Poetess Divya Johari Resu opens up with Christy Varghese on her debut collection of poetry, Little Do We Know, which revolves around feelings and her perception about them
Emotions are an integral part of our lives. Either we complicate them too much or, maybe, somewhere we are unable to understand and evaluate them. Divya Johari Resu’s book, Little Do We Know, is all about recognising and accepting those emotions that we experience daily but overlook the same. A self-confessed young soul by heart, Resu penned down the true colours of human lives in bits and pieces through her poetry during her pregnancy.
Her debut collection of poetry captures a tapestried kaleidoscope of human emotions in these not-so-desirable times that we live in so perfectly. Written from the perspective of one who fails to recognise what s/he feels in the subconscious state, the poems often embody the sensitive traits of the human spirit with metaphorical allegories and oxymoron rhetoric. These present to the readers, most importantly, the idea of striving and being alive in vicious times of darkness and never letting go of that hope of finding the light at the end of the tunnel.
Read on for excerpts of the interview...
You wrote the book when you were pregnant. What led you to conceptualise Little Do We Know?
I wrote a lot of poems while I was pregnant with my only child and not the book per se. During pregnancy, a woman undergoes a lot of emotions and even the tiniest bit of these make her feel happy, sad or otherwise. Talking about my pregnancy journey, I underwent a lot of transitions. Where I have always been an independent and strong person, I too started submitting myself to these sentiments which, I realised, is completely normal. This led me to think about the fact that how people often try to defy what they feel instead of accepting their feelings. All of this only amplifies your stress or negativity at times. It is okay to feel sad or extremely happy or even jealous, for that matter. With the inhibition of getting judged, what we all do is ignore these emotions and walk away from them. What we usually forget is that they build up on the inside and lead to outbursts at one point.
In this direction, I decided to pen down what I felt and this eventually led to the inception of Little Do We Know. The book contains some real, fictional-relatable scenarios in the form of poetry that reflect how accepting what you feel is better than showing your back to it. However, I never thought of launching my poems as a book, initially. My family and friends encouraged me to do so. Also, I never completed my book during pregnancy. There are a lot of poems from that particular time, which are still not part of this book. I shall be launching the second part by next February. The book comprises sentimental poetry that is based on worldly experiences and not just my circumstances. That is why you would find that I waited to publish my work as a book this long.
Could you please walk us through the theme of your book?
As you may know, my book features poetic situations that allow you to experience emotions that one often overlooks and eventually succumbs to their after-effects in your life. I just feel that instead of losing to their impact why not deal with them and rise above. For instance, my poem, An Outweighed Plea Of A Bride talks about how a bride is just looked at as a source of filling houses with jewels and other lifestyle luxuries. It also reflects how that bride is treated brutally by her husband. But, the most important aspect that gets highlighted in this poem is how she rises above all of this and walks out with her head held high and decides to live her life her way! To know more, the readers shall have to read the poems.
How long did it take for the book to be published, after you started working on it? When you started writing your book, what were the thoughts going on in your mind?
If we talk about when did I start writing the book, well, then you may have to travel back to my childhood when I began to write and experience intricate emotions. Sometimes, random decisions make you do something special for yourself! Just as my publisher, Synergy Books India, showed interest in my work and decided to publish my poetry, my readers have been showing that kind of interest in reading it too. And, this makes me feel content.
What really made me take a conscious decision to launch Little Do We Know a while back was the thought of encouraging people to accept what they feel and work on themselves to overcome negative emotions and rejoice over positive ones. But, one should focus on accepting their feelings and not run away. If my poetry helps people understand this, I would be more than happy.
The book was a long time in the making; what challenges did you experience along the way?
I penned down a part of it when I was pregnant. I just didn’t rush into launching a book solely because I wanted to present to my readers what was more realistic and humanly understandable. My publisher supported my decision. In those three years, like every other person, I have had my share of ups and downs. When you have a child, the order of your priorities automatically gets jumbled up. In terms of challenges, I think we all undergo a few when there are a lot of aspects of your life that you don’t want to leave behind. My case was pretty much the same. I too tried to hold on to pretty much everything which made me prioritise according to what required immediate attention. This made me a better manager. Plus, I am thankful to my daughter, Shivantika, along with my family. They never sent me on those frequent guilt trips of being a workaholic mother.
You are an entertainment journalist, what drew you to poetry? Do you write prose as well?
I was a poetess before diving into entertainment journalism and now I am a publicist. I began pursuing writing poetry when I was in the fourth standard. I still remember my English teacher, Manisha Gill, who encouraged me to write my first poem on flowers. A 16 liner, we sent it to the Scholastic Poetry Contest and I bagged a national certificate of merit for the same. And, thus my journey in poetry commenced. All in all, the teachers at my school, Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School, have played an integral part in making me the poet I am today.
Yes, I also write prose — short stories. Currently, I am also working on an interesting concept with the intention of drafting it as a novel. Furthermore, one of my next books is also based on prose. The collection would be designed for children.
And, last, entertainment journalism has become a part of me and shares equal space as writing poetry or prose. I love interacting with people from all walks of life other than entertainment too and capturing their journeys.
The preface talks about addressing our feelings like old friends instead of generalising them and nonchalantly waving them away. What do you think might be the reason behind the failure to acknowledge our thoughts and emotions? They might vary from person to person, of course, but would you say it is a by-product of the times we live in?
The reasons can be plentiful. No particular reason independently leads to the failure of acknowledging our thoughts and emotions. Being interdependent, while there may be certain situations that play the part in doing so, there is also our conscience and inhibitions that make us ignore what we feel, probably because we are too scared of ‘log kya kahenge’ and ‘main aise kaise soch sakti/sakta hoon? (what will people say? and how can I do this?)’. The day this fear of being judged by society or by our inner selves seeps in, we begin fearing our own emotions to keep ourselves secure.
I will not blame the times we live in solely for this! People have evolved and so have the situations. If we don’t want to recognise what we feel, we just won’t irrespective of the time we live in. So, I guess it’s a bit of everything that contributes to the ‘not giving due recognition to what we feel.’
Do you have any more books in store for readers?
Yes, currently I am working on illustrating the second part of Little Do We Know. Apart from this, I am also working on a book series for children and a novel based on the journey of a girl. The readers are in store for a lot of surprises. If they have liked this, they will like the other books better (I hope).
