Unfolding the Verses - Verses By Vasanthi

About the unfolding of ‘Verses by Vasanthi’

Life has a serendipitous way of determining what we become. Strange as it may seem, it happened to me! An interest, a flair for expressing myself, in verse grew on me. Was it because I wanted to be heard? To be understood? Maybe. For whatever reason, I found myself writing and sharing my poems increasingly with family and friends and this activity began to ‘fill and fulfill’ my time and day! I began to acknowledge my metamorphosis from an ‘active educationist’ to an ‘active poet. My endearing and enduring connection with poetry gave me a new purpose, a new inspiration. And so, I decided to take the time and create a platform to write and share my verse!

I wanted to connect with those who liked to read my poems and to engage in conversations that would bind me with my writings and with my network of well-wishers and poetry enthusiasts.

In keeping with the times and digital way of life, developing a website with audio and video versions of poems was the obvious choice.

For a very long, I had always wanted to illustrate poems with subtle, drawings or line art. I have always felt that ‘visual embellishment for verse’ would add value to the experience of the reader. And so, I set off on the task of getting my poems typeset and suitably illustrated.

A good friend alerted me to the need for making the context of the poem understood so that the reader can better appreciate the verse. Thereupon, I started prefacing my poems with brief introductions.

I also wanted to make my poems a multimedia experience for those who preferred it that way, to merely reading the print. So, I went about finding professional voice artists who would bring my poems alive with their pleasing, evocative presentations. The audio versions could be put up on platforms like sound cloud and the like.

The next logical step was to render short videos of individual poems. A talented video maker was commissioned for making videos that could be uploaded on YouTube.

‘Verses by Vasanthi’ was to have a social presence by way of links to social media platforms like Twitter, Insta, FB, and the like. A social media expert would handle this portfolio.

I also wanted my website to have a blog section called ‘Verse Matters’ through which I could communicate with my readers. I plan to write a short article,on a fortnightly basis, on various themes that are connected with poetry. It would be wonderful to have others contribute to the blog on similar topics.

Thus, ‘Verses by Vasanthi’ has grown from an idea to an entity and I do hope that it will be an engaging and robust platform for ‘active’ poetry sharing and discussion. And above all, for celebrating poetry as a medium of expression!