Interview of Kamakshi Gupta, the author of Unfinished, a book on poems. Kamakshi’s poems reflect her experiences through her 16 years of personal and social life, as well as the suffering and strength of those around her, as she is a very observant person by nature.
Through her book, Kamakshi hopes to reach out to the people who have suppressed their voice and hold out a helping hand to those in
Table of Contents
Tell us about your book Unfinished?
Unfinished is a collection of poems that depicts the stages of pain and love that every person undergoes several times in their life. It has been split into four bittersweet chapters, each chapter addressing a different issue and attempting to ensure the readers that they are not alone in their struggle. Each poem tells a story that could not be said out loud or otherwise and is inspired by the experiences of the author and the people around her.
Unfinished is a journey that takes the reader through the beginning of pain and its traumatic battles to the realization of self love, worth and acceptance.
I started an anonymous blog a few years ago when I was not ready for people to know that these poems are manifestations of my day to day troubles. However, with a solid collection of poems and the right amount of confidence, I decided to publish a book.
Poems from Kamakshi Book Unfinished
What are the challenges that a young adult faces these days? And how do they cope with it?
In this day and age of fast-paced technology, teenagers are faced with a wide variety of issues that affect their mental health significantly. Since an individual’s society and family have a huge impact on structuring and nurturing their persona, it affects them greatly when they are unable to meet society’s standards, such as those of beauty or academics. Such standards have been around for centuries, but the pressure for everyone to fulfil them, I believe, has risen drastically due to the advent of social media.
This can lead to a mild or severe impact depending on the individual resulting in either anxiety, internal/ external pressure and even serious mental disorders such as body dysmorphia, for example.
To cope with anything remotely problematic, teenagers either adopt internal or external strategies – internally, it could affect their temperament and possibly even their personality and externally, they “rebel” by seeking solace in alcohol, drugs and even criminal activities such as shoplifting, etc.
When did you start writing and what do you think attracted you to poetry?
I started writing in eighth grade, using it as a means of catharsis from my problems. Poetry is a form of writing where you can express your deepest and darkest feelings and the fact that I could do so without judgement and no barriers made me fall in love with it.
Do you think poetry has a purpose? Is there something particular that good poetry ought to do?
2. As I mentioned earlier, poetry is a form of writing through which you can express your weak side and I believe that its purpose is primarily to comfort the writer. As for the good poetry can do, it allows us to enjoy the words and the rhymes on the surface but also dig deep to find the hidden meaning that has, for centuries, brought writers and artists together as one.
Which poets or poems most inspire you?
Rupi Kaur is an Indian Canadian poet who has inspired me the most. Her blatant honesty- through her poems- about various issues such as rape, self-loathing and growing up as an immigrant are admirable and have inspired thousands of people across the globe.
Rupi Kaur is a #1 new york times bestselling author and illustrator of collections of poetry. After completing her degree in rhetoric studies she published her first collection of poems milk and honey in 2014. The internationally acclaimed collection sold well over a million copies gracing the new york times bestsellers list every week for over a year. It has since been translated into over thirty languages. Her second collection ‘the sun and her flowers’ was published in 2017. Through this collection, she continues to explore a variety of themes ranging from love. loss. trauma. healing. femininity. migration. ‘revolution.
Books on Poem
Do the Internet and social media contribute to the well-being of poetry?
Although poetry is a dying form of art, social media has been beyond helpful in popularising it. People have begun posting their writings on various SNS such as Twitter and Instagram and have even gone as far as making their own pages. There are hundreds of pages of poetry that have a large following and I believe that this is a beautiful way to revive poetry.
What do you plan to do further?
I am planning to study journalism as a major and psychology as a minor at the University of Hong Kong in order to achieve my career goals of working in the advertisement industry
About the Author
Kamakshi Gupta, the author of Unfinished, is 16 years old and residing in Bangalore, India.
She has been an avid reader since she first learnt how to read, always trading other activities for the time to curl up on her bed and read instead.
Kamakshi sparked an interest in writing while she was in middle school and has been enthusiastic about it ever since. Poetry has been a recent finding for her yet has become an effective form of catharsis. Kamakshi’s poems reflect her experiences through her 16 years of personal and social life, as well as the suffering and strength of those around her, as she is a very observant person by nature.
Through her book, Kamakshi hopes to reach out to the people who have suppressed their voice and hold out a helping hand to those in need.
