This writing session aims to bring strangers together through poetry

A haiku-writing session hopes to bring people who don't know each other together through poetry

We remember fiddling with play dough or tip-toeing behind our brother and listening in on our parents chatting, perched on an antique sofa set our mother had bought at an auction. She would often worry, "She speaks to all kinds of strangers. I have to constantly look over her shoulder."

Children are often asked to not speak to strangers, but is that good advice for adults? That's what the folks at HaikuJAM, an app for people to collaborate and write poetry together, want to ask. With this in mind, they created Don't Talk To Strangers, an event where strangers necessarily speak with each other through the medium of poetry.

Diana Babei

"Connecting with someone you don't know, instantly and intimately, is a very powerful experience. We believe that this could be the key to a happier and less lonely world," Diana Babei, 25, a writer and communication and partnerships leader with the poetry app, shares.

This Saturday's event will see a live jamming session where participants will write and perform short poems together. There's also going to be games, drinks and snacks tied together with two performances — one by musician Shanay Shah, who will perform original and popular tunes, and another by spoken word artistes Foram Shah, Jidnya Pandya and Krishna Iyer, who will write and perform a piece together as the opening act and who are also the event's collaborative partners.

Foram Ashish Shah

Speaking of what one can look forward to, Shah, 18, co-founder at Spill Poetry, an initiative which promotes open-mic events in the city, tells us, "Meeting strangers is not something many people have experienced in a positive manner in our country, so this will be a platform for them to change that, chase their passions and listen to a lot of stories."

On: June 30, 7 pm to 9 pm
At: Mehdi Cottage, Waroda Road, Bandra West.
Log on to: bandra.haikujam.com 
Cost Rs 200

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