[Ask and Answer] Interview Session with Arun M. Sivakrishna

1. 'Arun M. Sivakrishna -The Poet' How does this sound?

It indeed sounds nice and though I am nowhere near to be called one now, the ultimate aim is to reach there.J

 2. For how long have you been writing poems?

Writing has been a favorite hobby for a pretty long time. Used to contribute to the school magazines and other journals. But when the not so small matter of getting food on the table came, poetry took a back seat for sometime.Now, been penning for about 10 years, with some gaps in between as I am a very lazy one.

3. What does 'Poetry' mean to you?

To me, it is the ultimate form of self-expression.

4. Do you remember the first poem that you wrote? Share your favorite lines from it with us.

J The first one must be some innocuous stuff about some class mate or so. That’s pretty long back and I don’t remember any of it. But there is one about a boy I met in a train journeyand I am so sorry that I don’t exactly remember the lines completely now. Guess, it goes something like this

“I am a prince

but don’t really know who my king is “ and ends with

“countless genocides and regicides and

One more, my dear sir, wouldnt make any difference”

5. Your poetry collection is titled 'Songs of a Solitary Tree'. How did you come up with this title?

Most of the works in that series are more or less about random thoughts of a loner, someone who finds himself lonely either by choice or chance. Hence that title. Solitude doesn’t really mean that you are down in the dumps or in the deep pits of despair though it could drag you in the quick sands of peril, unless you know to deal with it. Often you hum, sing, dance or draw your way out of it. So lets say that the tree sings its way out of its blues..J

6. How long does it take for you to write a poem?

I am a very lazy and reluctant writer. I write on impulse and have to wrap up quite fast lest will end up not writing at all. But it has its own pitfalls. Many a times, on hindsight,  felt  this could have been different and could have had another  version or angle had I waited on and so on. I am working on that habit now by revisiting and ironing out the edges, quite deliberately.

7. Can I sum up your work to be an amalgamation of poems written over different phases of your life?

Yes. You may. But looking for the writer in all that he or she writes may not always be the right way too. All of us write about events we experience or acquired over or something which we identify ourselves with.

8. If I give you three words- love, jealousy/jealous and trust; would you write a poem for me?

“And when it comes to that

trust me, jealousy is the

other name of love.”

9. Which is your favorite poem from your collection? And why?

Though  I don’t have any particular favorites, “Wholesome Holes” and “Insects on the windscreen” come closer because of the emotions involved about some particular phase of my life.

10. Let's take up a short rapid fire session. I give you a word, you describe it with the first adjective that comes to your mind.

a. poem : Sublime

b. life : Beautiful

c. friendship : Lovely

d. love : Intense

e. mountains : Serene

f. snow : Pure

g. roots : Grounded

h. god : Divine

i. rebirth: Interesting

j. revenge : worthless

11. Your readers and me, of course, would like to hear a piece of advice from you.

Whatever you do, express freely. Never be a stickler for rules and genres.