"Dream, Dream, Dream! Conduct these dreams into thoughts, and then transform them into action."
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
24 Apr 2017
If you are travelling by metro in Bengaluru, then you can enjoy the poems that reflect the experience of travelling by Metro written by Kannada poets. While the poets visited the Cubbon Park Metro station and travelled around, they jotted down their musings in a poem format which are now on display at the select spots at the station.
This exercise was a part of a poetry activity called as Pada Sanchara or voyage of words. The poems are curated by poet Mamta Sagar. The initiative was started by BMRC and Srishti Institute of Art, technology and design.Poets H S Venkateshamurthy, Sumathi Rumi Harish, Chand Pasha and Mamta Sagar penned down their thoughts about experience of travelling by metro.
The poems are displayed along with a video recording of the poets' readings. Some words picked from the poems have been designed by designers Manasee Jog and Saksham Verma from Srishti and displayed on the station. The metro stations celebrated the art and poems in an unique way where the poet’s work has been displayed and passerby gets an insight of beautiful poems and their experience.
In a report published in the Times of India H S Venkateshmurthy's poem says This is our metro, an ode to young artists, responds to skilfully designed interiors and the art showcased at the station. It celebrates creativity and art which can transform junk into something special.
Activist-poet Sumathi Rumi Harish responds to the structure of the station. The poem talks about how neat and clean spaces fail to recollect stories and marginalized histories of people who built them. In this space where souls lack speech and bodies lack minds, a fresh leaf sprouting from the crack of a wall is like hope personified, it says