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      • ISSUE XX May 2014
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      • ISSUE XXI February 2015
      • Contemporary Indian English Poetry ISSUE XXII November 2015
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      • ISSUE XXIII August 2016
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      • ISSUE XXV August 2017
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      • ISSUE XXVII July 2018
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      • Issue XXX February 2020
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  • Collaborations
    • Macedonian Collaboration
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  • Prose on Poetry and Poets
    • 2010-2013 >
      • Sylvia Plath by Dr. Nidhi Mehta >
        • Chapter-1(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-2(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-3(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-4(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-5(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-6(Sylvia Plath)
      • Prose Poems of Tagore by Dr. Bina Biswas >
        • Chapter-1(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-2(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-3(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-4(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-5(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-6(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-7(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-8(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-9(Rabindranath Tagore)
      • Kazi Nazrul Islam by Dr. Shamenaz Shaikh >
        • Chapter 1(Nazrul Islam)
        • Chapter 2(Nazrul Islam)
        • Chapter 3(Nazrul Islam)
      • Kabir's Poetry by Dr. Anshu Pandey >
        • Chapter 1(Kabir's Poetry)
        • Chapter 2(Kabir's Poetry)
        • Chapter 3(Kabir's Poetry)
      • My mind's not right by Dr. Vicky Gilpin >
        • Chapter- 1 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-2 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-3 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-4 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
      • On Poetry & Poets by Abhay K.
      • Poetry of Kamla Das –A True Voice Of Bourgeoisie Women In India by Dr.Shikha Saxena
      • Identity Issues in the Poetry of Nissim Ezekiel by Dr.Arvind Nawale & Prashant Mothe*
      • Nissim Ezekiel’s Latter-Day Psalms: His Religious and Philosophical Speculations By Dr. Pallavi Srivastava
      • The Moping Owl : the Epitome of Melancholy by Zinia Mitra
      • Gary Soto’s Vision of Chicano Experiences: The Elements of San Joaquin and Human Nature by Paula Hayes
      • Sri Aurobindo: A Poet By Aju Mukhopadhyay
      • Wordsworthian Romanticism in the Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: Nature and the Reflective Capabilities of a Poetic Self by Paula Hayes
      • Reflective Journey of T.S. Eliot: From Philosophy to Poetry by Syed Ahmad Raza Abidi
      • North East Indian Poetry: ‘Peace’ in Violence by Ananya .S. Guha
    • 2014-2015 >
      • From The Hidden World of Poetry: Unravelling Celtic mythology in Contemporary Irish Poetry Adam Wyeth
      • Alchemy’s Drama: Conflict, Resolution and Poiesis in the Poetic Work of Art by Michelle Bitting
      • Amir Khushrau: The Musical Soul of India by Dr. Shamenaz
      • PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME: POETRY'S EROTIC ART by Elena Karina Byrne
      • Celtic and Urban Landscapes in Irish Poetry by Linda Ibbotson
      • Trickster at the African Crossroads and the Bridge to the Blues in America by Michelle Bitting
    • 2015-2016 >
      • Orogeny/Erogeny: The “nonsense” of language and the poetics of Ed Dorn T Thilleman
      • Erika Burkart: Fragments, Shards, and Visions by Marc Vincenz
      • English Women Poets and Indian politics
    • 2016-2017 >
      • Children’s Poetry in India- A Case Study of Adil Jussawalla and Ananya Guha by Shruti Sareen
      • Thirteen Thoughts on Poetry in the Digital Age by Mandy kAHN
    • 2017-2018 >
      • From Self-Portrait with Dogwood: A Route of Evanescence by Christopher Merrill
      • Impure Poetry by Tony Barnstone
      • On the Poets: Contributors in Context by Donald Gardner
      • Punching above its Weight: Dutch Poetry in English, a Selection, 2013-2017 by Jane Draycott
  • Print Editions

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Abhay K in conversation with Koketso Marishane


Please do enlighten us on the following based on the theme in brackets:

The Self (Yourself)
  1. What people or experiences have taught you the most and helped you to arrive where you are?
I can´t think of any individual person or experience as such. I would like to put it this way that life itself is a great teacher. I have learned from all the people, great and humble, success and failure, joy and sorrow, highs and lows. I think the two opposites complement each other and give meaning to life.

​      2.  Are you ‘Pro-life’ or ‘Pro-Choice’ and why?

