There were twenty-one events of Poetry Darbaar held nationwide, so far, out of which fifteen were in Gurgaon, two in Delhi and one each in Bhopal, Allahabad, Chandigarh, and Kolkata. There are plans of taking it to other cities too. Here’s a report from Shweta, exclusively for Different Truths.

Poetry Darbar was started in Gurgaon in February 2016 with little expectations. This poetry initiative today is one of the most popular in Delhi NCR.  From Gurgaon, today this non-profit initiative is going national, gets invited to premium college fests, including IITs, has been featured in print media a few times and has garnered a massive following amongst poetry lovers and poets. The purpose was unique – to create and develop a poetry reading culture in Gurgaon, which was non-existent until then, to utilise the free spaces, fast dwindling in the city, for the purpose of art and to bring poetry to people.  And that’s how the first poetry meets started in Gurgaon at Leisure Valley Park, two years ago, on February 2016.

However, Indrajit, the co-founder of this poetry space didn’t imagine this would come so far. “The first meet-up invitation was sent to just six Gurgaon poets who didn’t turn up; however, 32 poets turned up, with ninety per cent being from Delhi. Ever since then, there was no looking back. He kept conducting events in Gurgaon every month at convention centres, art galleries, concept stores and parks and also started taking it outside Gurgaon.

Till date, there were twenty-one poetry events held so far, out of which fifteen were in Gurgaon, two in Delhi and one each in Bhopal, Allahabad, Chandigarh, and Kolkata. There are plans of taking it to other cities too. “People sometimes contact with the desire to start a Poetry Darbaar in their city and that’s how Chandigarh happened, Patiala event would happen soon. There are some nice people who take care of the meets in their cities for their love for poetry. The Delhi NCR events are curated by me singlehandedly”, says Indrajit. He also added that there were two Ghazal writing workshops, clubbed with the poetry sessions in Gurgaon, which is one of its kind in this region. Poetry Darbaar was also invited by IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kharagpur, and few DU college fests for performances and judging their competitions.

Poetry Darbaar is the only space where poets and poetry lovers of all age groups converge to share their poetry. So, one can find a fifteen-year-old sharing space with a seventy-five-year-old and everyone is extremely comfortable. Indrajit adds, “There is no discrimination here and you would also find English and Hindi poets attending the events and be performing.  A Shayar from Mushayra would perform alongside a novice poet who has just started. Now, Imagine the learning such amateur poets would get listening to such brilliant artists. I don’t deny anyone a chance to perform because that’s how he would learn.”

Poetry Darbaar has also won accolades and has been covered by several mainstream newspapers and some websites for the commendable work it is doing to promote poetry.

©Shweta Advani

Photos sourced from the author

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Shweta Advani

Shweta Advani is a freelance writer and a slam poet, who is well-known for her slam on how Bollywood has encouraged stalking. Her brand of poetry is a mirror of society. She joined Poetry Darbaar, a year ago, and has actively performed in several open mics and colleges.