My Story

Born and raised in the state of Odisha in India, I started my work life as a finance professional gradually spiralling into strategic management, living in Kenya, then Toronto before moving to Calgary. My first poem came in Kenya under tragic conditions when I heard about the loss of two young cousins in an accident. Writing sputtered on for a bit and then it petered out completely. 

With my wife away in India for three months in early 2022, Covid paid me a visit. While recovering, I picked a random movie “Patterson”. The story was about a transit driver who, while carrying on his ordinary life like many of us do, wrote poems on simple subjects. That was a kick which pushed me to start writing a few simple lines. Then, next day, I did that again. It was like I got a new toy to play with and there was no dearth of subjects, no pressure of validation from anyone as I was alone and the game went on. A week into it, I started musing : why not write a poem per day for 365 days. 

An unsure spade struck blindly and found the stream which kept flowing, filling up the void of long nights of insomnia and dreams started unraveling taking a natural course - no forms and predetermined structures - because the choice was easy. Without training, with no background in literature, there was no pressure for compliance nor need for conformity; just the play and it has been fun.