IN

SCREEN TIME POETRY A still from Allie Esiri’s (inset) interactive poetry app, iF Poems Rhyme and reason Poetry in the 21st century wears di% erent hats. Vogue meets three women leading new ways for old words. By SHAHNAZ SIGANPORIA

mood and theme. But the best THE DIGITAL REVIVALIST ALLIE ESIRI “Sometimes you reach a point where you PAGE TURNER . A few Shripriya Mahesh (below) , I reached that point,” says trans-creates poetry into 45 short fi lms such as The than they think they do,” she says. “My apps Color Of Time (bottom), starring James Franco S and Jessica Chastain is. I knew I had to marry my passion for poetry with this and the broken-hearted. She soon found a way. THE VERSE SCREENER at , SHRIPRIYA MAHESH their know-how (they and ’s TV she was seen in Poirot and Men Behaving I Badly The Color Of Time, Vogue woman

> JONES # TERRI MANDUCA RACHEL $ UP: HAIR AND MAKE GOODWIN. SOPHIE STYLIST: # BREEDLONDON.COM. LAW NATASHA ! ESIRI " . ILLUSTRATION: NEIL GAVIN PHOTO:

122 VOGUE APRIL !"#$ www.vogue.in IN

would be a photographer some day. But creates a bond between herself and her audi- ence. “Poetry is performance itself—of cient took over and Mahesh got her MBA rhythm, language, imagery, metaphor... from Harvard instead. She almost found The text is constantly in motion, it’s dy- her calling in Silicon Valley—“I loved the namic, I can play with it, and it can play Valley, and was happy working on cool with me.” Performance poetry is a thriv- products used by millions of people”—but ing art, Mody says, and it’s here to stay. fate led her to New York, where the nas- VERSE CASE She explains her fascination: “Poetry cent tech industry provided little satisfac- Performance poet helps us connect the dots. It’s a place tion. The old photography bug bit again, but Monica Mody founded where we can bring activism, the body, this time she found it too solitary an experi- Open Baithak, a spirituality, even politics, together.” multilingual poetry-in- performance series The Ranchi-born poet received her MFA in making. And that’s how she ended up joining creative writing from the University of Notre a class in which she trans-created poetry. Dame in America, and is now a doctoral candi- “Poetry date in East-West psychology at the California and wants to work more with the art. In the helps us Institute of Integral Studies. She has already meantime, she’s busy in Singapore, research- won a number of awards for her writing, and lm, set in connect the Kala Pani, is South India. “With poetry, it’s easy to get lost dots. It’s set to release soon. in the complexity of the words. Film can make But it all began when Mody discovered the it more accessible because there is visual clar- where we performer in her while she was still in New ity,” she explains. As for her favourite verse, can bring Delhi, where in 2008 she founded Open Baithak, a multilingual poetry-in-performance the world of Pulitzer prize-winning poet CK activism, series. Until then, poetry was usually read at Willams. “I was drawn to [his poems] ‘The the body, elite gatherings, with the same few faces at- Color Of Time’ and ‘Waking Jed’ because I am spirituality, tending, discussing and appreciating. But her a parent,” she says. Both examine the father- series was participatory, accessible, and fast son relationship and form the core narrative even politics, became a hub for undiscovered talent and stel- together” lar performances. “Being part of an environ- ment with performers and poets like Inder THE PERFORMING POET !MONICA MODY Salim, Jeet Thayil and Vivek Narayanan MONICA MODY helped my relationship and love for this art Getting behind a mic is a nourishing experience grow and evolve,” Mody says. “And perfor- for California-based Monica Mody, 33. Narrat- mance poetry, as with any contemporary art ing, reciting and vocalising her words is how she form, comes with pulsating possibilities.”

FILM GHOUSEFULL ! !'("'& We’re told the actors fi nd Reel adventure themselves stranded on a deserted island—with a If Thailand looks oddly familiar, it’s resort. Now that’s a fi rst. probably because you’ve seen it in a No matter. The gorgeous million movies. Vogue jogs your memory island in question is Krabi. THE BEACH !'(((& Before there was Slumdog Millionaire, there was The Beach. Danny Boyle captures this American backpacker’s drug- fuelled adventure between Bangkok and Koh Samui. GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM !"#$%& TOMORROW NEVER DIES !"##%& We want to believe Robin Williams For a long time, Pierce Brosnan had us when he says, “Gooood morning, convinced there was no better Bond. His Vietnam!” But we know now that it

hunt for Elliot Carver’s stealth boat took him was really just Bangkok. The street AFP LTD; COLLECTION STORE NIHARIKA BUBNA; MOVIE to Khow-Ping-Khan island near Phuket. signs are a dead giveaway.

124 VOGUE INDIA APRIL !"#$ www.vogue.in