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THEIR PAIN MAKES HER PEN POEMS
HT READERS’ CHOICE AWARD
Arandom scribbling of thoughts on Facebook and the consequent pouring of appreciation by family and friends led to the birth of a poet in Farah Siddiqui Matin, a 25-year-old PhD degree holder from the University of Allahabad.
“It all started with a poem on foetus praying to her mother to kill her before she is even born as the world outside is very cruel and she fears living in it,” says Farah, the winner of HT Readers’ Choice Award.
“It was a heartfelt poem. And the response I got was phenomenal,” she says while expressing her gratitude to her teacher Deepika Sivastava.
“It was on her insistence that I wrote a bunch of poems and realized that I actually enjoy penning my emotions on a paper.”
“Writing on social issues comes to me naturally. My style was free-verse and I was actually exploring the inner and outer realms of human existence. I’m far away from philosophy but when it comes to poetry some of my poems are philosophical and at times they are also a dialogue with the supreme power on current state of the world,” says the girl who had done her PhD in English.
Currently residing in Ireland with her husband Shafique Matin, a satellite scientist with the Irish government, Farah is a strong believer of allowing the life to take its own course.
“I just don’t believe in planning my life as whatever we are destined to get we will get it ultimately,” she says while how her first book got published. “I approached a publishing company in Delhi who reverted back in two days and asked for my final draft. It got approved and my first book ‘The Bliss Of Solitude’, a collection of 50 poems was out in May, 2014. It sold quite a bit and I received my first royalty cheque of Rs 16,000.”
Talking about her marriage to a scientist she adds, “I was at the launch of my first book and Shafique, along with his family, was invited to the event by the publishers. It so happened that our families met and things fell in place and here I had a marriage proposal at my disposal.
“I accepted the same as I saw a humble person in Shafique. Soon I was married and off to Ireland. So see this is how destiny and God plans for us,” she says.
“I got married in early 2015 and my second book ‘Like I Born in Venus’ was released in December same year. It was a collection of 70 poems based on human relationships,” she says while reminiscing how a lot of fan mails prodded her to write more on social causes.
And that’s when the idea of my third book came.
“To be honest I was literally shaken after 2012 Nirbhaya Rape case in Delhi. I felt being born a woman is a sin and it was only after it I started writing and I realized this was my way of doing my bit for the society. I thought, it was a time to write about Nirbhaya and then I conceptualised ‘India’s Daughter 1989-2012’,” she says.
My third book comprises of 50 poems and is slated to be released on June 1 in Delhi, says the girl who is registered as a poetess, dramatist and screenplay writer in Sahitya Akademy.
She is a recipient of many awards and recognitions from national and international bodies, which includes Rising Star India Award 2016 by the London Organisation ‘We Are the City’, Outstanding Poetess by BBIS Media Club and more. “It was while living in Ireland I wrote 160 pages screenplay named Curtain which was registered in Film writers Association, Mumbai. Then I wrote a drama Khushi and realised that I can write stories too,” she tells. She is also a record holder in “India Book of Records 2017” for composing more than 100 poems on social issues within 60 days.
It all started with a poem on foetus praying to her mother to kill her before she is even born as the world outside is very cruel and she fears living in it FARAH SIDDIQUI MATIN, POETESS