I was asked to contribute to The Guardian's arts and culture blog and, as I think it's a fantastic newspaper, I agreed. I had never written or read a blog before, so it took some getting used to. They can be addictive, but they don't require the same kind of rigour as writing regular journalistic pieces would. Also, people tend to be scathing with their feedback and comments, less so for the arts blogs than the political blogs, but still! You have to be a bit thick-skinned, and revel in controversy -- which I'm not sure I am or do.

You mention, in one of your posts, that not everyone can read like Dylan Thomas. What gets you through a poetry reading in India? Do you manage to connect with your audience?

I think it is important to be prepared. Like any performance, poetry readings require practice. Getting up in front of a room of people to read can be nerve-wracking. It is probably best to know what you're going to read and say beforehand, and also to be a bit flexible if you sense you are losing your audience. The best way to connect is to be funny. I don't really write funny poems (yet), but I think it's still possible to talk to your audience enough to get them to relax and just listen to you - not to treat the whole thing like some serious cultural exercise.

Doing readings with other poets is best because there is a change of voice and pace and theme, and for audiences, it is a lot easier to ingest. At the recent Kitab festival in Mumbai, there was no electricity at one of the readings. We had to read in candlelight with no microphones, but the effect was magical -- I could feel the audience physically leaning in to listen.

Image: At the Hay-on-Wye festival, reading with Margaret Atwood, Hugo Williams, James Fenton and Seamus Heaney.

Also see: 'Science gives me hope' -- Abha Dawesar

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