Book Box: Raju Tai’s Guide to Disobedient Creativity

Discover how romance novels and poetry become ways of healing and rebellion in this conversation with Raju Tai. Plus upcoming summer writing workshops.

Dear Reader,

Raju Tai

“I forget poetry, but it doesn’t forget me,” says Raju Tai.

Speaking with 34-year-old poet Raju Tai, I realise I forget poetry too. When was the last time you let a poem find you?

April - National Poetry Month - is an ideal time to return. And Raju Tai, a 34-year-old creativity coach with work featured in Muse India, Wales Haiku Journal, Gulmohar Quarterly, Scroll, and Memoirland, is a lyrical guide.

Beneath this Pune-based poet’s bubbly warmth, burns a revolutionary’s heart, as she uses ‘words to disobey the world’, and finds healing in romance novels. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation:

Raju Tai

When did you know you were a poet?

Poetry rushed into my baby ears: Marathi songs, English rhymes. I heard Gulzar’s Dil Hoom Hoom Kare as Dil Boom Boom Kare. Religious verses, school prayers—lyrics folded like prayers in cassette covers.

In 7th grade, I wrote my first poem—on cats. My English teacher didn’t believe someone like me could write a poem. My second poem at school got a standing ovation. The air shifted that day. The sound of clapping sealed it in my mind: I, dull and average, could move words to move people.

You have an on-off relationship with reading.

Every time I pick up a book after a long time, I can’t believe I was avoiding it. It feels a bit like this:

Me: Who has the time to read books?

Also me: One page in and holy shit, my worldview has changed. Thank God for books—why the hell was I avoiding them? They stretch time, smell lovely, AND put me to sleep. What is this ancient magic?

I grew up in Nagpur. We didn’t have many bookstores. I’ve never seen my parents read a book cover to cover. But I’ve always seen them invest in books, browse through them at night, and trust in their power. As a child, I read Roald Dahl, The Babysitters Club, and Harry Potter.

My reading increased when my friend gave me a Kindle. It grows whenever I allow myself to read many books at the same time. Reading this books column has also helped me realise you can read slowly and passionately too.

You were diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome some years ago. How did reading help you?

Some mornings, I wrote nonsense poems about my pain. They helped me leave the bed. Soon, I ran out of metaphors to describe my pain. That’s when I knew I needed out-of-the-box healing.

When I got done with my teaching work, I searched for answers: medical theories about mind-body connections, books by doctors who sought emotional answers for physical pain—books that would eventually lead me out of this frozen state.

Nights were especially hard. Body writhing with pain, eyes moving slowly across my Kindle.

One night, I cracked open a romance novel: The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary.

It is about Tiffy and Leon who share a single-room flat but never meet. Leon works at night. Tiffy is fresh out of a toxic relationship. They talk to each other through post-it notes.

Obviously, they fall in love. Not so obvious? I started looking forward to nights. I slept better after, even if I read a single page.

I followed it with other romances—each of them celebrating vulnerability, each not so much about a couple, as a metaphor for how we release our blocks to connect with others.

What is writing poetry like?

99 out of 100 days, I forget poetry exists. Anthologies sleep on my shelf. When I land on a poem while scrolling, I flick it away with my thumb. Who has time for this ooh-ah bullshit?

But it is writing haiku that saved me from a soul-crushing job. In pleasure, in violence, in illness and success — poetry gave me its rooms to lodge and board.

Poetry for me is a lens, a journalism of micro-miracles. It is words obeying me, so I can disobey the world.

Suddenly, the first line of a poem falls in your lap. You mother it. Protect it. Feed it the protein of imagery. It sleeps in notebooks. Wakes up when I read it aloud. Then one day, it walks out and speaks its mind. What an honour!

What is one habit you have acquired in the last six months that has helped your creativity?

Writing first thing in the morning has given me so much power as a creative person. The other thing is starting a spreadsheet to hold all my ideas, drafts, and links. It is funny to think that I hated spreadsheets when I worked in the corporate world, but now I can’t find anything else as robust to handle my various creative projects.

A sub- ₹5000 purchase that changed your work?

Dhwani Shah’s Paper Is Patient visual journaling workshop. It has given me an artistic tool to plan my day and get things done.

Advice to fellow poets ?

Stop writing poems - Like Rilke said, wait until it’s unbearable not to write.

Then when you begin, write one daily - Use poetry as a journaling format. Nothing grand.

Revise like a musical exercise - Read your poems out aloud over and over until they feel like music.

What are your favourite poems?

Dear Selection Committee by Melissa Studdard, Ms Militancy by Meena Kandasamy, Kala Ghoda Poems by Arun Kolatkar.

What are your go-to books on creativity?

• The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron)

• The Creative Act (Rick Rubin)

• We Need Your Art (Aimee McNee)

And finally, share a poem you’ve written ?

If I Don’t Text You Backafter Lindsay Rush

Assume that I am deep

in the archives of the Marginalia,

awestruck by Maria Popova’s sorcery

I am cracking walnuts open

in the hinges of my door

Simmering tart strawberries

into chutney.

I am rubbing my table lamp

till a poem pops out

I must have thrown my phone at the hills

but it flew away

like a tiny hungry eagle

I am not dead

but the opposite

I am receiving enough messages

from my body

and also, thank Jesus,

replying to them.

…

For readers inspired by Raju Tai’s creative journey, summer has lots of exciting writing workshops for you to choose from.

• Raju Tai runs The Rhythm of Stories, an online workshop (May, with Natasha Badhwar) which uses poetry to hone narrative craft.

• Poet and Writer Jerry Pinto hosts a 3-day writing workshop in May at Uttarakhand. Details : Himalayan Writing Retreat website

• Literary agent Mita Kapur has two 7-day Jaipur based luxurious writing retreats with Anuja Chauhan (romance) & Aanchal Malhotra (storytelling) in May and June. Details: Siyahi Literary Agency’s Events Page.

And finally for more poetry, here is A Poem a Day.

(Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at sonyasbookbox@gmail.com. The views expressed are personal)