Filmmaker and former actor Renu Desai was in Hyderabad recently to launch her first book, a collection of poems titled A Love, Unconditional . Looking radiant and at peace with herself, she says during a chat, “Many journalists, especially women, have been supportive in this process of bringing out my first book,” .
Renu’s language is simple and fluid, in aconversational style . She says her poems are not an outburst of emotions, but she shares her feelings when she sees or hears something thought provoking. She explains, “The words just flow, the poems have a meter and rhythm of their own. I would write essays, short stories and would make my ex-husband read it and he would say ‘yes, there is a writer in you’ but I never imagined I had enough poems to publish a book.” When she was bed ridden for a year in 2014, she posted a few poems on Twitter and received an overwhelming response. She began writing regularly.
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Unfortunately for her, whenever she wrote a poem — happy or sad — netizens would attribute it to her former relationship. They refuse to accept that she’s an individual in her own right, has moved on and that her poems are a spontaneous outcome of her own journey. She shares, “There have been times when I was so happy with my friends but had written a melancholic poem; it’s not like you have to experience something to pen some feelings. I could be writing a happy poem when I am sad as well. If I see my friend in love with her girlfriend or vice versa, or if I see a sad Hindi song on television, I present my interpretation of it.” Her work is being appreciated because it’s candid and resonates with like-minded people.
She has touched upon diverse topics; the first poem is about society — about children dying of hunger and she raises some poignant questions. Another poem focuses on homeless construction workers who, ironically, work towards building homes for rich women. She has written more than 250 poems, has lost some of her old poems and compiled whatever she could gather since 2009.
Renu says as a matter of fact, “From 200, I cut it down to 100 and finally filtered it to 32. Friends, well wishers and followers on social media felt I should compile my poems into a book, so I gave it a serious thought. Many of my social media followers are Telugu-speaking people and I didn’t want to alienate them, so when I was introduced to lyricist Ananta Sriram, I requested him to translate them into Telugu and he agreed.”
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Though she wears many hats, Renu Desai enjoys being a filmmaker the most; judging a show, writing and any other job all comeafter direction. Speaking of her inner peace and contentment, she reveals, “I am into yoga now, eat satvik food and enjoy writing a lot more. I chopped my hair and gave it for a cause, I am hopefully doing the right things. A lot of people are enquiring about my marriage, that too will happen at the right time. I am in a happy space. I want to direct a film, and have written a story on farmers’ suicide.”