Pritish Nandy’s book of tweet-sized poems launched in Mumbai

Jumbo Editorial Team 

Pritish Nandy, a journalist, filmmaker, painter and poet, launched his new book of poetry ‘Stuck On 1/Forty’ at Crossword Bookstore at Kemp's Corner in Mumbai on July 21 with tweet-sized poems in the tradition of 140-character long Twitter utterances.

This is Nandy's second book of poetry since his return from a two-decade long hiatus from the form. He had released his first book of poems in 2010. 

“I gave up the starkness of poetry, the frugality, the battle with words and images and switched to journalism," Nandy wrote in the introduction to his new book. 

The launch ceremony of ‘Stuck On 1/Forty’ came to life with the presence of actor Ranbir Kapoor, who alongwith Nandy, read out poems from the book and later spoke about them.

‘Stuck On 1/Forty’ consists of tweet-sized poems in the tradition of 140-character long Twitter so each poem can be tweeted. 

"One of the great disciplines of poetry has been how to structure it. I went with the simplest possible structure of today. That was the discipline of the poetry. It's not just the words," he reckoned.

I try to use the simplest words," Nandy responded to Kapoor's question on how he moulded his thoughts into words.

"The most important part of language is touching people. The problem with literature is it is treated as something academic, something that lies in a dusty library. Poems are about reaching out, touching lives," he elaborated.

Nandy, acclaimed as one of the most exciting and acclaimed Indian poets in English, brings his own unique style.

Kapoor, one of the leading Bollywood actors representing the new generation, was asked what he would like to be remembered as to which he replied that he would like to be remembered as a good dad, son and husband.