Friends Unbeatable Combi is proud to present before you a simple and humble poet Subhrajyothi Parida, who has done a collection of lovely poems titled, ‘Bouquet – of emotions, feelings and thoughts.’ Subhrajyothi Parida is an Engineer by Profession, Poet from Heart. He is currently employed as a Manager in Helicopter Division, HAL, Bangalore, wherein his job profile involves managing Supply Chain activities. He is also into photography (especially capturing different types of landscapes), philately and of course, poetry.
Subhrajyothi Parida, Why did you think of writing this poetry collection 'Bouquet'?
To begin with, Bouquet was never in the horizon. I had never planned or even dreamt of writing poems to publish it as a BOOK someday. My initial poems were simply part of my personal collection. Then, tragedy stuck my life which shook it to the core. I lost my dearest Mother to cancer in February, 2016, after battling for life for two weeks post-surgery. The unfathomable agony and despair of losing mother was so much in the beginning that it was becoming quite difficult to come out of it. Then, as time passed, I realized that I ought to do something which is I love to do in dedication to my late mother. So, I began compiling some of my old poems from the personal collection and wrote some new ones, and titled this collection of poems as ‘Bouquet – of emotions, feelings and thoughts’ since they contained poems on a plethora of themes, each of them representing a flower in a bouquet.
The themes you tackle in these poems are just unimaginable, why did you feel like writing on such themes?
Each of these themes such as Mother, Love, Ambitions, Aftermath, Peace, War, Freedom etc., represents a prominent dimension of our every day life, which in turn plays a significant role in deciding the fate of our society, our nation and the whole world. So, if we can work on these dimensions of our daily life, we truly, I believe, do stand a chance in improving our society, our nation and of course, our whole world.
Which of the poems is your favourite? Why?
‘Unwanted Girl’ and ‘A Child’s Promise’ are my favourites. ‘Unwanted Girl’ because this poem showcases a very critical issue in India Society – the ‘Female Foeticide’ or ‘Female Infanticide’ which if not addressed effectively from the ground level, will one day threaten the very existence of this great land. And, ‘A Child’s Promise’ because it attempts to throw light on the true emotions and the thought process of a very young child who after losing his mother, promises her of taking care of his father like a matured adult. I believe this poem tries to bring out the innocence of a kid in its true sense.
What was your purpose in getting this poetry collection to the readers?
Just to bring out my emotions, feelings and thoughts to the world, nothing else, besides this.
Tell us an interesting fact about this poetry book?
The first spark for writing poems like Freedom and Soldiers, ignited in my mind in some of the least expected circumstances such as; in shower, while in traffic, before going to bed and while just lazing on bed or couch.
Doing a poetry collection in India today and getting it published is not an easy task, how did you find this task?
For first 3-4 months, I struggled to find even a publisher who is interested in poetry. I gradually started getting frustrated with the thought that it can never be published in the form of a book. Then, one fine day, I came to know about my publisher from one of my close friends and then, checked it out on Internet. Convinced of their credibility, I approached them, I sent my manuscript and a call came back from them confirming that they are willing to publish my book.
How do you manage writing and family? What is your writing strategy?
I sincerely thank my wife, sister and father for all the support and inspiration for writing and not the least, my late mother who would definitely be showering blessings on me from heaven now. Frankly speaking, I am still to develop any specific strategy for writing. I simply start jotting down on paper whenever any idea crops up and over a period of time, I try to develop on it to transform it to a poem.
What would you advice your readers and upcoming poets?
For readers, please check out my book and read it from your heart and try to feel every word of it. I am sure you won’t be disappointed then. For upcoming poets, write poems to express your true emotions and always strive to connect to the reader’s heart by striking the right chord. The poems will automatically then achieve its goal.
