Month: March 2022

Bookish Posts, Children's Books

Books on Sustainability for Young Minds

Zayn & Zoey- Environment Series

Designed by the Author using Canva

The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.

~Robert Swann

Perfect for kids of 5 years and above, the Zayn & Zoey- Environment Series is a perfect conversation starter for topics on Environment and Sustainability.

We got this book recommendation from fellow parents through the Fb community, Kids Book Cafe, which is an active community in raising readers. Check their website here, for age-appropriate recommendations. 

This series has three books: Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, Rainwater Harvesting and Learn About Solar Power and I would suggest that you start introducing the books to kids in the same order as I have put out here for better comprehension. 

The books are written in simple language and colourfully illustrated on gloss finish pages which is sure to hook young readers. 

Picture of Zayn & Zoey-Environment Series Books
Zayn & Zoey-Environment Series Books

Zayn & Zoey-Reduce-Reuse-Recycle

As the title suggests this explains the 3Rs; reduce, reuse and recycle; in a way that could easily get a kid thinking and come up with their own idea. 

It explains how waste can affect the environment and how one can practise the 3 rs in daily life, like utilising the backside of old worksheets for rough work, having toy donation drive at schools, wrapping gifts with newspaper, etc. 

This particular book is my daughter’s favourite as she was able to practically try the ideas out instantly. 

The Zayn & Zoey: Environment Series comes highly recommended for school libraries as this makes up for a great conversation starter and relevant read around Environmental issues and can help kids take action as a group or community. 

Rainwater Harvesting with Zayn & Zoey

With beautifully illustrated pictures this book shows kids how rainwater harvesting is done by taking the kids on a tour of Zayn & Zoey’s Grandma Grey’s farm. 

I loved the questions of Zayn and Zoey that were part of the narrative. They were typical of kids that exhibited curiosity and wonder elements. 

Teeny Weeny Tip: Next time when it rains, get your kid involved in placing a bucket closed with a thin cotton cloth as a filter, in an open area where you can harvest the rainwater. I am sure they will be amused at how this little act could save a considerable amount of water. 

Zayn & Zoey- Learn About Solar Power

Addressing the curiosity of kids about how the sun can give us electricity, this book is written engagingly informative. Language is lucid and helps in better comprehension of a complex process in simpler words.

This book talks about solar panels and the various benefits and applications of solar power. 

There are interesting fun facts throughout the book that feeds hungry minds. 

Pro Tip: For some practical ways to utilise solar energy at a small scale that can involve kids, try these:

  1. Ask them to sun dry their hair after a head bath instead of opting for a hairdryer. 
  2. Explain to them the benefits of sun-drying washed clothes instead of running an additional cycle of hot spin.
  3. Involve your kids in sun-drying mangoes or tomatoes and help them how solar power can be used to our benefit in easier ways. 

Wrap up words

I highly recommend this book as conversations on environmental issues, energy, conservation and sustainability are the need of the hour, especially for the younger generation to make conscious choices. 

Here are some of our little wins:

Some of the little ways that my 10-year-old understands and makes efforts independently for sustainable solutions. (Proud momma here!)

  • Labels made from one side papers
  • Damaged plastic containers used as pots & pet bottles used as sprinklers
  • Greeting card made out of scrap
  • Doll makeover 1
  • Makeover 2
  • Makeover 3
  • Makeover 4
  • Makeover 5
Sustainable solutions by my 10-year-old

When it comes to sustainability, inclusivity is mandatory, which means involving kids too in having talks on sustainability and helping them take independent steps, how much ever small they may be.

Every small step towards sustainability matters and let’s help young minds make conscious choices.

For now, I leave you with this quote to ruminate upon:

“Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness.”

~Khalil Gibran

“This post is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter.”

Miscellaneous

Growing Plants Only in Compost- The Pros & Cons

My gardening experiment & experience

Image that reads Growing plants only in compost-the pros & cons.
Designed by the author on Canva

Plants are generally grown in a mix of garden soil, cocopeat and compost. But for a change, I wondered, what if I could grow plants only in compost. So I went ahead putting my thought into action.

