BHUBANESWAR: Kavish Seth’s evocative poetry and the sheer magic of his Indie music marked the first day of IIIT Bhubaneswar’s three-day long literature festival, INGENIUM ’20 at its campus auditorium in Bhubaneswar, Friday. The star of the evening was poet and singer Kavish Seth who connected with the audience with his hard-hitting renditions.
Dean of Students Affairs, IIIT Bhubaneswar Tanu Trishna Panigrahi was also present at the event. In her speech Panigrahi said, “The lit-fest is going to be remembered because Kavish Seth decided to be a part of it. The whole programme was arranged and organised by the students who were more enthusiastic to bring him to the city for the event. This edition of literature fest is very important for IIITians.”
Kavish Seth, alumni of Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, is known for his poetry and music with hard-hitting messages on contemporary India and life in general. He conceptualised Zubaan, a music project that aims to create platforms for collaboration between independent music artists from different corners of India.
When he walked on stage with the ‘Noori’, his self-crafted musical instrument, little did the audience know what was in store for them. He sang ‘Mu Bhura Hoon par Bura nahi’. His renditions of poems like ‘Mein jaise log hote hain waise ho jata hoon’ that made everyone sit up and take notice the power of his strong words. His next poem ‘Building culture’ showed how modern building culture has changed the lives of people where relationships have given way to technology.
It may be noted that the instrument ‘Noori’, the one that was made by Kavish himself, is a 14 stringed instrument shaped like a guitar, but with a wooden frame covered in goatskin to produce percussive sounds. Songs like ‘Na jane kabse Angrezi bhoot sawar hai’ and ‘Hindi bolen toh bole toh gawaar hai’ saw students sing along with the maverick poet and songwriter.
Interacting with Orissa POST Kavish said, “I identify with the real problems of our society and I discuss about them through my poetry. The youth is tomorrow’s future and they understand emotions better than those in power. This fest is close to my heart as it gives me opportunity to connect to each and everyone present here.”
Over the weekend, the fest will witness a workshop by Helly Shah and events like Air crash, Slam poetry, Mock CID, Ultimate Literati and debates.