Abhinandan Bhattacharya is a secondary school teacher of English Language and Literature at JBCN International School, Oshiwara, Mumbai. He writes on social issues, human behaviour and relationships, touching upon the very fabric of emotions and sensitivities. He is a certified educator by National Geographic, besides being a distinguished academic and teacher trainer under the aegis of Collins, Harper Collins, UK. He has recently come out with the book Inara: An Illumination Through Verses, which is a poetry collection.

I chat with Abhinandan about his book Inara, how this poetry collection came to be, the themes that he has discussed in the poems in this book, book recommendations, and much more.

Hello, Abhinandan! Tell us a bit about yourself!

Hello, Ridhi. Well, I am an educator, a teacher of English Language and Literature for an international curriculum, to be more precise. That’s what helps me run my house and pay my bills. Deep down I am on the journey to find out more about myself, honestly. It’s a process of self-exploration that allows me the luxury to be a bohemian spirit as I am known to pack my bags and fly off to simple but extraordinary places, throwing every caution to the wind. I believe in living each day as it comes to me, though the mortal expectations tend to overwhelm me at times and leave me somewhat unsettled. And it is during these moments that my penchant for reading and writing helps me clear my mind and see the illumination through the darkest tunnels. I have always believed in the idea of spreading love, joy and kindness, and trust me, the world needs that in repeatedly high doses today. I am a thinker and an observer of life in all its manifestations around me.

When did you start writing poetry? Which poets have been your inspirations?

My early experiences of composing ideas and thoughts into a string of rhymes and patterns date back to a time when I might have been in class 4 or 5. I was in a convent school all throughout and we would put up what was called a ‘wall magazine’ then. It was a House-wise activity wherein students had to show their expressive and creative sides in the best manner possible. Back in the early 90’s, internet and technological dependence had been out of bounds and we would do everything manually. So, I would write short verses and stories and draw some image or illustration to support the context of my thoughts.

At home, I had my biggest inspiration in the form of my father who had been quite an unpublished writer himself. He was a visionary and presumably a philosopher besides just being a stenographer and typist at a nationalised bank of the country. Years later, this spark of writing was fuelled further during my graduation days where I was sincerely pursuing Journalism and Mass Communication. I would write regularly on a host of social, cultural, and academic issues in the national dailies. Observing life and people around me, eventually led me to take up writing seriously.

I have grown up bingeing on poems by William Shakespeare, Rabindranath Tagore, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Percy B. Shelley, T.S. Eliot, Nissim Ezekiel, Ruskin Bond and so on and so forth, while in my professional years I had rekindled that passion for Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Robert Browning, Sarojini Naidu, Vikram Seth, Carol Ann Duffy, Sylvia Plath, T.S. Coleridge, William Blake, and Wilfred Owen to name a few. Though each one of them has a very different yet unique writing style and flavour, there’s something remarkable in each poem that truly makes you think and re-think and undefine your earlier thoughts.

If you could only describe your poetry book Inara: An Illumination Through Verses in five words, what would they be?

Oh why, you have already just done so for me – ‘Inara: An Illumination Through Verses’ (laughs wittily). Well, if I were to describe Inara in five words, it might read somewhat like this: Let’s embrace life’s vagaries together.

Now tell us a little more about the book! What can readers expect?

Inara is not simply a book of poems. It is indeed evocative in a true sense and calls out to each reader as one flips through the pages enabling them to see how that streak of beauty and love is still splashed all over the firmament which wears an otherwise haggard look on the rainy days. Inara is that illumination that will help readers build their own perspectives and perhaps, help all of us find and appreciate joy in the smallest moments of life. Inara will help you think without worrying you at all. It might offer some solutions to the threats and issues that are troubling our society today.

What was the moment when the idea of this book first came to be? What made you pursue it?

Well, there is no specific moment like an epiphany of sorts that I can possibly recall right now when the idea of Inara came to be. I think it was sometime last year shortly after the Diwali season when a fleeting idea of publishing my poems had struck me.