Compost is a mixture that is largely made of decaying organic matter like dried leaves and food scraps and is used as a fertiliser for plants. Mature compost is rich in readily available nutrients and is also lighter than soil. 

Inspired by Vani Murthy ma’am, the composting queen, also known as the WormRani (follow her on Instagram here, for a daily dose of motivation) in the gardening circle, I took to composting 4 years back. One year later, I was so obsessed with the process of composting and compost that I wanted to try and experiment with growing plants only on compost. 

In Bangalore weather and on an open terrace that gets a fairly good amount of sunlight throughout the day, growing only on compost did have a decent outcome. Mind you, I started with zero expectations and I always indulge in gardening just for the sake of it with not many expectations. 

Here are some observations from growing plants only in compost

Pros of growing plants only in compost

  1. Compost is lighter in weight compared to soil. Water drains through it easily thereby avoiding stagnation of water in potted plants. This in turn highly reduces the chances of root rots in plants. 
  1. The lighter nature of compost makes it easy to transfer or carry pots around while shifting. Trust me, it is something you may want to consider if you are someone who is into shifting houses, often.
  1. The lighter nature of compost always makes it easy to till up while repotting or sowing or removing weeds, unlike working with soil that gets hard and crusted, making it difficult to till. 
  1. As a lot of chopped vegetable scraps goes into the compost, the nutrient availability increases in the end product, i.e, the mature compost.
  1. Compost is something that is always in progress. It gets denser over time which means that the pot you might have filled to the brim with compost might have reduced in quantity in two weeks. This acts as an advantage as it gives more space to add more compost which in turn reduces any chances of excess wet waste from our households going to landfills. 
  1. Having compost in your pots or soil bed may surprise plants that might have grown from a seed from veg or fruit scrap that had gone into the compost bin and thrived to turn into a sapling. We had watermelons and papaya plants come that way. 

You might as well, like reading this:

The Joy of Gardening

Cons of growing plants only in compost

  1. As much as the lighter weight of compost is a plus, it is equally a minus. The lighter weight doesn’t help in providing firm support like soil, especially to climbers and some tender stemmed plants like tomatoes.
  1. Compost, if added prematurely, turns acidic which may harm plant growth. 
  1. Again, adding premature compost may also end up having the growth of unwanted plants (courtesy, the seeds from veg & fruit scars gone into composting & chosen to survive)  along with the ones you intentionally sowed. 
  1. Adding premature moist compost may invite grubs and affect the roots of the plants. 
  1. The easy to dig property of compost may have your furry friend dig it all away and have a good night’s sleep in the warmth of the pot (true story!). 

Have a look at the garden that thrived only on homemade compost.

The result may surprise you!

Click here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Zr__rzBsc-s

Wrap up words

As much as compost is rich in nutrients and can be tempting enough to grow plants only in compost, we should know that it may not provide firm support which too is vital for healthy plant growth. 

So my key takeaway from the experiment was to have a mix of garden soil and matured compost, say in the ration, 4:6 and it has been working well for me till now with decent yields without the need for any chemical fertilisers. 

Happy garden, happy me!

Hope you find this helpful. Also, I am all ears to know about your gardening experiments and hacks. Indulge me!

Signing off with this interesting quote:

Kings and cabbages go back to compost, but good deeds stay green forever.

~Rick DeMarinis

“This post is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter.”

Tips for crafting & editing poetry

On Poetry & More With Sampurna Chattarji

Recap of the session on Getting Started with Poetry- #BlogchatterWritFest 2022

For quick access:
  1. Poetry makes nothing happen
  2. Purpose of Poetry
  3. Poetry as a spontaneous overflow of emotions versus poetry as a craft
  4. Basics that a poet needs to follow to get better at the art of poetry
  5. Multiple formats of poetry in one book
  6. Experimenting with “trends” in poetry: Yay or nay?
  7. On poetry translation
  8. On pitching poetry for magazines
  9. Suggested Reads
  10. Parting words

Poetry makes nothing happen

Baffled reading the heading that says, ‘Poetry makes nothing happen’? Well, you are not alone if you come across this for the first time. I was confused too when I heard it for the first time, especially from a renowned poet like Sampurna Chattarji while quoting it to explain the purpose of poetry. It may sound contradicting but in actuality it is not. To get the essence of it, read ahead.

