Ankita Gupta

Adv. Ankita Gupta is a practicing lawyer with experience before the Supreme Court of India and several High Courts. She is currently based in Dibrugarh, Assam. Alongside her legal career, she recently published her debut poetry collection, Love’s Grammar, which is available on major digital book platforms.

Her poems and essays have appeared in regional and online publications, including Spillwords and ChaiCopy. Writing has been a long-standing interest for Ankita, one that she continues to pursue alongside her work in the legal field.

Q: As a practicing lawyer, how does your legal background and life influence your poetry?

As a practising lawyer, every day offers me new experiences and a chance to notice the little details most people might pass by. I get to listen to stories that are raw and real, and I’ve seen how much life can demand from a person. What amazes me the most is how people still carry on, often with a smile on their face. The strength, that messiness, and the immense dedication, all sweated out in courtrooms stays with me, and somehow ends up in the poems I write.

Q: What are the main themes you explored in your recently published poetry collection called Love’s Grammar?

In Love’s Grammar, I divided the poems into five moods, almost like changing weather. “Sunlight Meadows” is for the warmth of new love. “Hail In My Throat” speaks of heartbreak. “Breathless In Air Pockets” holds grief. “Rains Rewritten” represents learning to be in contend with oneself and acknowledge the surroundings. And “Unburn In Lightning” is about the acceptance that shows up post storms. I wanted each section to feel like something we’ve all lived through in our own way.

Q: What inspired you to start writing?

I’ve always found it easier to write things down than to say them out loud. As a teenager, I would turn to my diary to figure things out when thoughts played in my head. Slowly, it became a habit, and over time, I realised that writing about the most mundane activities makes the moments more special, giving them the kind of attention and respect they actually deserve. Writing, and in a way poetry, gives the ordinariness in our life a voice to speak up, and I think that’s exactly what keeps me inspired every day, just the curiosity to know the conversation of what the world is speaking to me today.

THE BOOK

Ankita has been published in the anthology 'Hear Me First'. Curated by Delhi Poetry Slam as part of The Writer's Launchpad, an online workshop series for a select group of contemporary Indian poets. Get your copy!

Buy the book here