Written by Shruti
I joined Bookworm expecting to learn some things, but I never thought I will learn so many things. Everyday in Bookworm is a new experience for me and a new learning for me.
Haiku writing is one of such newly-learned things. Before coming to Bookworm I just heard the word ‘Haiku’ but never knew what it meant or its from. But Bookworm is the place where I understood what it meant, that it’s a form of poetry. Haiku poems can describe anything, but are seldom complicated or hard to understand. Almost all Haiku has a dominant impression, or main idea, that appeals strongly to one of the five senses. Traditionally all Haiku had season words and there is a historical reason for this but modern day poets have moved beyond season words arguing that modern life is now influenced by cityscapes or by being indoors.
Basically what we understood is that Haiku is a short form of poetry ( guide being the 5-7-5 syllable arrangement but not a strict rule in non Japanese languages) and that ‘nature’ or a moment deeply perceived is the ‘hero’ of the piece.
We began our Haiku experiences by sitting on the beach at Miramar. My first beach workshop and my first poetry workshop all in one. We found objects on the beach or absorbed an experience and set down to write our first haikus. And my first haiku goes like this:
Broken boat lying
alone on the sea shore
silently staring at the sea
Many such sessions later, Ma’am suggested that I try a Haiku in Konkani and here goes my next!
Natla saim
Hirvya rangane
palav vodun ghetla
nilya rangacho
Roughly translated into English, my Haiku means
Nature dressed
in green
draped around itself
a blue pallu
Understanding of Haiku varies from person to person. When I read this Haiku to my mother she understood in different way, which gave me the sense that a haiku can have different meanings. Haiku writing activity really gave me the opportunity to think like a poet, to get close to nature and lastly but not the least to become a poet and write a Haiku on my own and in Konkani as well.
