Poetry has been a literary genre that often has strict rules, regulations, rhythm, metre, and style. From Kalidasa to Kamala Das, we have seen a shift in reconstructing the nature of poetry as it intertwines with forms and genres. Moving into the world of social media, Instagram poets have taken the world by storm. Poems that move us have become an integral part of our lives today, particularly when we are unsure of what the day brings.
With the pandemic and everyone isolating within homes for safety, mental health is something that needed to be addressed. Among other genres, poetry, too became a medium to find solace and an outlet for bottled-up emotions.
Transcending the traditionality of poetry is something that reached its peak over the course of last year. With the change it brought a new form that resonated with readers who felt connected this new style. Life is not just rhythmic couplets, it is fragmented, jarred and self-accepting, just like what these writers portray on their Instagram handles.
@karunaezara
Poet, former TV anchor and now writer, Karuna Ezara Parikh, has a way of writing up raw emotions that trigger the ideas of love and sorrow. Her recent poems play around the ideas of isolation and hope. This Kolkata-based writer recently published her debut novel, The Heart Asks Pleasure First, which is layered with love, family, xenophobia among many others which are in fact reflections of themes from her poetry.
@rupikaur_
From everyday instances to fleeting thoughts, life in itself seems like an inspiration to Rupi Kaur with her love for the spoken word evident throughout her profile. Her short visual poetry explores the idea of relationship, sexual trauma and diaspora. The truth that, this Indian-born Canadian’s thoughts resonate with a larger community, is seen through affirmations of her followers.
@amitesh.grover
A very vocal political stand jumps out at you while gazing through his Instagram profile that shows the plight of this country and humanity. As an inter-disciplinary artist, his works transcend all the traditional norms of poetry and seeps into theatre, performance, interactive art and installations. His works delve into the ephemeral and conceptual ideas around the art of performance.
@sufisoul
Known for his towering figure and role in movies, Arunoday Singh’s Instagram also boast snippets of poetry that he writes in a calligraphical manner. “Whisper it to me, I promise I won’t tell a soul. Just between me and you, just tell me if there’s something, there, at the end of it, worth what we are going through”. His penned words revolve around the idea of love and as a true romantic, his words inspire the readers.
@poetofblues
Khawaja Musadiq does an amazing job of capturing the moment when it comes to poetry. One often senses a touch of melancholia with a yearning for lost love when reading his works. Starting with poems that depict the scenic beauty of Kashmir and moving on to the plight of a place torn apart by uncertainty, he says his works started off as a ‘meagrely scanty idea’ which might ease the pain and sorrow of his readers.
@harnidhk
Harnidh Kaur takes us on a journey of body positivity and self-acceptance as we scroll through her Instagram page. With prose like rendition of poetry, she also resorts to a letter format at times, signing off with an ‘hk’. Despite the busy schedule as the Product Marketing Manager at Swiggy, she has an open Zoom platform to talk with people about her journey in coming terms with herself.