Dr Ritu Kamra Kumar is working as Principal MLN College Yamunanagar, Haryana,India. An avid writer, she has contributed more than 400 write ups and poems in National newspapers such as The Tribune,The Hindustan Times, Deccan Herald ,Daily World and Woman’s Era The Daily Guardian. Around 40 research papers of her have been published in national and international research journals.She has authored six books which includes Academic,Non Fiction and Poetry -Configurational Coordinates of Woman’s Space in Select Novels of Shashi Deshpande,The Priceless Petals- Non- Fiction, The Strokes of Solitude- Non- Fiction,The Peerless Pearls- Poetry
Philanthropy of Seth Jai Parkesh – A Coffee Table Book and Unpruned Verses – Poetry
Question 1
Do you come from a literary background?
Yes! I come from a literary background,a home where storytelling was a regular phenomenon as my mother late Mrs Sudesh kamra was an avid writer who used to write for popular magazines like Saptahik Hindustan and Dharmyug..She instilled in us a liking for reading literature as she herself was voracious reader and books were brought home from library of Government Polytechnic Ambala city where my father was a Professor and my father read poems and stories for us when we were kids.We used to recite poems composed by our mother and they were very much appreciated.
Question- 2
What writers did you enjoy reading as an adolescent?
As an adolescent I was very fond of writers like Jane Austen whose all six novels I have read many a time and Emma remains my all time favourite.She portrays realism very naturally and her mild social satires appeal at once.Though her range is limited yet the two inches of ivory on which she paints with so fine a brush produces perennial classics.Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment is another fiction that remains close to my heart for the brilliant depiction of psychology of heart- guilt and how it haunts the guilty.
Among poets William Wordsworth and Shakespeare’s Sonnets I loved.Humming Daffodils,Lucy Poems,The Solitary Reaper was jocund joy. Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry I found awakening and we friends often recited his poem- Where the Mind is Without Fear and were filled with a sense of patriotism.
Question-3
How did you get started as a poet?
I started my creative writing journey with prose writings in 2015.It started with writing letter to the editor for different newspapers,then Middles for newspapers like The Hindustan Times, The Tribune, Deccan Herald, Daily World,Daily Post,magazines like Woman’s Era and got so many mails of appreciation. Readers found my prose very lyrical and this is how I started writing poems.My first poem- Wedding Bliss- lifetime Reminisce was published in Woman’s Era.Then I started writing poems for veritable literary platforms on social Media and was adjudged poet of the week and won many prizes.In year 2022 I came with my first Anthology of 108 poems- The Peerless Pearls and in December 2023 another Anthology- Unpruned Verses came which consists of 94 poems.I also participated in Napowrimo in April 2023 ,which is celebrated as National Poetry Month .So the shift from prose to poetry was spontaneous and smooth.
Question-4
How do your poems develop? Please guide us through the stages of a poem
Poetry is an art,a creative skill,a thought that stays with the poet ripening into an emotion,a feeling that is put on paper through words- words which comes to writer – unpruned, uncut,unbridled and then in the anvil of writer’s mind they are un furnished, reshuffled till they bear a stark resemblance to what the writer or poet had conceived. But at the same time poetry is a matter of life not just a matter of language.It makes you pause and ponder. Lord Byron aptly observes- A drop of ink may make a million think.The emotions depicted by the poet are so life like that the reader spontaneously relates to those ideas and insights.If the reader feels one’s with the poet’s belief ,that piece of literature assumes universal appeal.I wrote a poem on this aspect
Words Converse in a verse.Quoting a few lines of The poem
Words own me
I owe
To them
As I unlock and unravel
Become- they mine
And shine
To be alive in my thoughts
Nectar’s draught…
Purged
I put them on paper
Treasure troves of my leisure
And labour
Question -5
How did you manage to fit writing in with other demands on your time? Are you good at managing your time?
Nothing is impossible if you have passion for it.I am a prolific writer and my day seems futile until I put my thoughts that have been coming back to me throughout the day as I indulge in the mundane activities,on paper and achieve a sense of accomplishment and glee galore.Moreover I am a disciplined person,inherited this from my parents.We had a schedule for everyday in our childhood and that habit stays with me.Moreover where where there is a will There is a way.
Question-6
What is your message to the fellow poets and readers about literature in general and poetry in particular?
Beauty of literature/poetry, a genre of literature is that it goes beyond barriers.Literature is like a bird ,a river that knows no boundaries. It crosses over nationality, caste,creed and culture,immortalises emotions
Another aspect of literature that is most enthralling and readers will agree is that it is all inclusive,deals with all aspects of life.Anything that exists on earth under this sun can be the subject matter of literature.It can be understood by all.We narrate stories to our kids ,that is only literature.It makes us laugh,cry,heals our wounds,leaves an imprint on mind.
And every one has a story to tell ,the only thing we need to do is pick the pen and write.The crux is – breathe in experience, breathe out literature.