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.

~WilliamWordsworth

Celebrating World Poetry Day on the 21st of March, 2022 with a conversation with the poet and translator, Sampurna Chattarji, as part of the #BlogchatterWritFest2022, turned out to be a blissful and resourceful session. The one-hour session flew in a jiffy only to make us, the poetry enthusiasts, more thirsty for the poetry conversation.

What is the purpose of poetry? Does poetry essentially mean a spontaneous overflow of emotions or does it include crafting too? What are some essential basics for becoming a better poet? Can multiple formats of poetry be included in a single poetry book? Do we follow trends when it comes to writing poetry? How much can a poet experiment with the format of poetry? If these are some questions in your mind, read along to get resourceful insights gained from a conversation with the amazing poet, translator and editor Sampurna Chattarji.

Here is a quick recap of the session with key takeaways from it. The session saw Sampurna Chattarji take up participants’ questions and answer them with insights from her personal experience as a poet, translator and editor.

Purpose of Poetry

The conversation had an interesting start with the poet answering the question what is the purpose of poetry. Chattarji indulged us in a poetic conversation by saying that it’s a perennial question and quoting, “Poetry makes nothing happen”, from the famed poem ‘In Memory of W.B.Yeats’ by W.H.Auden

An excerpt from the poem 'In Memory of W.B.Yeats' by W.H.
An excerpt from the poem ‘In Memory of W.B.Yeats’ by W.H.Auden

Chattarji went ahead to explain beautifully on how poetry survives, transcending time and in essence becoming a way of happening. She said that words are a way of happening; dynamic and not static. The happening though can either be slow and meditative or choose to explode. Ultimately, poetry is in the now.

With reference to the poem, Sampurna Chattarji highlighted that

it’s a poet’s responsibility to be the mouth of truth but not a mouthpiece.

Poetry as a spontaneous overflow of emotions versus poetry as a craft

When asked if poetry is just about the spontaneous overflow of emotions or does it need to be crafted, pat came the reply from the poet insisting that only an overflow of emotions may just be a hot mess on paper and that there is a need for formatting and crafting.

Chattarji emphasized that both the emotions as well as the crafting be given equal importance to get captivating poetry. She went on to share the following tips generously:

Basics that a poet needs to follow to get better at the art of poetry

  1. Know the nuts and bolts of the language: the grammar, spellings, punctuation, etc.
  2. Have a deep love for the language and the craft. Devour others’ works before starting with yours.
  3. Write to rewrite. Don’t be satisfied with the first draft. Develop the ability to take criticisms and work on bettering the craft.
  4. Equip yourself to become your own editor. This comes with years of experience though.
  5. Have patience and persistence.

PRO TIP: As suggested by Sampurna Chattarji, check out and learn about different poetry formats by searching through the glossary here.

Multiple formats of poetry in one book

On the question, of multiple formats of poetry can be included in a single book, Sampurna Chattarji explained that it can be done with careful consideration. She added that the poet must be aware of the inner logic and flow behind the intertwining of multiple formats. Chattarji went on to explain how in her book “Space Gulliver” multiple forms of poetry imbibed in one book and it was absolutely helpful.

On that note, she mentioned that her favourite poetry forms are prose poetry—for its tensile & dynamic nature—and also non-sequential, non-narrative forms of poetry.

At this point, a special mention of Inger Christensen’s book Alphabet got me even more excited as it is based on the Fibonacci Sequence. At that moment, the Mathematician & the poet in me was like- ‘Aaaaah…I can just go on & on with this conversation!’. Sampurna Chattarji also mentioned writing a poem based on the prime number 37, also a star number, and her reasons and thoughts behind it. It only got interesting and I was just wishing that the conversation doesn’t end.

On a side note, one of my recently published poetry in “The Great Indian Anthology” by the Half Baked Beans has that Mathematical touch to it, titled “Number & numeral are not the same”. (winks!!)

