Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca

I wish that I could have met Keki Daruwalla personally.  A couple of years ago when I launched my Poetry page, Keki wrote me a beautiful message about my poetry. He said, “It is terse, straight from the heart and reflects the anxieties of an entire generation.” “What a pity I never came to Mussoorie when you were there.” I was teaching in the Department of English at the International school; it was certainly a missed opportunity not to have known him then and hosted him in my campus home.  The students would have benefited greatly, from his work and his wisdom.  I was thrilled when I received a message from a fellow poet that Keki had read my poem “Loss’’ dedicated to my father, at the Tata Literature Live Festival in Mumbai, a few years ago.  

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Keki is certainly one of the finest voices in Indian Writing in English. One of the most inspiring definitions of poetry for me comes from Keki, “Sometimes you have to say it as it is before the metaphor and the magic begins.” In my own poetry I have always “said it as it is” and it reminds me of Keki each time I write a poem.

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It was a pleasure to meet Keki on a Zoom call where I was able to read his poem “Mother” which is one of my favorites. I quote a few lines here:

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When my children ask you

Things about your childhood

your smile becomes remote and enigmatic…

(From Poetry at Sangam…Poets and their Mothers)

Keki received many literary awards: The Sahitya Akademi Award (1984), Commonwealth Asia Poetry Award (1987), the Padma Shri (2014) and the Poet Laureate Award at the Tata Live Literature Fest in Mumbai (2017). His work has been translated into several languages.

Thank you Keki for your poetry and your short stories. Your words will live on and you will remain a formidable presence in the history of Indian Writing in English.