Poetic Sensibility

05- Groans And Stories

Since this part has rather long dialogues, I've italicized them for the benefit of the reader. Happy Reading!

Rishi took his usual seat on Kabir's left. The others still hadn't arrived. Sarah was in her room up to something and Kabir was editing the poem he was going to read today. His notebook lay open and he was frowning at it. It made a rather comical sight and as Rishi offered to help, Kabir moved his book over so he could read it too. The fact that Kabir had written a decent poem didn't surprise Rishi at all. When he would talk about writing poetry as a hobby to his non-poet friends, they'd be super impressed. Especially the girls. However, when it came to these sessions, he knew almost everyone was a better poet than him. He wrote passable poems. Yet, he was not discouraged. He believed that the reason he attended these things was not to compete with others but with himself. Pleased at his rather mature outlook, Rishi suggested a few changes to Kabir, who gladly accepted them.

As they heard the doorbell ring, Rishi got up to answer it, signalling Sarah to continue whatever she was doing in her room. He opened the door and allowed Romi to enter. For some reason, it was difficult for Rishi to find things that were wrong with the other people. He simply failed to notice them. He just liked to see the obvious and it was good enough for him. The first time he had met Romi during the first session, he had seen her as the pleasant looking, smart girl that she is. He always noticed that while her views on something went way, way deep, he liked keeping things simple. His opinions or perceptions were very surface-oriented and he didn't believe in secrets. This was mostly why it was difficult for him to understand Romi.

"Hello," he greeted her as they took their seats. She smiled and greeted back. She did have a nice smile, he thought to himself.

The others arrived in the next few minutes and Kabir shouted for Sarah to join them. He grinned at Kabir. The man had it badly for her. Which was great. They looked good together, in his opinion. Ready to compete with himself, he listened attentively to what Romi was about to say.

"Before we begin reading our own poems and discussing them, I would like to try something different. Is that okay?" Romi asked, looking around.

Always ready for something new, Rishi spoke immediately, "Yes." Everyone else nodded enthusiastically.

Romi smiled. "Alright then, I think you may have already met the man... But I intend to reintroduce him." With a flourish she removed 6 sheets from her bag and passed them around to everyone. Then, with a satisfactory gleam in her eyes she said, "Say hello to William John Shakespeare."

And he gave the loudest groan possible. The only person apart from him who looked close to disappointed was Kabir. Rishi was glad he wasn't the only one when Romi turned to look at him. She gave him a small coquettish smile and Rishi found himself giving in.

"Fine," Rishi said, unable to hold back a smile when Romi's face brightened up.

For some reason, Rishi never understood all the madness behind classics and Shakespeare. He liked to read stuff that he easily understood and that he found enjoyable. The language Shakespeare used belonged to his era and not to Rishi's. He never found himself even remotely curious to read more than he had to during his high school years. Even the teacher had taught Shakespeare in a rather dry manner. He found himself giving in here because... well, because he'd try anything once.

"Why do you dislike him, though?" Samay asked Kabir and Rishi.

"Because he's of no consequence to me," Rishi replied. "All I am saying is... the modern writers and poets owe a lot to Shakespeare because of the way he developed verse and plays in the English Language. But beyond that, I see nothing special about him."

"That's hardly fair," Samay replied.

Fancy that, Rishi thought, If Samay was the one who disliked Shakespeare, he would've turned the room upside down. At least Rishi wasn't as stubborn as him and was willing to give it a try. Hell, maybe Romi could change his opinion about Shakespeare. He wouldn't be surprised if she did. He noticed that whatever she discussed, she truly believed. That kind of conviction was hard to find. Huh. Looks like he knows Romi a little more than he believed he did.

"Well, it's true he's had a major hand in the development of literary arts..." Romi began, looking at him. "But he's done more than just that."

"Such as?" Rishi asked and grinned.

He expected her to talk about all the universal themes he wrote on and the figures of speech he used. He was in for a pleasant surprise when she didn't talk about that at all.

"Well, for one, plays and movies and essentially anything to do with moving images wouldn't exist if not for him; including television, mobile phones, YouTube and gaming," she replied smugly.

"How's that?" Kabir asked.

Romi took a deep breath and launched into a story. Rishi realized that he was hooked before she had even begun. There was this look about her when she was in story-telling mode that made the most mundane thing sound supremely fascinating.

"You see, at the time, the royals would be entertained by plays. Obviously, movie theatres didn't exist so plays and dramas were all they could turn to. Queen Elizabeth had heard of Shakespeare's plays and would often invite his theatre company to perform at court and entertain her guests. At the same time, the poor would also turn to plays as a source of entertainment. The amphitheatres would be packed with peasants who looked at this as an escape from their ordinary lives."

Right, Rishi thought. So Shakespeare entertained the very rich and the very poor. How did that make him any special? Rusell Peters could do that. Belatedly, he realized he was expecting Shakespeare to impress him. Cut the man some slack, Rishi told himself. He's dead.

"So, the middle class insisted that theatres should be shut down and the theatre companies disbanded. They mostly insisted upon this because the peasants would skip church or work in order to attend the plays. Being puritanical, the mayor at the time managed to shut the theatres down for a short period of time."

Okay, Rishi had to admit that this sounded interesting. But what has the public opinion got to do with Shakespeare?

"Now, you see, the theatres would have remained closed and the arts would have been abolished due to being perceived as a mere fancy of the lazy man if it weren't for Shakespeare. The Queen and the aristocrats loved his plays so much that the Queen had the theatre companies reopened and performances began in full swing. Thus, we owe all our contemporary forms of entertainment to William Shakespeare," Romi finished satisfactorily.

Rishi chuckled softly at the wide grin that had spread over Romi's face. Looks like she loved the bard. As did Samay and Sarah. However, he did not fail to notice the look of fascination on Kiara and Kabir's face. Alright, he admitted, Shakespeare deserves a little more credit than he was prepared to give. But this little piece of history was not going to make it easy for him to understand the poems and plays written by him.

"So now that we have cleared that bit up about why he is one of the most important figures in the history of English Literature, let's look at the sonnet I've given to all of you. Don't worry," she said, smiling at everyone, "I'll guide you through it."

Guess he's just going to have to trust Romi to help him understand Shakespeare. He's going to have to trust her to help him like Shakespeare.