In Conversation with Indian Diplomat, Poet and Author Abhay K.'s image
Kavishala Interviews8 min read

In Conversation with Indian Diplomat, Poet and Author Abhay K.

Kavishala LabsKavishala Labs June 16, 2020
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Abhay K. is an Indian poet-diplomat and the author of 8 poetry collections and the editor of The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems. He has translated Kalidasa’s Meghaduta into English. His forthcoming poetry collection is The Alphabets of Latin America. His Earth Anthem has been translated into over 50 languages.

Kavishala is going behind the scenes to uncover the inspirations and secrets of Abhay K.:

1. Tell us about your childhood. Where you grew up and how was life there ? What were your hobbies, your aspirations and guidance ?

Abhay K. - I grew up in a village called Chhabilapur near the ancient city of Rajgir, in Nalanda district of Bihar. I very fondly remember visiting my grandparents and uncles and aunts in a remote village named Bhattu Bigha, where I had to go walking and had to cross the river Paimar to reach there. I loved going there as the place was full of fruit trees—guavas, ber, mangoes, papaya among others, and sugarcane fields, all kind of vegetables grew there, a gobar-gas plant in those days, and lots of birds including parrots. Above all this my grandma used to tell me stories at night. It was my garden of Eden, from which I have been banished, and I am ever searching for it wherever I am in this world. 

Then when I was in class five or six, I shifted to a boarding school in Rajgir, where I continued studying till class 10th. Those days I loved watching Hindi movies and just hanging out. I have always enjoyed reading. My father was a teacher in a primary school and we had lots of books at home. So one day I found a copy of Rashmirathi by Ramdhaari Singh Dinkar somewhere and read it and the effect was electric, since then I have always loved poetry. 

Those days, I probably wanted to become a movie star, after watching so many Hindi films in a video-hall in Rajgir. 

 

2. You started as a Poet, Writer rather early, with your poetry and writing. What inspired you to take this up? And what was your aim?

Abhay K. - And then I went to Patna to do 10+2 with the view of preparing for the medical entrance exam. My father thought I could become a doctor or an engineer. Obviously, no one wants you to become a poet or a writer including yourself. So, I completed my Intermediate (10+2) in Patna, could not get through any medical entrance exam, so I decided to go to Delhi University and study Geography there in order to become a Civil Servant. Again I had no intention to study literature. Becoming a writer never came to my mind. Afterwards, I went to JNU to study Geography and prepare for the Civil Services Exam. And only after getting into Indian Foreign Service in 2003, I started writing. So it began with a blog ‘Ideas and Universe’ which I started writing in April 2004. When I went to Moscow to learn Russian language on my first foreign assignment, I started writing my first book ‘The River Valley to Silicon Valley’- a memoir of my first 24 years. It was published in 2007. Then poems started flowing within me. My first poetry collection is titled- Enigmatic Love: Love Poems from the fairy-tale city of Moscow. It was published in 2009. Since then I have been writing poems regularly and have so far 8 collections of poetry—

Enigmatic Love (2009)

The Fallen Leaves of Autumn (2010)

Candling the Light (2011)

Remains (2012)

The Seduction of Delhi (2014)

The Eight-eyed Lord of Kathmandu (2018)

The Prophecy of Brasilia (2019)

The Alphabets of Latin America (2020)


The Magic of Madagascar is forthcoming.

As you can see from the titles of these books, I initially wrote about love and nature, but now I write about places. I create poetic-portraits of the places I visit and live by bringing together myths, history, geography etc. 

I have also selected and edited a number of poetry collections—

CAPITALS (2017)

100 Great Indian Poems (2018)

100 More Great Indian Poems (2019)

New Brazilian Poems (2019)

The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems (2020)

100 Great Indian Poems have been translated into over half a dozen languages across the world. 


3. What impact has your poetry had on the community?

Abhay K. - Well, it is difficult for me to assess that, but Maharaja Gangasingh University in Bikaner has awarded a PHD to Amit Dhawan on the topic ‘Cultural Construct of the Self: A critical study of Abhay Kumar’s poetry’ in 2018. A number of other academic papers have been written on my poetry books. 

I co-founded ‘Poetry at the Monument’ initiative in Delhi to involve people in reading and listening to poetry at Delhi’s landmark monuments in 2011-12, which received lots of appreciation from the people. 

I received SAARC literary award 2013, citation of the which read—‘He co-founded Poetry at the Monument movement to bring poetry back to Delhi and to pay homage to 3000 years of Delhi’s heritage. The movement that started in Delhi has spread across the whole of South Asia.’

When I was posted in Kathmandu, I started a monthly poetry event named ‘Poemandu’ which ran for 39 months. In Brasilia, I continued this monthly poetry reading with a different name 

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