The venue was a cremation ground. The day chosen was amavasya. But it was not a felicitation for Bollywood’s current toast Ram Gopal Varma. Nor was it a screening of his film Bhoot. Instead, it was a bunch of poets raring to take on bhoots.The Shabdagandh Kavya Manch, a poets’ forum in Pimpri, near Pune, organised a kavi sammelan on the theme of ‘‘fearlessness’’ on Sunday. Programme co-ordinator Suresh Kank said that the objective was to develop an awareness of social issues and remove misconceptions, fears and superstitions.Kank said that amid the new trend of horror films and spooky TV serials, it is essential that such programmes are held to remove such fears from the society. Most poets who participated in the event found the idea revolutionary.Asked why amavasya was chosen for the sammelan, poet and corporator Dr Kamrunissa Khan said, if a kavi sammelan could be held on poornima, there was nothing wrong in holding one on amavasya to portray what is called the darker side of life.When the theme was decided, the organisers felt the venue too should be a fitting one. A poet will go anywhere to express himself because every poem has a subtle message on something to do with life, the poets observed.Among the poets who participated in the programme were Swati Thakar, Kamlini Jagtap, Madhuri Oak, Sheshdhar Tripathi, Anil Dixit, Purshottam Sadaphule, Gokul Pawar, Hiraman Tiwari, Umesh Khilari, Jagdish Vanshiv, Manohar Jalepalelu, and Suryakant Bhosale.
