There is poetry in every corner of this world, in each of us. Sometimes the words, which remain unspoken, find their way to us through others- complete strangers who nevertheless feel like kindred spirits. On this World Poetry Day, here are just some such contemporary poets from India, whose poems found me at different moments in my life, in a sudden burst of familiarity and left behind a lingering sense of comfort, knowing that someone somewhere understands your heart. Some of them, like the ones by Harnidh Kaur or Nilesh Mondal helped me to come to terms with heartache and loss. Rupi Kaur, the poet celebrated and reviled in equal measures, encourages me to be fiercely unapologetic about feeling too much, too strongly. Then there are the ones like Hardik Nagar, whose works came as a blow in the gut, as I finally began to understand the chaotic workings of the minds of people I have known or believed myself to have known intimately. Akhil Katyal took me into a softer, gentler world of music and art and left a bittersweet taste on my tongue, of a time gone by. Sometimes, other poets draw out the poetry within you, which is what Tishani Doshi did. Here’s hoping that you are able to find the magic in these words as I have.
Harnidh Kaur
Akhil Katyal
Hardik Nagar
Nikita Gill
Rupi Kaur
Karuna Ezara
Tishani Doshi
Nilesh Mondal
Arundhati Subramaniam
Arunoday Singh
