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Note from 'Panchhi':
A few months ago, when Dr. Abrol asked me to translate a few poems for students at his Gurukul…English to Hindustani, I fell in love with the idea. Making the best of the world available to our children sounded like bliss. I picked up the following to start with:
1. 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley
2. 'Fear' by Khalil Gibran
3. ‘If' by Rudyard Kipling
4. ‘Where the mind is without fear’ by Rabindra Nath Tagore (Not published yet)
5. ‘A Psalm of Life’ - H. W. Longfellow (Not published yet),
and identified another fifty odd poems that our children should have access to. I looked for poetry that is uplifting, and generally optimistic.
This exercise made me realise a few things:
1. I had myself lost touch with good poetry, even though I work in that space.
2. It is extremely difficult to translate good poetry.
3. If we can bring back good poetry into the lives of our children and young adults, by making it more accessible, we would have created a lifelong gift for them.
This realisation and an almost three-month long road trip across India then became ‘The Good Poetry Project’. I decided to read for younger people, the best poems I have come across, in the languages I speak – English and Hindustani. We will also translate as many English poems as we can, into Hindustani, and then, my ultimate dream- To invite people who speak other Indian languages to translate these poems, and for regional Voice Artists to read them.
Imagine ‘Where the mind is without fear’ available to everyone in India, irrespective of where we come from, and ‘Jeevan ki aapa-dhapi mein…’ being read by the entire country. This way both Rabindra Nath Tagore Saab, and Harivansh Rai Bachhan Saab will not just be restricted to English and Hindi speakers of India.
That then, is what I would like to see happening over the next few years… because good poetry is worth celebrating.
We start on the 21st of March '21 - World Poetry Day and hope to see you around.
Much Sunshine and Laughter to you. 😊
About ‘The Good Poetry Project’:
‘The Good Poetry Project’ is an initiative by Vineet KKN ‘Panchhi’ and ‘Word of Mouth Media’ which finds its purpose in sharing ‘Poetry Worth Celebrating’ with the world. Through this initiative, 'Panchhi' intends to voice poetry that he personally curates. He also intends for these pieces to be translated into as many regional and foreign languages as possible so that everyone can access good poetry.
Each poem he curates (in English and Hindustani) will be voiced by him and available on our YouTube Channel under 'The Good Poetry Project' . https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClxtE3IchYaDcyT2e8ybbgQ
and
On FB: https://www.facebook.com/TheGoodPoetryProject
A copy of the poem with its translation can also be downloaded from the project page: https://www.thegoodpoetryproject.com/
(Under Construction for now)
Support ‘The Good Poetry Project’:
1. Translate poetry into a regional language.
If you write poetry in any of the Indian languages and have translated poetry from English or Hindustani/Hindi into that language, we would be honored to have you as part of the volunteer team. Your name will be prominently displayed in the film when the translation is read.
2. Read poetry in a regional language.
If you work for Radio, or are a professional Voice Artist, we would invite you to read poetry translated by our volunteers.
3. Sponsor or support ‘The Good Poetry Project’.
This project is personally funded by Vineet KKN ‘Panchhi’ and has a fixed fund allocation. There is however a vast amount of poetry, translation, film production and studio work to be done, for these pieces to reach everyone. We would love for Individuals and Brands to help us promote good poetry. The sponsor’s name appears at the end of the films they have helped produce. To talk about how you can sponsor please write to Good.Poetry@WordOfM.in or WhatsApp: +91 73006 45454
We appreciate your support.
3. Make the poems into Branded content for internal use in an organisation.
If you would like a poem to be made especially for the internal use at your organisation, we shall be happy to tailor make it for you. Ask is how.
Thank you. :)
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