IRSHAAD!! Story of the Collaborative Family
Heart to words, Words to fonts!
“Two roads diverged in a wood,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
The common thing about Frost’s poem and Utkarsh Garg, the founder of Arz Kia Hai is, the former wrote about taking a different road and the latter took it. When I first updated my work status on Facebook, I never thought it would create such an impact, not because I joined somewhere but because of where I joined — ARZ KIA HAI. Everyone was curious and excited to know about it because it sounded so different..
And the answer was and is —
Arz kia Hai not only sounds different but does things differently. It is the Eden for all poets, writers, literary devotees and provides them with a platform to cultivate, master and vent their literary voices. A platform started by a college student in 2013 from Raipur, to express his dissatisfaction on a college issue has now become a dias for thousands to articulate their thoughts to words.
Over the period of time, it has increased its presence across different social media platforms, which has up heaved its growth. Enthusiasts, amateurs, experts have poured in from various backdrops to be a part of this collaborative community. Innovation and Dynamism keep Arz Kia Hai upgraded without losing out on its core principle of providing a learning platform for those who love to write and express. In fact, AKH was one of the first to start open mic poetry in India.
‘The journey of thousands of miles begins with one step.’
When AKH was started not everyone thought it would do great things but it did small things in great ways. It not only resolved the local issues with the power of ink but also gave a chance to passionate writers to interact with each other while continuously learning from each other.
AKH proudly calls itself a ‘Collaborative Community’ not just in name but also in essence. Starting from just one person, it kept adding people to its chain and within no time its numbers increased (still multiplying) in geometric progression. With the progress, the virtual platform made its way to the real world in the form of CHAPTERS, not apparently chapters of a book. At our chapters, literary bugs of AKH family in different cities across India meet, share, express and learn together in the real world. Presently AKH has five dedicated chapters and is multiplying henceforth.
‘Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is a success.’
The main idea behind the creation of chapters was to create a platform where our Bigwigs and Shypods can come together and help each other to grow and learn. ‘Bigwigs’ are our super experts who have proved their mastery in their own fields and are ready to mould more like them. Our ‘Shypods’ are those who crave to learn from them as well as from each other. All they need is a little push and a bit of motivation.
So, the big question is HOW DO WE DO IT??
‘A will finds a way’
Arz Kia hai family keep interacting with each other regularly in the form of informal meetups. More interesting and interactive event that happens four times a year is ‘Seasons’. These are official meetups of Arz Kia Hai with a lot of buzz. Discussions, open mic, poetry, scripting a drama, book launch you name it AKH has it. AKH sets its own standard and then breaks it by setting even a higher one next time. A poem is best expressed by a poet in his/her own voice. As a part of our creative surge, AKH has now introduced moving poems with its poets narrating it in their own style. And AKH is not done yet..Because the best is yet to come.
Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.’ Well, we are trying to live upto his words and follow them judiciously…
