We met the female, Tamil poet, Salma, a couple weeks back, and it was an incredibly moving experience. Her story is a difficult one. She grew up in a small village in Tamil Nadu, was locked up in her home at the age of 13, married off not long after that and kept away from the world for 25 years. However, she was a persistent writer, keeping it from her husband and family, eventually getting published by way of her mother sending in her scraps of poems.
Meeting Salma, watching her documentary and speaking with her was a very intense experience. Only knowing the jist of her story beforehand, I was already extremely moved to be in the same room with her. But having the visceral experience of watching her documentary, seeing where she had lived, the dynamic within her family and how the village functions today brought so much more meaning to her story. This, combined with reading her poetry, was so utterly inspiring, I just wanted to thank her so much for her work. To see a woman from such an oppressed culture climb out of that and publish poetry about it was unbelievable – heartbreaking to see what her past was, but so moving to see her determination in expressing herself and sharing with the world. When she walked back in the room, I couldn’t help but tear up. Here was a female poet that came from a world where women are locked up at the onset of puberty and told who they will marry, who also managed to become a politician and move away from her village and her husband to live a more independent life. Then, to me, the fact that she writes poetry is the true inspiration. She’s able to express herself and share it with the world, possibly causing change in places she’ll never even know. She’s even inspired other female poets in Tamil Nadu, maybe across the nation as well. This is the purpose of art: creative expression that moves the planet. Salma has and continues to have this affect.
Being that I’m studying poetry here, this talk was extremely fruitful for my research and to understand one realm of poetry in India. I was able to jot down a lot of notes from the group discussion, and I plan on interviewing her via email. This was one of those experiences where I realize how powerful and meaningful it is to be traveling in India as a student, and I still feel so grateful to have had the change to meet and speak with Salma. I’m still processing the experience, honestly, and it’s hard to even put any more words to it… I’m still having moments of speechlessness when it comes to the beauty of this trip.