Before Hindustani Musalman…

Where one expected Hussain Haidry to happily woo the camera, he seemed more bent on playing the cat and mouse game to avoid it for the interview… Turns out he’s still camera shy, and even more media shy. While he found the reception of Hindustani Musalman and subsequent mainstream coverage, hearting, all the media gaze, which he’s unaccustomed to, has led to some fatigue. The finance professional, who left the field a year ago to pursue his dream of becoming a lyricist and screenwriter, is not likely to allow the two-seconds of fame to get to his head. He remains consciously focused on doing what he loves doing most – jotting down poems and performing at open mics. He can read and speak in Gujarati, broadly understand Bengali and a bit of Marwadi, but his poems are written in Devnagri script and he performs them in Hindi, Urdu, English and Hinglish. A mix of Hindi and Urdu. And also a mix of all three. Edited excerpts from the interview:

Soon after you made the headlines with your poem, I remember you telling me that you’d written it long ago. What had inspired it then and why did you perform it late last year. Were the upcoming elections on your mind?

I had written had the opening lines in 2015, when I heard the azaan in the evening while going from Kolkata to Bhutan. Although that was about Muslims too, it was very different poem. Aur woh diary kho gayi. But I remembered the first lines, so when I returned to Mumbai in March 2016, I picked it up from there and wrote a completely different one. Most of my poems are personal and start with mein, and not hum. Same was the case with Hindustani Musalman, it was a very personal poem. But yes, of course, there was this small element of the Muslim monolith identity -- how all Muslims are painted with the same brush. Ab woh kaunsa Muslim hai, kahaan ka Muslim hai, kitna Muslim hai…yeh pata bhi nahin karte. I hadn’t timed my performance as per elections either, that’s when Kommune released the video (in February), but I recited it there at the end of January.

You were very surprised by the response it evoked. Why?

Matlab poetry kaun sunta hai? Just like my previous one Lath, I thought it will get a few shares and die its own death. 5,000 views would have been a big deal, 10,000 would have been great; you see, I had already performed it a couple of open mics before Kommune in November. Aur it was going to be put it up on 10th February, very close to Valentine’s Day; this being a serious poem with no glamour or fun (the kind of stuff that works most on social media) I didn’t expect it to go viral. But I guess it struck a chord and caught on also because of the political situation at the time of release.

Has the media coverage brought you any opportunities?

It didn’t bring me any projects, but luckily, I got to participate in a big mushaira -- Jashn-e-Bahaar. That was a big emotional moment because I have been going to mushairas since age 19; I would attend all. Aur haan, mere aas paas ke logon ne video dekha, toh unko acha lagaa and now think ki maybe this chap can write. Even my colleagues were very appreciative. So yes, there’s a slight change in perception.

Speaking of colleagues, how did the CA, IIM Indore graduate and who was finance head of a 200-crore company in Kolkata, decide to become a screen writer and lyricist? Was it a tough decision?

I had no clear plan in mind. I only knew that Mumbai has open mics and I have to stay here, and recite poems. What poems? Do I have poems to recite? Will I be able to write? I had no clue. I also wanted to write songs, but again, how I would do that, meet people in music, meet directors, I didn’t know. Anyway, kuch bhi karo life mein, start-up bhi kholo toh pata thodi hota hai ki kya hoga? Nothing is fool proof. Had I remained in finance, from a 200 crore company, I would have just moved to 1000 crore one in the next 10 years; but broadly, I would still be doing the same thing. I’ll give myself 5 years, if things work, I won’t return, else I will. With my degrees and experience, I’m confident I won’t become obsolete by then and it may seem like I’m taking three steps back in my career, but I’d much rather try and get embarrassed than not try and regret.

You joined a digital content channel last August, how’s that going?

It’s given me direction. Part of my aim for the first 12 months was to get into an ecosystem where I get to write every day; it’s very important, fuels you to write more, you need that pressure. Otherwise, one keeps writing lazily – kabhi do mahine mein kuch likha, kabhi teen mahine mein poem likhi, like I have been doing for the past five years.

You started performing at open mics in Mumbai during the Café Goa days in 2009, when it had all just begun. How many poems have you penned down since and what was the scenario like back then?

Yes, I attended Mumbai’s second or third open mic, ever. It was at Mocha Mojo on Hill Road; Café Goa was yet to begin. We were just about seven – eight people: Alfred Lee, Sushil Cherian, Tarun Durga, Puneet Sharma, Varun Grover, Gazal Dhaliwal, Nandram Aanand, Vineet Garg, Anish Vyavhare, Ramya Pandyan. Rohini Ramanathan used to host it. Prithvi was possibly the only other place to host slams. That was my first introduction to Bombay’s cool junta. Although I started writing poems, or anything that resembled it, just around then, I haven’t counted. They must be 100 - 150, including nazms and gazals, and I’ve lost an equal number to junked phones because shuru shuru mein, I wrote on the mobile. But, I’m far more organised now. If nothing, I post them on Twitter, Instagram… so even if they are not all in one place, they are recorded in a scattered manner, somewhere. Also, when I returned to Indore to study and moved to Kolkata for work, I’d almost stopped writing.