Like I mentioned earlier, I am an observer of the world and life around me. The pandemic and prolonged lockdown had helped me dig deeper within myself and confront so many aspects of my persona. I realised how everyone had been increasingly feeling grumpy and frustrated. Though I do not intend to become a preacher or a godman, I just felt expressing my thoughts based on the real-life observations would really help in lifting the fog, if not remove it completely. This motivated me to write more poems which received much appreciation from my colleagues and fellow educators. It was then that my decision to go for the publication was resolute.

Can you tell us about your creative process of how you go about writing a poem?

Yes, I guess, each creative mind has his/her own pursuit strategy before they translate their thoughts into the final element. If I were to be absolutely honest in answering this, most of the ideas or themes come to me in a semi-sleeping state a little before dawn. For example, the idea for the poem ‘Are We Independent?’ came to me at the wee hours of 15^th August, 2019. I was troubled with a lot of questions in my half-awake supine state out of which some strong phrases and words remained with me after I was fully awake. I might be sounding absolutely crazy but that’s how ideas usually tease me.

On other occasions, I think about a topic which is mostly born out of epiphany or a sudden revelation that I instantly make a note of. If I am unable to scribble my raw thoughts and words, I rehearse some relevant words in my mind and let it sink into my system. After that I return to my routine chores and work, trying not to think about the topic at all. If the idea sticks with me and eventually makes sense, I start toying with it further and try making connections based on more observations until it is ineffaceable. My poem takes birth.

What different themes and topics have you discussed in the poems in this book?

Inara has aimed at spreading the rays of thoughts on hunger, corruption, gender issues, poverty, nostalgia, mental health, friendship, and several other themes like hope, optimistic attitude, survival instincts, call for peace, climate change, immigration, and so on and so forth.

How have you been coping with the current pandemic and what will be the new normal for you post it?

My biggest source of strength has come from my role as an educator. Interacting with my beloved students and dear colleagues remotely for almost the past two years now has given me that motivation to go on and never give up. Because it is that desire to collaborate with them on another new day that has kept me going. I look forward to teaching and learning each day. Honestly, the pandemic has left sufficient dent on the psyche of mankind. It has been absolutely painful and mentally exhausting to get up each morning and read the news screaming traumatic affairs where families have been ruined, life totally derailed flinging masses to acute misery and haplessness. While I thank God that I have gone unscathed by the deadly virus and have never had a date with the little devil, it would be unfair not to admit the serious mental distress this extraordinary time has impacted me with. To keep a sane mind amidst playing the balancing game between work and self has been quite an affair.

I would immerse myself in reading scores of books and then reflect on them by writing on them by and large. As a thinker, I am naturally drawn to the pressing issues of the time and find it awfully hard to contain myself from sharing my feelings on my social media timeline. Obviously, how can I ignore the invitation from Facebook that keeps telling me ‘Write something here…’ the moment I visit it? Besides these, a couple of trips to the hills and beaches have helped me maintain my sanity to a great extent.

I don’t have the faintest idea what this ‘new normal’ is likely to be. But whatever we term the post-pandemic world as, I sincerely wish it helps us be more humane in our dealings with the world around us and most importantly with our own selves.

Lastly, are you currently reading anything and do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

I read every day. Currently, I am reading Justin Baldoni’s Man Enough, which is a book on undefining masculinity. It is not some academic treatise or a self-help motivational book. The book, through anecdotes, drives home the point to see regular mundane stuff in an extraordinarily delightful light. I think everyone must read this book as I believe it would help establish peace on so many levels in the world today.

I have always advocated the idea of reading not only to my students but also to my friends and colleagues, both during casual conversations and in my academic workshops. There is no substitute to reading. It educates you more than anything else. I keep posting about my current reads on my social media quite sincerely. I am blessed to have some friends who share this passion with me and often we embark on literary vacations where we explore a myriad of things that are absolutely splendid and worth cherishing.

The book ‘Inara: An Illumination Through Verses’ is available online and at your nearest bookstore.