'It's me and my books for 14 days', says home-quarantined Kannada poet after testing negative post-Paris visit

Speaking to The New Indian Express, the poet said the Paris visit was a novel experience and he had no scare or qualms about the situation as he was following the advices.
Poet Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy at a poetry reading event held at a library at Paris. (Photo | EPS)
Poet Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy at a poetry reading event held at a library at Paris. (Photo | EPS)

TUMAKURU (Karnataka): Amidst COVID-19 scare, Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy, the 66-year-old Kannada poet who is synonymous with his poem 'naanondu maravagiddare... (if I were a tree...) took the risk of attending a poetry reading and reciting event in Paris.

He left for Paris on March 10 and landed at Kempegowda International Airport in the city on Monday. Later, he went through five hours of procedures and health check-ups. He was tested negative for the virus and advised by the doctors to home quarantine himself for the 14 days.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, the poet said the Paris visit was a novel experience and he had no scare or qualms about the situation as he was following the advice given to him.

On home quarantine, he said: "For a poet to be in solitude is an opportunity as he would be getting ample time to converse with the poetry."

"I will have a column to write for a periodical samvada on Buddha and many more works pending which I can now complete," he said.

He felt that compared to France, the people in India became more panic-stricken but were appreciative of the measures taken. In Paris, there used to be a small gathering of 30-35 people in three libraries for the poetry recitation and none were scared about COVID-9, he added.

"I too was not scared but took all measures to be safe. Now, since I am home quarantined, even friends get scared to meet me. So, it's me and my books only for another fourteen days," he laughed. He said he has a separate study room at his home in Bengaluru where he indulges in his love for books.

A punchline written outside the wall of a restaurant in Paris that he had posted on his FB wall reads: "If we do not fight against the inevitable, we will never know to what extent it was inevitable."

The Paris visit gave him an an opportunity to share his experiences of being a Kannada poet with the rest of the world at  "Inde:les voix de la poesie Dalit et Adivasi" alongside Jacinta Kerketta of Jharkhand, Uma Damoday Sridhar and Jameela Nishat of Hyderabad, and the poets Annie Montaut, Nicole Thiara and Judith Misrahi-Barak.

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