The slam poet, who is also a dancer, wrote her first spoken-word piece only a year ago
Shivani Gupta
A man appreciating you a little, equals objectification, over-sexualisation, and causes one hell of a sensation? Enough with the over-generalisation — all men are not monsters,” — just one of the many striking lines of verses from 22-year-old Shivani Gupta’s latest act of slam poetry, which is enough to grab you by the collar and sit up to take attention. Her video, All Men Are Not Monsters, she says, is a plea to active neo-feminists to make the movement less antagonistic towards men — but is in no way meant to berate the actual theory of feminism, but instead reinforce its true purpose.
Slam poetry in itself, the art of reciting original verse in an emotional, expressive performance, is a concept quite virgin to Indian audiences. Yet the talented Shivani’s powerful rhyme coupled with her intense narration was enough to spark social media dialogue — and put her in the spotlight.
“I actually wrote this piece quite a few months ago, after a prolonged frustration, to which one particular Facebook post — shared by a bunch of women who overtly identify themselves as ‘feminists’ (no, not radical ‘feminazis’) — was the final trigger. To alienate and antagonise an entire gender, and especially to do it in the name of #Feminism and on feminist pages and groups, was just plain ridiculous. The whole idea of women empowerment lately seems to be lost in a mess of men-shaming; and is promoting exactly what it’s supposed to be fighting: stereotypes and prejudice. Due to this, the purpose feels diluted to me,” says Shivani, who graduated from Women’s Christian College Chennai, before going to the University of Edinburgh.
Her cine-poem, as she calls it, has received its fair share of flowers and brickbats — but Shivani performed it once on a whim when in Scotland, and it was clear to her that the topic mattered. “Both men and women told me post the act how relevant it was. Of course, there are viewers who have gotten personal in their negative feedback, which I do not appreciate, but can definitely tolerate, because I know this is not anti-feminist or derogatory to women.”
The slam poet, who is also a dancer, wrote her first spoken-word piece only a year ago, but has been going from strength to strength since. “I recently attended a Slam Poetry Retreat in Goa, organised by DelSlam (Delhi Poetry Slam), where poets of all kinds were mentored. We participated in workshops, performance nights and even work on a video with a professional filmmaker,” Shivani muses.
Having choreographed shows, and worked on musicals, Shivani also collaborated with theatre group Creashakthi to host the Madras Mic Drop recently — “It was the first platform for spoken word in Chennai, also supporting other art forms that are less recognised — beatboxing, music, stand-up, poetry, busking and more,” she quips. A psychologist by education, Shivani is now working on a cine-poem for a personal favourite piece Dear Girl from Pakistan as well as another titled Kintsugi.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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