          I am both and I don´t see the difference.
​
      3. You’ve lived in many countries, cities, neighbourhoods, and houses experiencing different cultures with different people. What contribution did each of them make, how have they impacted your life personally and professionally and, what kept you afloat during the lowest moments?

Each place I have lived in has impacted my life considerably. Moscow, St. Petersburg, Delhi, Kathmandu have found their way in my poems. Wherever I go, I try to learn the local language, absorb local culture and write about these places amalgamating myths, history, folktales and imagination. I think it is important to change places, to experience different cultures, to learn new languages to keep oneself stimulated. Writing poetry itself is a very rewarding experience and helps me keep afloat during low moments.

 4. What is your philosophy in life and how do you maintain it?

My philosophy in life is to learn something new everyday. Learning something new makes me happy. It makes me think and create something new.

The Art of Politics / The Politics of the Arts:

1. What factors do you keep in mind when giving advice about an investment in art?

Art is very personal affair. I may just like a curved line on a blank canvass. I think one should buy art that one really likes. One should not just go for the art works because they have been done by famous artists and possessing them can make others envious.

2. Considering your chronological age and the milestones in your career, would you say you loved politics or politics loved you and why?

What matters for me the most is living the moment. That´s all. The rest simply is an adornment I can do wthout. I don´t believe in impressive biography or an outstanding career. I believe in a moment full of bliss, that´s all.
​
River Valley Civilization to Silicon Valley Civilization:
  1. How do you see the defense of royalties in an increasingly digital future?
Most of writers don´t make out a living out of royalties. They write primarily to share their ideas, their world view, to be remembered. I think digital world makes life easy for the majority of the writers. Off course the publishing houses aren´t envious of the great leap forward made in publishing technology.

     2. In terms of governance in India, to what extend would you say ‘India is civilized’ put on a global scale?

India is a mother civilization. The influence of Indian civilization extends much wider and longer than the confines of the Indian State. Indian values have contributed a great deal in shaping the modern world and continue to do so.
​
Global Governance:
  1. You’ve innovated the ‘Democratic Global Governance’ to be complemented by the Earth Anthem. Provided you succeed, could you please fully brief us about it in terms of mission, vision and objective?
I have not innovated the idea of democratic global governance, just advanced it through my writings. Earth Anthem stands out as a creative idea to bring the world together by singing a song in honour of our one planet independent of the idea of democratic global governance. Even schools and football teams have their own anthems, why can´t our planet have one. I think it costs us very little to commission a piece of music by a number of well known music composers and select the best out of those to be an anthem of our one and only planet.  I am sure we  can do it and in turn Earth Anthem can give us much needed symbol of our belong to one planet. When I say Earth Anthem, I mean it is not just a World Anthem for the humans, it includes other species who share this planet with us, it is not anthropocentric but earth-centric.

       2. You occupy such a tiny but huge space in the global market as a global citizen with multiple awards to your name. Seeing that your work complements your lifestyle, when will ‘enough be enough’?

I believe in living moments as I said earlier. Awards and other decorations will come and go giving me transient pleasure but I want more durable sense of bliss of being a human, being a part of this vast universe, being able to walk this surface of the Earth on my own feet. That´s my bliss.

      3. Considering the public spaces that you occupy, personally and professionally, when in public, how do you switch between speaking as public official and as an artist?

It is a fine balance. For example there are similarities between the art of poetry and diplomacy. The first one is ambiguity, the second one is brevity and third one is sensitivity. When a diplomat speaks it can mean this or that, in the same way best poetry merely insinuates, it is never direct. Brevity of expression is important in poetry as well as in diplomacy. Both the poet and the diplomat have to be sensitive.

    4. Please list three most important words for the world today?

Sustainability, Innovation and Imagination
​
Closure:
  1. What advice would you give to our readers and your fellows?
Learn everyday something new.
Follow your passion.
Live the moment.
Sleep more, exercise more and spend more time with your friends and loved ones.


