By Aparmita Das
It took two months and constant brainstorming by the research scholars of the English department to pull off a successful open mic event, that was organised at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong on Friday.
Since nothing is pre-planned and you never truly know what to expect, an open mic seems interesting. At Friday’s event, any topic was allowed, and anyone was welcome to stand up and introduce themselves through their talent. “When it comes to literature, the baseline of this whole subject is expression. You are alive when you are expressing. Actually, the inability to articulate oneself is a trait of the dead,” emphasised Perme, a research scholar and also a participant. With this in mind, the Forum of Research Scholars of English department decided to allow those who desired to express themselves a “in the moment” “on the stage” existence.
Perme presented two poems at the event, one was “Chole re”, and the other one was “Love is a cup of tea”. “Cholo re is an existential poem in which I assert that I have always been active. When I felt like the world was walking beside me, I left my house to pursue my ambitions. Conversely, there were moments when I felt like I was walking alone and returning home because I was exhausted,” Perme described.
In the second poem, Perme compared the act of brewing tea with the whole idea of love. “Tea is made by using bitter ingredients, such as tea leaves. Only when all the components are precisely measured and added to the tea pot does it become palatable. Similarly, some individuals perceive love to be bitter, abhorring it forever owing of specific negative encounters,” Perme explained.
I would dare to say, don’t look at love from the angle of tea brewing
Love, no matter how bitter it might be
When you have little bit patience, let it burn in the fire, put some water
In his poem, Perme linked the trials of time to the fire that burns beneath the teapot, and the tears of love to the water used in tea.
“Going forward, I was wondering if may be we could meet up once a week, and have such cosy sessions in the university, where people could just share their anecdotes of daily life,” Perme wished.
Daphisha Makri, a teacher at ICFAI university and an alumnus of NEHU, addressed the crucial topic of femininity and told the non-fictional story of a 12-year-old girl who was none other than herself. The theme of the narrative was the stigmatisation of menstruation and the disregard of periods discomfort in our society. Makri also narrated how a doctor who is supposed to save lives, sexually harrassed her in the name of medical examination. “In the story, when I told my mother about it, she immediately took me to the doctor’s clinic, where we learned that the doctor had passed away,” Makri said. In the last line, Makri had written “The bloody tide had turned” referring bloody to the moon (nature) and the way the moon affects the tide. “It felt as if the nature had its own way of justice.”
Makri began writing when she was quite young. Her sole hobbies while living in boarding school were reading and writing, so the open mic night provided her with a chance to connect with others who shared her interests and hear their personal narratives. Since these occasions are so infrequent in Meghalaya, Makri continued, “I feel like we need more of these.”
Suzyla Pamshong, a vocalist who wowed the crowd with her original song performed on a ukulele, admitted that she had always composed songs but that they frequently ended up in the shoebox beneath her bed. “Eventually, I realised that I needed to let people listen to my original songs. The song I sang today is called I won’t blame you, and is about redemption.”
The event saw an overwhelming participation from different colleges and universities. “We did not anticipate such a large turnout. A few people registered even as the event was going on. This simply demonstrated the love for literature, which cannot be contained within the department or academic circles since it floats and is unbound. It was fantastic to watch everyone interact and have a good time,” said Patricia Hodge, a research scholar, who hopes to continue organising events like this in the future with the same passionate support from the people.