With the constraint of time, the poet moved on to answer the next question if it was wise to go with “trends” for beginner poets. Chattarji mentioned that one should be wise enough to know that what can be trending can end up forgotten too. So, it’s better to plunge into the deep end, hone your craft first and experiment with language and forms first-hand. Clearly, her emphasis was on getting better at the craft instead of just going by the trends.

On poetry translation

Here are a few important tips that Chattarji shared when asked for advice regarding poetry translations, especially when there is a cultural difference in the languages involved:

  1. Firstly, it is highly important to understand both languages inside out.
  2. For words that are hard to translate, she urged the poets to be inventive. She added that of all the translators, poetry translators are the best.
  3. When it comes to untranslatable nuances, she suggested that one gets into the skin of the other poet, strike a conversation, gets to know the back story of the poem and then come up with a translation.
  4. In case of uncertainty when it comes to translating a poem of a dead poet, she insisted that we go with our instincts, follow our heart and trust it.
  5. Make research and dictionary your friends.
  6. Most importantly, she emphasized that we have the courage to walk away from translating a poem. She said not to destroy a poem by bad translation and it’s better to leave it alone.
  7. Create strategies, try hard and find solutions, like adding footnotes for cultural references or vernacular words.
  8. Finally yet primarily, care enough for the poem as if it is your own and do justice to it.

On pitching poetry for magazines

As Sampurna Chattarji is also a Poetry Editor, it was more than apt to know what she looks for in a poetry submission as an editor. To start with, she made a note that one should not consider submission as “pitching” as the word pitching gives a sense of selling. She said the better word would be poetry submission and mentioned that primarily she looks for a certain amount of craft in the poetry.

She added that she looks for a voice — honest, new and startling — and a willingness to work with the editor in partnership.

As a pro tip, Sampurna Chattarji suggested not to overdo the cover letter or bio and rather work harder on the poem instead. Finally, she said to keep the poem true, simple and distinct.
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Suggested Reads

Towards the close of the session, when asked for poetry reading suggestions, especially for kids and beginners, Chattarji left us with the following reading list:

  1. Coney Island of the Mind: Lawrence Ferlinghetti
  2. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats: T.S. Eliot
  3. Beastly Tales from Here and There: Vikram Seth
  4. Revolting Rhymes: Roald Dahl
  5. The Fried Frog and Other Funny Freaky Foodie Feisty Poems: Sampurna Chattarji
  6. Learn from the Almond Leaf: Eunice de Souza
  7. The Penguin Book of Indian Poets edited by Jeet Thayil (for a wide variety of themes, styles, generations: out in April)
  8. Indian Love Poems selected and edited by Meena Alexander (Everyman Pocket Poets)
  9. Wordygurdyboom! The Nonsense World of Sukumar Ray translated by Sampurna Chattarji (Puffin Classics)
  10. The Complete Poems of Winnie the Pooh: A.A. Milne

As a special recommendation for children’s poetry, she suggested Earth, our Home by Karthika Nair. For a poetry book using vernac, she suggested her book, The Bhyabachyaka and other wild poems.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/inger-christensen

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/147924.alphabet

Parting words

On a final note, Sampurna Chattarji mentioned looking up for first books of those you consider established poets now and reading more anthologies.

The session then ended with a reading of her poem “Evil Eye” in her magical voice.

Overall, it was an exciting and engaging session that I just keep ruminating upon and this blog post is one way to do so. Hope you find this useful.

I just can’t thank enough the Blogchatter Team for making such conversations with poets/authors possible through the BlogchatterWritFest. As my fellow blogger Harshita would put it here, the BlogchatterWritFest is a different level of crazy!

Apart from providing us with this wonderful session where 3 to 4 of my questions got answered, Blogchatter did go one step ahead to choose me as one of the winners of a book giveaway. I am definitely on a poetic high and I’m sure you would have definitely got to know it by now.

BlogchatterWritFest Session 4 Winners, one being me!
Happy Me!

I leave you on that note and see you soon with Intuitive Poetries in the month of April (just a few more days to go!). Stay tuned.

This post has been written as part of BlogchatterWritFest.