How poetry is turning the wheels of young minds

Poetry gives you so much freedom, says Rochelle D'silva, founder, Words Tell Stories

Chandrabati was a poet in medieval Bengal, one of the few women poets of her time. She wrote about local rulers who slapped usurious taxes on farmers, of lecherous landlords who wrecked havoc on women who refused to sleep with them and about love, pain and infidelity. She also composed her own Ramayana, told entirely from Sita’s point of view. Chandrabati may not have been as famous as another poet of her time, Mirabai, but she would have been right at home today holding a mike, spewing incendiary verse, at the umpteen poetry gatherings (slams, readings, open-mic sessions, call them