Words often outlive the moments that create them. A poem written years ago can suddenly feel personal to a stranger, offering comfort, hope or simply the reassurance that someone else has felt the same way. That ability to make deeply personal emotions feel universal is what has made Priya Malik one of the most admired poets. As she prepares to bring the final chapter of her acclaimed musical storytelling show Ishq Hai (The Final Chapter) to Hyderabad on July 11 at Bhaskara Auditorium, Priya reflects on the journey behind the words, lessons that shaped her, and why she still believes poetry is less about writing and more about feeling.
Talking about bringing Ishq Hai back to Hyderabad, Priya says, “I am excited to be performing in Hyderabad. We performed Ishq Hai here only once, and it received a tremendous response. We wanted to return to cities that gave us so much love for one last experience.”
Explaining what Ishq Hai means to her, Priya discusses, “Ishq Hai to me is everything. It is one of those shows that has given me a lot, and I can also see what it does to the audience. It is a full circle of life. The show begins with the idea of home and our very first understanding of love in our mother’s womb. It then takes us through life before returning to the idea that when you are truly in love, that person also feels like your home. With poetry, my personal stories, beautiful songs, laughter and tears, it is a piece of my heart converted into a show.”
Reflecting on how her years in Australia shaped her understanding of identity, language and storytelling, she shares, “Those years were deeply transformative for me. Growing up in India, I always wanted to go abroad, but it was only after I went there that I realised I am truly Indian by heart and soul. I wanted to speak in Hindi and Urdu, wear Indian clothes and preserve my culture and identity.”
The journey of rediscovering herself also strengthened her relationship with language, something she believes had always been an integral part of who she is. Speaking about when words first became an important part of her life, and how poetry eventually became her career, Priya expresses, “I was always all about the words. I picked up Hindi, English, Punjabi and Urdu very early in life. I loved reading and performing on stage. I always knew I was attached to words. But growing up in an Indian middle-class family in the 90s, poetry never seemed like a career because everyone encouraged safer options. I only realised writing could become a career after I returned to India, my poems went viral, and I received my first brand collaboration on my 30th birthday.”
For Priya, however, poetry has always remained at the centre of everything she does. “I have been writing poetry since I was 12, and everything else came later in life. Teaching would be the second part of my identity because it has taught me a lot about myself,” she states.
Her journey evolved, so did her understanding of success. Sharing how her idea of success has changed over the years, she notes, “My definition of success now is contentment. If I’m content with what I’m writing, what I’m performing, and if I feel ‘ki jitna hai, accha hai’, to me that is being successful. At the same time, I believe success is about learning something new every day. As long as I’m consistent at my art form and devoted to it, I feel successful.”
That perspective also influences the way she approaches her creative process. Priya believes that inspiration is something that cannot be forced on one. “Poetry is a divine intervention and a very sacred form of art. There is this Urdu word called Aamad, which means the arrival of something, and I always feel the best poems come to you. During writer’s block, I read, watch films, listen to music, watch comedy, and read poetry to open up the receptors of my mind and soul,” Priya reflects.
Since reading plays an important role in nurturing her creativity, she recommends All About Love: New Visions by Bell Hooks, Main Tumhe Phir Milungi by Amrita Pritam, The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak and AR Rahman: The Spirit of Music by Nasreen Munni Kabir.
While the journey has been rewarding, it has not been without its share of hurdles. Recalling the challenges she has faced through her journey, the poet recounts, “One of the biggest challenges when I started my poetry journey in India was being known as a reality TV star after Bigg Boss because no one believed I had written my poems myself. People thought someone else had written them and I was simply reciting them. It was difficult to shake off that image. Today, the challenge is the pressure of social media, where everything revolves around views, likes, comments, saves and shares. I wish poetry remained the priority, while everything else stayed a by-product.”
The pages may change, the stages may grow bigger and new stories may find their way into her life, but the essence of Priya’s poetry remains unchanged. Whether through Ishq Hai, her forthcoming book Ishq Ke Saat Padaav (The seven stages of Sufi love) or the stories she is yet to tell, she continues to create with the same honesty that first drew people to her words. Her journey has always been guided by a simple belief that she sums up in one line: ‘Mujhe pyaar nahi, ishq chahiye’.