Dr Urshila Chanana has had a long distinguished career as a faculty member of the Department of English, Indraprastha college of the University of Delhi – also her alma mater. Her first collection of Urdu poetry Nazariye was published in 2010. Her recent poetry collection titled Nuqta-e-Nazar, depicts the varied interests of the writer. Her immediate plans involve developing an audio-visual form of this book.
Your writing schedule?
Poetry flows from the heart. It is a sensibility and cannot have a water tight compartment or schedule in the day. My instinct is to jot down my thoughts, an observation or an idea flashing in my mind on a paper wherever I am.
Does writing energise or exhaust you?
Writing is pure elixir for me. It invigorates and energises me and any exhaustion in the mind evaporates. I write as I experience, reflect on times of transition, and energy flows with an impetus of passion leading me to become part of the new consciousness around. Words flow as I feel the evolution happening and I can give yet another perspective of society
Writing advice for your younger self ?
To allow the reader to be involved and absorbed in the story you tell in poetry or prose. From a reader’s point of view: Kahani wo likh Majboor mujhe jo kare / teri zindagi mei’n shaamil mujhe jo kare. In other words, weave your tales in such a way that I am compelled to share the joys and sadness of your story. I may relish the music you make. I may find myself in your characters.
Literary success vs number of copies sold?
For me, it is most satisfying to make an outreach through my poetry writing and recitation. I feel rewarded when there is a connectivity the reader makes with my thoughts. I write for the sheer pleasure of the nuances that different perspectives in different words can put forward sensitively. I measure success in this manner.
Your favourite books?
A wide range of books interests me. Amongst them is the genre of short stories format I enjoy very much. It includes short stories by authors such as Guy de Maupassant, Graham Greene and W Somerset Maugham. Other books that have impacted me are Lawrence In Love by James T Boulton, Selected Poems of WB Yeats, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Sheher mei’n gaon by Nida Fazli, The Rubais of Rumi: translations by Nevit O Ergin. Milo’n Se Din by Gulzar, In Other Words by Javed Akhtar. Last but not the least, The Mystic Muse Sain Bulleh Shah by KS Duggal.
Favourite spot/s in Delhi to write at?
In my study, at my writing desk, sitting facing east to my garden that changes seasonally in its colours.