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A tale of love, loss and gratitude
A woman’s journey is filled with different moments that define her life
A woman’s journey is filled with different moments that define her life. To celebrate the feminine on this International Women’s Day, spoken word artistes are coming together to share poems, anecdotes, monologues, and lessons they have learnt in life.
Unlike poetry, spoken word is filled with emotions and raw feelings and they don’t always rhyme. The event will witness a mix of well-known poets along with some new names from different age groups and backgrounds.
Talking about her performance, comedian and actor Malika Dua says, “The past year has been defined by losses for everyone. When we lose those we love, a huge part of us also goes with them.” Dua lost both her parents to Covid-19 recently and says her act will talk about how we can learn to live and move on after losing a loved one.
Nothing is more beautiful than a voice and a mic, says actor-poet Priya Malik, whose recitation will be a simple performance accompanied by music. “I am performing a beautiful Hindustani poem about grief. It touches upon the sorrows of parting with your loved ones, but more importantly, on what we learn from it,” she adds.
First-time performer Priyanshi Bansal is a content creator who has written poetry for other artistes. Recently, actor Shweta Tripathi performed Bansal’s piece, titled Tum Ladki Ho at an event theatre in the city. Excited for her first live performance, she says, “I’ve written this piece for a part of my heart that lives an ocean away. It’s about finding your abode in a person and how love knows no bounds.”
Vanika Sangtani runs an NGO that provides education to underprivileged children. It is her first time performing in front of a live audience. Her poem, Real Woman, is “about a girl in her early 20s who finds out she is suffering from vaginismus. This poem takes you on a journey of what women face when their vagina feels like a brick.”
Vaginismus is the body’s reaction to the fear of vaginal penetration. The muscles tighten up on their own, and you have no control over it.
A spoken word veteran, Aranya Johar is best known for her poem, A Brown Girl’s Guide to Gender which garnered social media attention and has been translated to more than 10 languages. Debuting a new poem, Johar is excited to share it with the world and says, “Most of my writing, when it comes to women’s empowerment and gender issues, has been in this stance of frustration and anger. All poems demand a certain amount of vulnerability, but this new piece demands it in a very unique way.”
Catch it LIVE
What: Unerase’s Women’s day special
Where: Experimental theatre: NCPA, Nariman point
When: March 8
Timing: 8pm
