Upamanyu Sengupta

Upamanyu is a 24-year-old student of Economics who often finds more joy in reading literature than in studying his academic discipline. Aside from watching cricket, it is while reading that he feels most at peace, immersed in a quiet, secret conversation with the characters on the page.

He often dreams of living in a distant village, far removed from the world and devoted to writing poems and stories—a thought that, at times, exasperates those around him. Upamanyu credits his love for poetry to his grandparents and parents. His grandmother and father played a key role in introducing him to verse, from the whimsical works of Sukumar Ray and Dr. Seuss to the profound recitations of Rabindranath Tagore. His grandfather and mother nurtured his voice, always encouraging him to express even the most nonsensical thoughts without fear.

Later, after experiencing heartbreak and during the long stillness of the lockdown, literature became a source of healing. The writings of T. S. Eliot, Vikram Seth, and Milan Kundera offered comfort, taught him about love, and gave him the strength to smile at an increasingly absurd world. It was during this time—partly out of necessity—that he began to write.

Q: You have mentioned that you are inspired by T. S. Eliot, Vikram Seth, and Milan Kundera . Can you tell us some of your favourite works by them?

It is difficult to chose a favourite from Kundera’s works. “The Unbearable lightness of being”, “The Joke”, “The Farewell Waltz” or the “Book of Laughter and Forgetting” all of these have a special place in my heart.  Kundera through his dark humour, witticisms and characters like Dr. Skreta (in “Farewell Waltz”) or say for instance Ludvic (in “The Joke”) managed to make me smile while accepting our laughable lives. It was Kundera who managed to quench and soak in all my pain and remorse and transform them into a much more beautiful feeling called “Litost”.

As for Elliot my favourite poem is “The love song of J. Alfred Pruffrock”; where Pruffrock’s deliberations, self-doubts and observations resonated with my own and somehow, I felt we shared a secret chord. I do not understand a lot of Elliot’s other works however I just like reading them out to myself almost like an incantation in Sandhi Puja it helps to sooth my nerves and bring me to this contemplative mood that is difficult to describe in words.

It is funny that the only reason I read Vikram Seth’s A suitable Boy was to impress someone and talk to her about the book however when I finished the book, I found my would-be listener had lost interest somewhere down the line. However, more than his prose the lyrical nature of his poems in “All those who sleep tonight” (like the couplets in A suitable Boy) left a bigger influence.

Q: What are your aspirations for your writing?

When I was very young, I wanted to be a story teller; a fiction writer (mainly detective stories) but not a poet. However, growing up, I had this question that by my writing how could I influence the lives of others, even if I did what section of the society would read my stories? At that point Economics seemed a better option to get answers to certain questions about our society the people around us. A little later when going through a tough time Economics did not offer me any answers to the questions as to why I was going through the turmoil and more importantly what was the way out? I started questioning if a subject could not answer my own personal problems how does it aspire to solve the society’s problem. It was then that Literature and poetry in particular became a silent friend, someone who does not offer a solution but listens, occasionally gives a pat on your back and helps you realize you are not alone. It was then that I wrote the majority of my poems as a vent to some of my feelings. While writing them, unconsciously, the poem in itself (it has this magical quality) helped me take a detached view point and transform my sadness into something unknown, that looking back would not give rise to anger or disappointment but bring about a half smile as to how things might have been. I suddenly started feeling Literature understood people better than Economics. Even still there are a couple of problems I feel in taking up writing, particularly poems as a full-time profession.

The essential component of any poem I feel is nostalgia, a certain sense of longing, not necessarily of the past; it may be longing for innocence, absurd, human touch, glorious human values or a better version of the self. In their absence we desire about them, reminisce about them and a poem comes about. The problem with making writing as a profession is what happens once you are truly happy; as anyone aspires to be or do not miss something with that much intensity then how will a good poem, a poem true to itself come about. If that is so, how can it be a profession. There is an anecdote about Elliot; when questioned about his troubled marriage and as to what prevented him from divorcing his wife, the poet is said to have remarked that then his poems would have deserted him too. Such a life may give rise to good poetry but it is in no way desirable.  

Any well written piece has the quality of being like the silent friend to its readers but the question still bothers me as to how many can it reach, aren’t their problems of necessity that force a majority people to work on in spite of their hardships, can literature help them in their lives? Are not their lives, forcibly, too fast paced that does not allow the time needed to reflect, something a good piece should bring about. Perhaps, it is possible to reach them with stories about their lives their culture in their language, however the type of problems that I face, the poems that arises, in the language that it arises how can it even aspire to influence their lives or contribute I some way? If not then off course writing poetry can be my own companion, a beloved companion but it cannot be a lifelong profession.

Q: Do you think growing up in a family that loves literature influenced your inclination towards it?  

My family has had the greatest influence in me loving literature; whether it be through reading to me stories and poems or taking help of literature to help me understand my questions regarding life. As I told my grandmother and father would read to me Sukumar Ray or Dr. Seuss from a very young age, whether I understood or not they made sure I enjoyed listening to stories. Sometimes my father would deliberately leave the stories at the crucial points so that I would have to open the book and read it the next day. My grandfather and mother played an equally important role. They, being the two of my best friends allowed me to fondly irritate them constantly jabbering whatever nonsense that came into my head and express myself without fear. I have this old story that when I was very young, I had a nightmare that all my books had been lost and my family somehow at the middle of the night allayed my fears by bringing out each story book and each volume that I possessed. It is because of them, like Ashoke Ganguly in Namesake that I have come to develop this guilty pleasure, a wish of “Traveling the world without moving an inch”. It is also because of them I learnt to be curious about the world in the first place. 

THE BOOK

Upamanyu 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