It is not at all easy to manage an Indian Administrative Service or Indian Foreign Service job and pursue one’s passions, as both the services are demanding and entails full-time responsibilities, leaving hardly any time for exploring any art form. However, there are officers who excel in both the professional and creative fields. And IAS officer Neha Giri and IFS officer Nitin Pramod form a part of that exclusive club. Together they have brought out a poetry and couplet collection with a unique touch.
Their book, which was released by Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in May, has been divided into three parts. The first part titled Nazm have poems by Ms. Giri and the last part Salam has her couplets. The interesting part is the middle one which is a sort of a poetic conversation between both the officers.
During a conversation with Indian Masterminds, Ms. Neha Giri talked about her passion for shayari and the special bond she shares with Mr. Pramod that forms the basis for the unique poetic conversations in their book, Alfaaz.
‘GUFTUGU’ BETWEEN TWO LOVERS OF POETRY
In the second part of the book, there is guftugu between both the officers in poetry form. On one side, Ms. Giri has written some couplets and lines and Mr. Pramod has replied in the same form on the other side.
When asked about the story behind this unique poetic conversations, Ms. Giri said, “We are batchmates and friends hailing from the same state, UP. We both connect with each other on many common threads. We used to converse a lot on several things. In the past one year, when I got some time off to write as well as compile some of my previous writings, I used to send him few of my lines or couplets. He would also respond in his own poetic style. After few times, I broached this idea that why shouldn’t we continue and publish it in a book.”
UNPLANNED CONVERSATIONS
Mr. Pramod has more grip on Hindi while Ms. Giri’s writing is a mix of Hindi and Urdu. They both continued these conversations in poetry, and in around seven months, they had enough material to get them published.
Ms. Giri mentioned that since both believe that creative work should always come from the heart, they never planned any of these conversations.
“Everything was spontaneous. We never planned anything, chose any topic or structured anything. We are in a profession where we face many ups and downs, and every day is full of experiences. Mostly I wrote about my days, experiences, thoughts and opinions, and he replied. If you track down all that we have written, you might guess my mood of the day.”
CREDIT GOES TO MOTHER
Ms. Giri has a natural inclination towards poetry and shayari because she comes from Lucknow. Besides the place, her mother also had a very large collection of books that inspired Ms. Giri to read and write more.
She says, “I started reading since my school days. My mother might not have approved of me reading her collection as it was too much for a school-going kid to understand. But I read anyway, and I guess this is the reason why I am into sher-o-shayari.”
She also grew up listening to ghazals of many stalwarts including, Kaifi Azmi, Nida Fazli, Guzlar, who have had a great influence on her. During her probation year, she came to know about Rumi and began exploring his works.
“I got a lot of time to reflect upon myself and started writing, which I have continued till now. Alfaaz has some poems which was written around 10 years back.”
AGAINST DISTORTION OF ANY ART
Currently posted as the Chairperson and Managing Director of Rajasthan Handloom Development Board, Ms. Giri believes that any creative work, especially poetry, has the power to inspire and encourage many. She rues the fact that nowadays, most people are not even aware of the true form of literature and shayari.
“It has shrunk down to WhatsApp forwarded messages. If people are really into art, they should accept it wholeheartedly. They shouldn’t engage in copy-pasting and write only what comes out truly from their heart.”