​



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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact
    • Media Coverages
    • Copyright Notice
    • VerseVille Blog
  • Submissions
    • Poetry and Essays Guidelines
    • Book Review Guidelines
    • Research Series Guidelines
  • Masthead
  • Editions
    • 2011 Issues >
      • ISSUE-XIV November 2011
    • 2012 Issues >
      • ISSUE-XV March 2012
      • ISSUE-XVI July 2012
      • ISSUE-XVII November 2012
    • 2013 Issues >
      • ISSUE-XVIII April 2013
      • ISSUE XIX November 2013
    • 2014 Issues >
      • ISSUE XX May 2014
    • 2015 Issues >
      • ISSUE XXI February 2015
      • Contemporary Indian English Poetry ISSUE XXII November 2015
    • 2016 Issues >
      • ISSUE XXIII August 2016
      • Poetry From Ireland ISSUE XXIV December 2016
    • 2017 ISSUES >
      • ISSUE XXV August 2017
      • ISSUE XXVI December 2017
    • 2018 ISSUES >
      • ISSUE XXVII July 2018
      • ISSUE XXVIII November 2018
    • 2019 Issues >
      • ISSUE XXIX July 2019
    • 2020 ISSUES >
      • Issue XXX February 2020
      • ISSUE XXXI December 2020
  • Collaborations
    • Macedonian Collaboration
    • Collaboration with Dutch Foundation for Literature
  • Interviews
  • Prose on Poetry and Poets
    • 2010-2013 >
      • Sylvia Plath by Dr. Nidhi Mehta >
        • Chapter-1(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-2(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-3(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-4(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-5(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-6(Sylvia Plath)
      • Prose Poems of Tagore by Dr. Bina Biswas >
        • Chapter-1(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-2(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-3(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-4(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-5(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-6(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-7(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-8(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-9(Rabindranath Tagore)
      • Kazi Nazrul Islam by Dr. Shamenaz Shaikh >
        • Chapter 1(Nazrul Islam)
        • Chapter 2(Nazrul Islam)
        • Chapter 3(Nazrul Islam)
      • Kabir's Poetry by Dr. Anshu Pandey >
        • Chapter 1(Kabir's Poetry)
        • Chapter 2(Kabir's Poetry)
        • Chapter 3(Kabir's Poetry)
      • My mind's not right by Dr. Vicky Gilpin >
        • Chapter- 1 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-2 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-3 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-4 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
      • On Poetry & Poets by Abhay K.
      • Poetry of Kamla Das –A True Voice Of Bourgeoisie Women In India by Dr.Shikha Saxena
      • Identity Issues in the Poetry of Nissim Ezekiel by Dr.Arvind Nawale & Prashant Mothe*
      • Nissim Ezekiel’s Latter-Day Psalms: His Religious and Philosophical Speculations By Dr. Pallavi Srivastava
      • The Moping Owl : the Epitome of Melancholy by Zinia Mitra
      • Gary Soto’s Vision of Chicano Experiences: The Elements of San Joaquin and Human Nature by Paula Hayes
      • Sri Aurobindo: A Poet By Aju Mukhopadhyay
      • Wordsworthian Romanticism in the Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: Nature and the Reflective Capabilities of a Poetic Self by Paula Hayes
      • Reflective Journey of T.S. Eliot: From Philosophy to Poetry by Syed Ahmad Raza Abidi
      • North East Indian Poetry: ‘Peace’ in Violence by Ananya .S. Guha
    • 2014-2015 >
      • From The Hidden World of Poetry: Unravelling Celtic mythology in Contemporary Irish Poetry Adam Wyeth
      • Alchemy’s Drama: Conflict, Resolution and Poiesis in the Poetic Work of Art by Michelle Bitting
      • Amir Khushrau: The Musical Soul of India by Dr. Shamenaz
      • PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME: POETRY'S EROTIC ART by Elena Karina Byrne
      • Celtic and Urban Landscapes in Irish Poetry by Linda Ibbotson
      • Trickster at the African Crossroads and the Bridge to the Blues in America by Michelle Bitting
    • 2015-2016 >
      • Orogeny/Erogeny: The “nonsense” of language and the poetics of Ed Dorn T Thilleman
      • Erika Burkart: Fragments, Shards, and Visions by Marc Vincenz
      • English Women Poets and Indian politics
    • 2016-2017 >
      • Children’s Poetry in India- A Case Study of Adil Jussawalla and Ananya Guha by Shruti Sareen
      • Thirteen Thoughts on Poetry in the Digital Age by Mandy kAHN
    • 2017-2018 >
      • From Self-Portrait with Dogwood: A Route of Evanescence by Christopher Merrill
      • Impure Poetry by Tony Barnstone
      • On the Poets: Contributors in Context by Donald Gardner
      • Punching above its Weight: Dutch Poetry in English, a Selection, 2013-2017 by Jane Draycott
  • Print Editions