Curated & Hosted By Rita Bhatia

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Photo and Video Credit: Rita Bhatia

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Featuring Original Works

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April was National Poetry Month and we were so happy to celebrate it with our Poetry Reading event. It was an enchanting evening of Poetry, as we presented original works written in English/Hindi/Urdu performed by five of our very own creative and talented SF Bay Area poets.

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Our Poets

Pratish Shah : Tera Zindagi Mein Aana, Aurat, Aisa Na Ho Ki Tu Kafir Bane

“I had never considered presenting my poems publicly till Cloud Playhouse came along. Their creative team’s support, coaching and encouragement helped me with an immensely fulfilling first experience in presenting and getting feedback from poetry lovers around the world!!! I’m very grateful!”

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Pratish is an Indian Origin American living in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1993. He has revived a college time hobby in the last decade and is now “officially dabbling with writing” in his midlife. He finds himself on a journey of self discovery; often wondering about the nature of the human mind and his own. Some of his poetry is an attempt to channelize his musings into a message/an understanding for himself mostly, and the world, if anyone is so inclined. Pratish, allegedly, has had crushes since kindergarten, and admittedly, "loved and lost" a million times till his wife, Anamika, hitched him in college and "channeled" his wayward ways! This romantic side often emerges in his Hindi/Urdu poems.

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Shekhar Hemnani : Bus Stop, Ghazal - Bebasi

Suna hai ke teri mehfil mein sukhanwar kum nahi

Humein bhi aazma kabhi, hum mein hunar kum nahi

Hum hai ke jo dil ko seene mein chupaaye rakha hai

Warna isko mitaane ko haseeno ke khanjar kum nahi

 

Shekhar Hemnani jo hai Kabhi ishq ki kahaaniyaan sunaayega, toh kabhi duniya ka malaal bayaan karega. Kabhi sufi ho jaata hai, toh kabhi baagi. Kabhi awaara sa yaadon ki galiyon mein paaya jaata hai.

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Reena Kapoor : Home, The Graduate, Nobody

“Loved every minute of reading my poetry out loud on Cloud Playhouse. Not only was this virtual event well organized and beautifully run with attention to every detail, it also managed to attract an excellent and thoughtful audience. I was also blown away by the other poets and their amazing work. Thank you for giving me this “space” to perform and for connecting me to such an engaging audience.”

 

Growing up as an “army brat” Reena Kapoor has lived all over India, attending eight different schools, and feels lucky for having had that wandering life. Reena has been muddling with poetry for over a decade, claiming her poems write themselves - she just shows up. She is also an avid photographer and can be found on Instagram at @1stardusty. Meanwhile she is renewing her theater life with writing and performing locally and virtually. Reena lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her human family and their two Labradoodles - Moxie and Dishoom! Reena graduated with engineering degrees from IIT Delhi, and Northwestern University and now works as a software technology professional in Silicon Valley.
 

Lakshmi Bharadwaj : Divers, Leaving, Foreign Home

“I absolutely loved the reading, it gave me an opportunity to showcase my poems and helped me bond with a community of writers. I think all of you are so dedicated and deeply committed to exploring art and uplifting artists and I hope this platform continues this stellar effort :)”

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Lakshmi, wears many hats, and right now, she means that literally because it gets very cold in Cambridge, where she resides presently. She reveals that she has been a closet poet, and though has shared her poems in a circle of cousins, is just beginning the journey of reading her poetry in public forums and is excited and nervous. Many know Lakshmi as a theater actor which is still a major love for her and she can’t wait for the COVID times to end so she can get back on stage.

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Neel Sheth : Stages of Life

"You can keep artists & audiences locked in, but not their spirit. That’s exactly what I witnessed in my association with 'CloudPlayhouse' It may have started as a platform as one of the COVID new-normals, but the one we all needed and must stay for long. When Rita on behalf of CloudPlayhouse team reached out to me for “Poetry Reading” session along with 4 more amazing writers/poets in honor of the National Poetry Month (April), I was immediately onboard but wasn’t aware of the meticulous planning and thoughts behind it. Also, the reach of the platform (especially it being new),  audience it pulled & their interest was unexpected, genuine and so involved.

If I were to summarize it in a couplet:

Pirone aaya tha kuch alfaaz
Aapne moti sambhal kar chun liye
Bikhre kahin jo kuch farsh par
Toh aap sambhal kar chal diye 

In the end what art and artists need is a connect, with self, with audiences and with fellow artists. CloudPlayhouse is just that platform in current times.
Good luck guys!"

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खुदा तू है कैसे मानु ये, के तू कहीं नहीं दीखता

आ के मिल मुझसे कभी मयखाने में

पहेचन है तेरी क्या ये तो बता दे कभी

बिना पिए तो मुझे मेरा अक्स भी खुद सा नहीं दीखता

 

Neel is a salesman who knows more bars than the ones listed on Yelp! (hey! It’s for client meetings ;)) To him, words are the ways to connect with people, because often what one writes is not what people decipher. And, in that ambiguity lies the beauty of poetry & poetic liberty of the poet.