An Interview of Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer with Bipul Ch Kalita

Good Morning & Welcome dear adorable readers to HAPPY SATURDAY WITH AN EMINENT POET the weekly interview program of WRITERS' MIRROR, ASSAM, INDIA and its unit Mirror's Literary Criticism. Today we are presenting the interview of Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer, an archaeologist, educationist and bilingual poet of international repute from Uttar Pradesh, India.

Interviewee : Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer 

Interviewer : Bipul Ch Kalita 

Organizer : Kristi Kashyap 

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Bipul Ch Kalita :- Good Morning dear Sir...I’m happy to welcome you to my interview program. Good Our adorable readers will be happy if you say in brief about yourself.

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- Good Morning Sir. Feeling delighted to be with you and illuminated members of Writers Mirror’s Assam, India. Why not, I will tell here something about me. I'm a bilingual, write in English & Hindi both. I have a PhD in Archaeology. By profession, I'm a Teacher under the UP state government. I hail from Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. I have a deep love for human values, nature, philosophy and the spiritual world. I have been declared a Literary Icon in December 2018 by TV program You and Literature Today from Nigeria..

Bipul Ch Kalita :-  Why do you write dear Sir?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- When we see the squalor spread in the society then it becomes very necessary to write. We can say that creative writing is much Inevitable to establish the power of good in the society and in our minds also. As a writer, it should be our endeavor that we can inspire other people too. The spontaneous expression of happiness and sorrow of the mind is also a reason for writing poetry.

Bipul Ch Kalita :- Who/What inspired you to be a poet?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- I think this question is related to the previous question. We get inspiration to write from the society. In fact, it is the mental impulses that motivate us to write. A writer should always have a positive attitude.

Bipul Ch Kalita :- How would you like to define poetry?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- In my view Poetry is the sense of heart. Poetry is the music of life. Poetry tells the way to live life. Poetry put together every movement of the universe in itself. Poetry always connects humans to the world and society. Poetry contains a sense of well-being of all.

Bipul Ch Kalita :- What is your conception of love? What role does it play in your peptic creations?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- Love is most beautiful feeling in this world. Without love, there is nothing. Love is life and the motion of the world is incomplete without love. Love is the culmination of dedication. Love is the real joy of life. One of the main themes of my poems is love. I see love as a very broad concept. There is hardly any poet in the world, who has never written a poem on love. We have to understand love in a wide range.

Bipul Ch Kalita :- What, according to you is religion? What role does it play in your poetic creations?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- Religion plays an important role in developing the spiritual powers of a human being. We have to use religion to connect one human to another. True service to humanity should be the goal of religion. Religion always inspires us to be good human beings. In my poetic creations religion play important role in form of philosophical and spiritual ideas. If we want to understand religion, before that we have to understand Metaphysics and Epistemology. 

Bipul Ch Kalita :- How, according to you, is the Face-book poetry different from others?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- In various social media platforms we are seeing that writers are running very fast. Most of them just write from morning till evening, read nothing. Serious poets present themselves on whatever platform they are on, with great potency and mentioned level. We must not forget that there are no shortcuts in literature. Literature is a penance. Here the quality of your work makes you great. 

Bipul Ch Kalita :-  Do you think that Face-book poetry has been properly evaluated? Do you think that your poems have been properly appreciated?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- I think whatever the stage or platform, the biggest thing is who are the people who appreciate you and your poetry. We should not fall into the game of "Number of likes". we always should our work with great loyalty.

Bipul Ch Kalita :-  What is your view on the awards and certificates issued by different poetic groups?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- These things can be good from an incentive point of view, but at present the blind race has put the quality aside. Many new poets are falling prey to confusion. On receiving a certificate, they get the illusion that they have won a world class competition. If writers take it only as an encouragement, then it can be a positive thing. We must test our quality ourselves. We should also know the level of participants in the competition. There is currently a lack of healthy competitions, but we should not be disappointed. Some good work is being done through these mediums/platforms too. 

Bipul Ch Kalita :- Do you think that govt. and non-govt. organizations are doing their best in promoting World-Class Poetic Literature? 

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- Each organization performs its functions in its own way. In the context, I would like to say that when you do something for the purpose of encouragement, there should be no discrimination.

Bipul Ch Kalita :-  Are you a published poet? Please say in brief about your published works. What about your upcoming publications?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- My poetry has been published in various literary magazines, journals, anthologies and websites. I have edited about a dozen literary books and several magazines time to time. Some books/collections are in the process of publication. My poems have been translated into Chinese, Greek, German, French, Azerbaijani, Serbian, Croatian and some other languages.

Bipul Ch Kalita:- Please share one of your latest poems.

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- Here it is :-

Between Two Thrilling Moments

---------------------------

A moment,

Felt that -

Got everything!

Another moment,

Felt that -

Lost everything!

Between these two thrilling moments,

The journey is -

From egoism to meekness,

From excitation to calmness,

From inattentiveness to contemplation,

From suspension to meditation,

From paralogism to truth,

From illusion to sooth.

For centuries

In making

A human being to a good human being,

This journey has faithfully done its work,

This sequence will continue even further.

© Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer

Fatehpur, UP, India 

[The poem is influenced by the life of the great Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, Ashoka the Great, who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BCE]

Bipul Ch Kalita :- Beautifully crafted poetic piece, no doubt.

Who are the Classical, Romantic and contemporary Poets that you like the most?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- Under all the above categories, my favorite Poets are: John Milton, H. W. Longfellow, Robert Frost, Ezra Pound and Maya Angelou.

Bipul Ch Kalita :-  What do you prefer- Rhymes or Free Verse?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- I like to write in both genres. Both styles have their own characteristics and capabilities. In poetry, the content is most important thing.

Bipul Ch Kalita:- What suggestions do you have for our groups? 

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- Till now you and entire team of your group have done wonderful work for poetry and literature. I am sure that all of these work as promotion of poetry and creative works will continue in same way.

Bipul Ch Kalita:- What Suggestions do you have for your co-poets?

Dr. Shailesh Gupta Veer :- We must stick to our goals and resolutions. If you have moved ahead, support the one who comes from behind. It's our sacred responsibility. 

Bipul Ch Kalita :- Thank you very much dear Sir for sharing your precious views so frankly. I hope, we will meet again with some important literary topics for discussion. I wish you a great literary career ahead. 

Sources : 

* Writers' Mirror, Assam, India 

[https://www.facebook.com/groups/188592438409183/permalink/923773044891115/]

* Mirror's Literary Criticism 

[https://www.facebook.com/groups/lupibatilak/permalink/901895824079892/]