical painting, done by my co author Shaheen!
It was a huge task in the beginning to think and compile, as the poems that I had selected for the book, reflected different phases and moods of life. Gradually the picture became clear and I could visualize the path of a soul who traverses on his journey to seek the ultimate happiness and this became the main theme of the whole book.
What's your personal favorite from the collection? Why? A very difficult question, indeed! To choose a favorite amongst all is a huge task, but still the one closer to my heart is “Divine drops”. Divine drops is a poem which expresses the importance of the presence of the spiritual awakening in a soul. It says, “without the shower of Divine grace, the soul is just a barren land .”
The ultimate bliss of having the Divinity within, can be felt through this poem which yearns to get drenched in the drops of Divine blessings. The poem instills the seed of faith within the unsowed land of our heart .
What do you when you begin to revise? What's the first thing you do during that process?
My poems are usually spontaneous and that is the way I post them on my sites, as the rawness and the natural tone of the thought brings out the real freshness while reading the verse and the reader can feel the same while going through it.
But when I have to submit it for any anthology or for any other site, I try to edit the unnecessary lines first, those which break the flow and the imagination.
When revising, how many drafts do you go through before you feel comfortable with the final product? In general, if a revised draft is needed, as in the case of a book, I may edit it once or even upto 5 times until I get the true feel of the verse. The final product should touch my heart instantly and should not give neither any false or wrong statement or information nor convey any such idea or thought. What I approve and like, is the ingenuity and the truth of the thought expressed!
What poets are you "borrowing" from, or riffing from these days? Do you hear these "voices" as you revise or write? I have read quite a few poets and authors, but frankly speaking, I do not like to borrow nor copy from any of the authors, even though they are great legends. Their work impresses me and I adore their way of style and writing, but being myself is my nature and I love having a distinct personality in work or in real.
Where does your inspiration come from (music, film, other books)? Any kind of soothing music, a touching and a sensitive film, a powerful and thoughtful line from any book ,anything can inspire me to write. But its the nature that gives me the sense very clearly and beautifully. The eternal nature always remains my favourite inspiration.
Explain how your local and regional environment influences your writing, your process, and your product (in other words, how does your reality intersect with the worlds that you create?): “Inspiration, I feel is a zest which gets birthed within when we come across the real truth of life, not living.”
When we talk of living, the fight for survival and the extreme ends of other social stigmas get attached to it! The portrayal of truth of today’s world has a very sensitive and ugly face, which can bog down minds, instigate conflicts within and outside. It is a world of chaos, where everyone is running without any proper destination.
The word Humanity has been almost wiped out and the realization of being human is dying forever every minute.
It is not the awareness of this social condition which is needed in the society, as people are already aware of the happenings around the world.
It is the awareness of one’s soul, one’s conscience which is needed to be able to create difference in this world through efforts of changing self.
The attitude, behavior, the perspective of every person now needs the insight and depth.
Being an optimistic person and an equally spiritual one, I like to look towards the light which shines on everyone without any discrimination and hence I write on lines which motivate, inspire and add a sense of enthusiasm to life, rather than presenting a true sad picture of the society.
Life has something different to offer at every instance. The universal creation of nature around us is in which we bask every moment has millions of beautiful inspirations to offer.It has the beauty of a child which touches the heart by an innocent smile. The blooming swaying flower, a beautiful bird soaring in the sky, a candle burning with elegance, or a wave touching the bare feet… the drizzle which wets our mind and heart, the music which makes us cry and dance, the tender touch of a lover, or the helplessness of being away from him forever.
Anything that touches the core of my heart inspires me to write.
What's your literary guilty pleasure (sci-fi, 50 Shades, westerns, etc)? Spiritual and Philosophical
You have to invite three authors to dinner, who are they? Why? Rabindranath Tagore, Paulo Coelho,William Wordsworth.
The imagination and the devotion of Rabindranath Tagore can be seen in his works, which ranged from stories and novels of social condition of that time with a tinge of modern thoughts assimilate din the characters.
His poems and stories always lead a sense of importance of freedom, whether of people or of thoughts. And finally when his imagery touched the sky,it created a wonderful rainbow of verses. The flow, the language and the deep sense of insightfulness revealed in his novels.
Paulo Coelho is yet another favorite of mine, neither because he writes about anything related to spiritualism or spiritual practices of other genre nor because of his philosophical based events that are included in his novels.
But because I find his work to be of genuine character, those which he has seen or experienced in life.
The ever learning process is reflected in his works, when we read his books we find they vary in depth and intensity, providing us a deep insight into human nature. A person who transforms himself while on the path of his journey, experiences and cherishes several moments and learns from such rare encounters, a learner of a kind, his works show evolution of the human soul and mind.
Favorite title (you wish you had come up with): The endless world of dreams and the ceaseless imaginations shall provide me with a title which I would love to come up with..For now It’s the “Suroor of the Soul” . Literally speaking, this is the title of the painting of Shaheen, my co author in this book and this is one title which has touch the heart!
Line you wish you wrote: I respect ingenuity and hence will surely create a line of myself!
Book you did not read in high school but now have read and have an appreciation for: And why: During my school days, I almost read all the classic literature of those times ,which included works of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Alexandar Dumas, Leo Tolstoy. Every phase of my life surfaced a different façade to my nature and hence a new author and a new genre of books got in then as favourites.
Favorite words: Divine, invisible bond, love, eternal, path.
Least favorite words: asylum,cruel,hypocrisy,hate,jealousy
Advice you would like to pass on to other writers: Fiction sells, to follow the ongoing trends is fine, but the most essential thing is to present the truth with subtleness and humility.
Beatles or the Stones? Elvis or Cash? Neither
What you would discuss with your pet if your pet could talk: While I was young, I had a cat ,infact she was kitten when she first came to our house.
The most sensible and beautiful cat , I had ever seen,white in colour,with a black spot on her forehead. The time I have spent with her during my childhood, made me a very different kind of person.
If she had been here today alive with me, I would have told her, “See, this is what I learnt from you. To be patient in life, to be protective for your children, to live life in a happy and cheerful way and to surrender totally to our eternal protector, Thee, without fearing about anything, like you laid your head on my feet to be caressed, irrespective and oblivious of any fear.“
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