In this powerful debut collection published by Juggernaut, Mehak Goyal writes vividly about the experiences of the young Indian women today. We’re in conversation with her about the creation of her poetry anthology. Written in a highly distilled free verse, Goyal's poetry focus on rebellion and relationships. Peppered with humour and fierceness, her poems rebuke the gendered expections of the society from the youth.
Tell us a little bit about the title of your poetry collection, and how that ties into the themes you cover.
The title is based on one of my favorite poems in the book, How to Make Round Rotis. The idea behind it is to not let one's failure to make round rotis hold one back, especially since an act as simple as roti-making translates to so much more in Indian society. For far too long, our worth has been defined by the roundness of our rotis, and I want to change that narrative.
Here is an excerpt from the poem:
“Remove a dream from the dough.
Roll on hands until it is confined to a circle.
Place on the rolling board and crush (lightly).
Use ingrained displeasure and rage to
flatten it with a rolling pin.
Toss the roti on the virtuous tawa.
Round and puffed,
serve it warm for a worthy fortune.”
The poems in the book are a fresh take on challenges, unfair expectations and casual discrimination that women face on a day-to-day basis that are underplayed by society, and brushed under the carpet for convenience’s sake. Readers will find their common woes conveyed through relatable, heartfelt metaphors throughout the book on subjects such as arranged marriages, heartbreak, introvertedness, and more.
Your book is divided into various segments, and its titles are intriguing: How to Do Laundry, Lottery of Love, Bottle of Promises, to name a few. On what basis have you divided your poems into sections?
The sections have been divided according to various stages in life. The book begins with the purity and resilience of childhood, graduates to the doubt that you carry while navigating adulting, the toxic relationships you chase because you deem yourself unworthy, the guilt and insecurity that haunts you when you finally find deserving love the tug and pull of love and hate with yourself, the dark reality of arranged marriage and the unfair expectations and casual discrimination that women face everyday.
What has inspired this anthology?
There are two types of poetry being published today, there’s the Instagram poets with a massive following, who write accessible poems about heartache and self love. Then there are the prolific writers like Tishani Doshi, Jeet Thayil, Jerry Pinto, etc whose poems need to be savoured, and the effect is magical. I found that there is a huge gap here, I am trying to act as a bridge between these two forms. Simar, the founder of Unerase Poetry, wrote about my book, “Mehak’s poems are simple in a way poetry should be. They are smart, witty and sometimes they punch you when you least expect it.” And I think it encapsulates the essence of my poetry perfectly.
If you had to give young poets one piece of advice, what would you tell them?
It’s easier said than done, but don’t let rejections affect you, you really only need that ONE acceptance. Have faith in your work and in yourself.
Given your background in Computer Science Engineering, how did you find yourself writing poetry?
7 years ago, I started my own entrepreneurial venture. 3 years ago, just as my start-up was starting to become successful, my dreams came to a grinding halt due to a freak injury that restricted me to a bed for six months. I had to shut down my start-up. I went through an ugly and distressing break-up around the same time. I couldn’t understand what hurt more: the incompetence of my body or the inability to save my start-up, or the shattering of my own heart. This was the darkest point in my life. Writing was my only refuge.
My poems started getting published in magazines, and I gained confidence in my writing. This book is a labor of love that soothed and healed me, at my lowest point - as much as the medicines I was prescribed did. I hope it can do the same for my readers.
Lastly, what does the future look like for you and your writing?
I quit my job to pursue my passion for writing. I have already started working on my next poetry collection, which should hopefully be out next year.
Words Neeraja Srinivasan
Date 17.08.2023