Being in the Sahitya Akademi, I did know quite a few poets - Jayanta Mahapatra, Sitakant Mahapatra, Sunil Gangopadhyay, to name a few. There were many poets.
The poetry of India can be truly known only through scanning the poetry of all languages.
After watching Guru Dutt's films, I became a huge fan of Sahir Ludhianvi's poetry and the songs of Guru Dutt's films.
I want young children to savor and enjoy Tagore like I did since I was a child. He was too great a poet of India to be kept limited to Bengal. Everybody should read and celebrate him.
I love the sufiana style of writing in Tagore's poetry.
Dabbling with Tagore was always scary. It happens with masters, with contemporary poets you know their vibes and their meaning. Tagore was different; his aura and the feel of his language was different.
I think of the Tamil poet Subrahmanya Bharati every day, and he is an inspiration in my musical creations.
I do think that the modern India does belong to writers who are living in India.
It's hard to write haiku. I write long, silly Indian poems.
