The civilized self has "little control" over subjects like poetry, arts and music, which are among the first disciplines to emerge in any civilization, social theorist Ashis Nandy has said.
"I do not think that in writing poetry the morality of the poet matter much, because a true poet will automatically inject some of the primitive ethical considerations into his/her poetry.
"That's why I say that poetry cannot be socialized. Neither can you censor it nor can you silence it after a point. It has a subversive element in itself and that same thing can be said about music and art," Nandy said.
He was speaking at the concluding session of "VAK: The Raza Biennale of Indian Poetry".
Nandy said for poetry, it was the poet's passion for writing verses and his belief in the literary form which were most important.
"If you are a poet you do not have to believe in social realism or progressivism. All a good poet has to do is to surrender to that form," he said.
Organised by Raza Foundation, the festival hosted 45 poets writing in over 15 Indian languages while providing a platform for the regional languages of the country.
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