KOCHI: With pages that overflow with wisdom, Aksharavishwasam, a poetry collection by Priya Venugopal is an ode to a mother’s love.
The work on the collection, which was recently released, began a long time ago. “I had this tradition on social media where I would write four-line verses whenever I posted a picture or commented on others’ pictures. People started taking notice and soon, I found my words being quoted and shared. Some even suggested that I compile all these into a book. Finally, with the support of many, especially my mentor Achuth Sankar S Nair, I released my poetry collection,” says Priya.
Aksharavishwasam is organised into four sections and these represent the four stages of life in Hinduism. They are ‘Brahmacharyam’ (student), ‘Grihastham’ (householder), ‘Vanaprastham’ (forest dweller) and ‘Sanyasam’ (renunciate).
“I approached the categorisation in a very broad, almost spontaneous way. If we nurture certain values in children from an early age, those lessons guide them throughout their lives. That’s the connection I made when I categorised the sections. I equated it to stages of spiritual growth: first, the stage of learning, where everything is absorbed and understood; then, the stage of commitment, where we are devoted to responsibilities. Following that, we move into a phase of detachment — not in a way that neglects anything, but where we observe, supervise, and understand life from a higher perspective. Finally, it’s about truly letting go.”
Priya is not an unfamiliar face to Keralites. Until 2008, she entertained audiences as an anchor in various television programmes and stage shows. She also has deep roots in music and academia.
Born into a family of musicians, Priya is proficient in playing both flute and violin, as well as singing. Hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, she is the granddaughter of esteemed nadaswaram exponent and poet Thiruvalla M K Bhaskara Panicker, and the niece of renowned musician and violinist B Sasikumar.
Though she was the state champion in flute for years, Priya could not focus on the art due to personal commitments.
However, during lockdown, she felt a strong pull to return to her musical roots, which was partly inspired by her daughter, Daksha Nandini. Thus Priya started on a journey to create a supportive background for her daughter to pursue her dreams.
“My daughter is my inspiration. I find motivation simply by observing her. I have even written about this in my book. When we realise what we have lost, it makes us want to give back to the next generation, but often we feel unprepared to do so, which encourages us to start learning. As my daughter grows, I learn alongside her. That’s the process. I have improved so much because of her. More than just a mother-daughter relationship, we are co-learners,” Priya says.
Having many skills, she finds it challenging to pick a favourite. However, she says that writing small poems or ‘keerthanams’ for children gives her the most satisfaction.
“Seeing people enjoy and sing them feels special. It’s not about doing it for any particular reason; it feels more like I’m passing something valuable on to the next generation,” Priya says.
She is currently at the last stage of her doctoral research in computational biology in ayurveda. Along with her 10-year-old daughter, Priya also creates music content, produce albums, and host storytelling sessions on their YouTube channel, ‘Dachoomammem.’