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You once told me you’re a closeted poet. But you do open mics, how does that work?

I write a lot of very personal poems that I don’t perform, or even share on social media. When I just started reciting in 2009, it was because I knew nobody here. There was a certain comfort performing to strangers because they are not judging you. Everyone helped me a lot, had it not for encouragement from friends and fellow poets ki padho padho padho, I wouldn’t have written or performed so much. Now, it’s probably age and with time also one becomes confident, so I’m less uncomfortable this time around, returning after five years. But I still get very nervous before events. I tell myself focus, focus, focus. Yaad nahi rehti hai itni lambi lambi poem because once I write, I keep the poem aside and forget it. Then do din pehle, I start rehearsing…like the MBA wali habit.

How have open mics scene changed since the early days?

Back then, I was 24. I was a young guy. Most people were my age. Now, I am 31. I am the older guy. Most people are way younger than me. Even 19 – 20-year-olds! You never had them earlier. The audience numbers have also grown. Yet, at the same time, in some ways it’s the same das mein se chaar poets will be good, sometimes the audience will sit with rapt attention and sometimes they’ll walk out. In fact, earlier you were assured some fixed people would be there because open mics just had one or two venues, but now with so many, the sensibility of the audience has also changed. What a 60-year-old would say wah wah for, a 20-year-old may not appreciate and vice versa. So you’re never sure what the response will be like. Then, there was no social media influence, nothing to update. You just recited for 20 – 40 people, felt happy and went back. I’ve always performed in Hindi-Urdu, which not many understand or perform in, lekin abhi thode Hindi-Urdu poets badhe hain.

What do you think has led to this transformation and popularity?

There was a lot of good content, good people doing great stuff around the city; it was just a matter of someone breaking it. Wahi hai ki devar par sar mar mar ke, mar mar ke, mar mar ke, tod hi di diwar – since years we’ve been hearing nobody wants to listen to poetry, nobody wants to listen to poetry…par itna poetry karenge ki sunna hi padega, itna accha karenge ki sunna hi padega. Ruko tum. It’s the entire impetus of the entire set of old and new poets.

It’s also largely because young people are getting into it. They are behind the social media influence and have made it better in terms of spreading poetry. Those who were doing it before have also gained exposure and learnt new ways of curating events and making sure they reach people.

Now that you have ticket events, has competition creeped in?

They are still far and few in between. I haven’t felt it…but it’s possible. For me, I just know I’ve got to write poems and perform them. Personally, I am marvelled by what others poets -- kya dhasu poem likhi hai, their angle and fresh perspective. In such a creative, artistic field, you can’t better anyone. Just think, if an experienced poet is performing his worst poem, and a new poet performs his/ her best, the audience may still feel wow, what a poem the older one has written. Also, I’ve come from a tradition of listening and reading to poetry. I used to read a lot and I love listening.

Would you say poetry is back? A national daily had once rendered it dead.
Ya, ya, I see a lot of good things happening in the next year, year and half. In fact, I had foreseen a lot of good things even eight-nine months ago and that’s what’s happening right now. Even though a lot of us are still learning (I have read so many greats, my work isn’t one percent of theirs). Also, as you pointed out, there are ticketed events. People are paying to listen to poets. That’s a shift. Earlier it used to be the other way around. We should move forward in two ways: one - better people, better writers, better poets should come and turn things around in poetry writing. And two - it should bring better recognition and money. The latter doesn’t matter so much -- it’s not in the community’s hand and social media is a fickle friend -- but yes, community ke haath mein yeh hai ki woh behtar likhe. Let’s see how it goes.

So what’s your latest poem about?

It’s titled Yeh Neta Kaisa Neta Hai; I've borrowed the flow and structure from Ibn-e-Insha’s Yeh Bacha Kaisa Bacha Hai.

Is the current scenario inspiring to write about politics?

No, I have always written like this; strong personal emotions and anger push me... And I have always wanted to write on politicians; I have read a lot of satire. Harishankar Parsaai, Sharad Joshi and Ashok Chakradhar have done a great job of characterising them. But their politicians are set in the 80s and 90s, I wanted to do a more modern one. 

For aspiring performance poets in Mumbai, what spaces would suggest?

Tuning Fork, Poetry Tuesday, The Poetry Club, Prithvi, Caferatti, Kommune and Words Tell Stories. Each of them is different from the other in terms of venue, hosts and even format.  For someone interested, there’s a lot happening.