In style, in Bengaluru

Unlike poets of other languages, Indian poets working in English are in the unenviable situation of sharing a language but little else

When it was finally my turn to read a few of my poems at the Bengaluru Poetry Festival last weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to find the venue at the hotel, The Leela Palace, still full of people. It was nearly 5 pm on a Sunday evening. The large audience — a rarity by any measure — was satisfying, but also a bit unnerving. Perhaps, they had lingered after the exciting session of Usha Uthup before us. Perhaps they were waiting for Vishal Bharadwaj’s session, scheduled for later in the evening. In any case, there was enthusiastic clapping after every