Author interview: Jay Prakash Kushwaha on his anthology of Hindi poems

Congratulations on the release of ‘Ashrupurit Nayan’. You are not a full-time writer. How and when do you manage time to write in between your regular career?

Your career does not in any way act as a hindrance to this. In reality, creativity is everlasting and universal. It transcends beyond language, geography and time.

What kind of books inspire you as a writer? Who are your favorite authors and poets?

Instead of being a writer, I am a feeler. And I like reading every genre of literature. I have a special attachment to music and poems. Although the list is very long, some names that I can recall or I feel like having spent a considerable amount of time with are Gopaldas Neeraj, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Bashir Badr, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Sahir Ludhianvi, Kaifi Aazmi, Javed Akhtar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Rabindranath Tagore, etc.

Why did you want to become a writer? Who inspired you to become a writer? What triggered you to come into writing?

Never have I ever seen myself as a writer, nor do I ever want to become one. In fact, I am just a feeler, who likes to weave a garland of experiences into words after getting inspired by emotions.

What are you doing to let readers know about your book?

I am planning on advertising it, using social media (Facebook, YouTube). Along with this, I am also trying to make this book available everywhere.

Tell us something about your book. Some highlights.

Firstly, I would like to say that I have not written, spoken or sung these songs and poems written in this book. Instead, I have lived these poems, or should I say, I am living them. And these poems and songs continuously flow in every beating of my heart, every breath that I take and becoming drops of blood, flow in every nerve of my body.

Since time immemorial, the natural tendency of people has been to dream. They dream, experience reality, go through bad and good experiences, keep living and dying again and again, just like Swami Vivekananda had expressed the desire to keep coming back to this endless cycle of life and death rather than gaining salvation.

Somewhat similar to this, I am completing the journey of my life by being sad sometimes, sometimes smiling, sometimes crying, sometimes happy, sometimes being afraid to lose and sometimes getting excited with the prospect of gain.

If sometimes I have complains about God, I have an acceptance of God's will too, which can be reflected from the following poem:

"...yes yes, she will never be mine.
Will never be mine.
I drown myself in this bitterness everyday.
If this is what you bless me with,
I will accept this silently.
From the embers of disappointments,
I will light the lamp of hope,
I will light the lamp of hope."

Since innocent emotions can never die, therefore after bracing through numerous hurricanes, it starts spilling from the throat:
"...when you enter me whole-heartedly
Through the doors of my heart
And I will welcome you
By worshipping you with a plate of worship
That day will come
That day will come
"One day will come..."

Tell us something about yourself and your background.

To say more about me, even after my inclination towards creative writing, even after getting selected in Medical (BDS, MBBS), I completed my graduation in Science. And at present, I am a wholesaler of medicines.

In the past, following the request of some dear friends and well-wishers, I had recorded a poem in the form of a song, which is still available on YouTube with the title, "Teri Chahat ka Diya Jala Kar, Man ke mandir mey tujhko basa kar” (Lighting the lamp of your love, keeping you in the temple of my heart). After receiving appreciation for that song, and at the request of the same friends, I was compelled to publish the anthology of poems and songs. I also became a Fellow Member as a Lyricist of the SWA (Screen Writer Association, Mumbai).

Do you plan to take it up as a full-time profession if the response is good?

I have never bothered myself with the outcome. This reminds me of something Harivansh Rai Bacchan had said, "It's good if it goes according to your will, and it's even better if it doesn't." No one can know what the Creator has planned for us. And then, this isn't a profession for me but my passion.

And in the end, I acknowledge my humble thanks to all the readers.